HTC "Flyer" tablet launching in March

It won’t be the rumored glasses-free tablet Sprint is set to unveil next month, but HTC hopes it can still turn heads with the Flyter tablet, its very own iPad killer.

HTC was a name that hardly anyone in the US – or anywhere – had ever heard of five years ago. And then Android came along. HTC was the manufacturer of the very first Android phone, the G1.

Since then it has gone on to create some of the most high-profile smartphones in the US, most of them dealing with Google’s mobile operating system. It was also the first to create a 4G phone in the US, with the Evo 4G for Sprint.

So it’s not just hot air to say that HTC has a lot of potential in the tablet market.

Rumors suggest the Flyer will have mobile data connectivity and may be tied to a specific carrier, but there are no leads as to who that might be.

It will also run on Android 2.3, the version of Android Google has said is optimized for tablets. And, it should be upgradeable to Android 3.0, the brand new version of the platform that most current Android devices won’t be able to update to.

In addition to the Flyer, HTC is planning at least two more tablets for launch in the spring. It’s also rumored to be creating a glasses-free 3D tablet for Sprint, as noted above.