HTC kicks off tablet wars at Mobile World Congress with 415g Flyer

TECH-SAVVY Australians will have their pick of tablets this year after another two were unveiled at Mobile World Congress.

HTC Flyer

TECH-SAVVY Australians will have their pick of tablets this year after another two were unveiled at the world's largest mobile phone show overnight.

Leading phone maker HTC revealed its first tablet computer, a lightweight 7-inch model called the Flyer that comes packaged with movie and game services, while ViewSonic added a new type of 10-inch tablet that uses both Google and Microsoft software.

The new releases at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona bring the number of major forthcoming tablets on show up to nine, with releases from LG, BlackBerry, Samsung, HP, Motorola, Huawei and Dell on the way.

The market is still on edge, however, with Apple yet to reveal an updated version of the tablet computer that started the trend last year, the iPad.

Launching HTC's first tablet yesterday, chief executive Peter Chou said the company went out of its way to create a new type of tablet, rather than recreate Apple's gadget.

"We are not interested in rushing out another me-too device,'' Mr Chou said.

"We took time to understand how people use the tablet and we thought hard about what hardware is needed to drive a special experience.''

The resulting Flyer features two cameras, a weight of just 415g, a six-hour battery life, speedy 1.5GHz processor, Google Android software and it comes with a computerised pen that can be used to sign on-screen documents, send messages or capture audio to accompany notes.

The HTC Flyer, due out in the second quarter of the year, will also deliver a movie-streaming service called HTC Watch and game-streaming service from Online Live that is currently available in the US.

ViewSonic also took a different approach with its new tablet, the ViewPad 10Pro, as it lets users switch between Windows 7 Professional and Google Android software.

The 10-inch tablet will be one of the first to feature Intel's Oak Trail tablet chip and is designed to appeal to business users.

Both fresh tablets will feature serious competition from their forthcoming rivals, however.

Several new-generation tablet computers will feature powerful dual-core processors more commonly seen in laptops, including the Motorola Xoom, HP TouchPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and LG Optimus Tab, with the latter using its processing power to capture 3D movies and photos that can be shown on 3D TV screens.