HTC Android 3 tablet slated for early next year

HTC's rumored Android tablet gained some support today with a slip that puts it in early 2011. The Taiwan part suppliers didn't give Digitimes much more but said it might use Android 3.0. The company might lean heavily on its existing teamwork with Google and cellular carriers to promote the tablet, implying that it should have 3G.

Use of Google's new mobile OS is likely as Acer's tablets and those of other firms arriving at the same time have all been rumored carrying the new version as well. It should be the first version of the OS with tablet optimizations and may reduce the need for custom interfaces like HTC's Sense UI, although the company has rarely avoided customizing an Android device outside of the Nexus One.

HTC South Africa executive Quinton Leigh hinted it might have 1080p video recording and 5.1-channel surround sound earlier this year. The claims are still tenuous, but Leigh also effectively leaked word of HTC's HSPA+ phone plans, which ultimately manifested in the T-Mobile G2 and could be given an international spin with new phones expected tomorrow.

Publicly, the company has been hesitant to leap into tablets given the glut of models on show, but a tablet if real would make the statements a cover story for its work. HTC was heavily involved in tablet-like devices years ago through crossover hardware like the Shift but had exited after they failed to catch on. Apple's iPad has rejuvenated the category in a new form, however, and may have left rivals such as HTC reconsidering their positions.

By Electronista Staff

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