HTC Quietly Announced a New Android Tablet, and Nobody Noticed (theverge.com) 26
HTC, the once-impressive Android smartphone manufacturer, has a surprise tablet to accompany its bizarre metaverse-focused Desire 22 Pro. From a report: The new A101 is an Android tablet with a 10.1-inch display, entry-level specs, and a design that's straight out of the middle of the last decade. The device, which we spotted via AndroidPolice, appears to have been quietly announced last month -- according to the Wayback Machine -- and is aimed at the African market. It follows the A100 tablet, which was released in Russia last year to a similar non-reaction. Given that the tablet appears to be marketed solely at emerging markets, I don't want to be too snarky about its specs or design. But it's still just plain weird to see HTC -- makers of literally the first-ever Android phone and a company that Google once entrusted to build a Nexus-branded tablet (the Nexus 9) -- producing forgettable devices like this. The A101 even runs 2020's Android 11 out of the box, rather than Android 12 or the big-screen focused Android 12L.
Let me be the first to say... (Score:2, Redundant)
Meh?
Breaking news: (Score:3, Insightful)
There is a very simple reason for it (Score:3)
Nobody expects them to be able to deliver them in any relevant quantity within a relevant timeframe.
Spot the Narcissist (Score:5, Insightful)
The author isn't impressed by a device that isn't designed for him, isn't marketed to him, isn't available to him, and he doesn't approve of it not being as new as possible (at any price) so he will forget it and we should think less of HTC. Got it.
Colossal backfire.
Good job, HTC folk.
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I'm looking at the specs on it and it's better than my Lenovo tablet I bought in 2020. My Lenovo is also pretty much a middle of the road tablet too. It comes with Android 11, which isn't that old. I'm perfectly happy with it too.
The author seems to forget what most people use tablets for. Portable web browsing, ebooks, and HD video playback. To accomplish this, a tablet doesn't have to be all that powerful.
"8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage" not that old... (Score:3, Interesting)
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Plus it's a tablet. Most people are just going to use it for media consumption, a single app at a time. Why would you need more than 8GB of RAM for that functionality. They are still making Windows laptops with 4GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. So I really don't see why we should be disappointed at an Android tablet that "only" has 8 GB of RAM.
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One of the use cases for a tablet is that it has enough screen size to run two apps at once (ooh!) but 8GB is still plenty, it's really only art/video apps that ever use more than 4GB and one is likely to fullscreen those anyway.
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Mid range by modern Android standards, but certainly not last decade.
If you want a really good tablet the Xiaomi Pad line is excellent and regularly discounted. Right now you can get one with a "free" pair if their nose cancelling headphones, that are also quite good.
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Must be a super low end model. This Xiaomi is 6GB/128GB.
https://www.hotukdeals.com/dea... [hotukdeals.com]
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I take it that Xiaomi doesn't plan to sell many of their Xiaomi Pads. I wouldn't imagine there are too many people that need "nose cancelling headphones". Maybe if you are living in a rather odoriferous location they would be helpful though.
Shame (Score:2)
I had a HTC Incredible [wikipedia.org] back in the day. It was one of the best damn phones I've ever owned.
HTC was the best in their heyday (Score:2)
I had a HTC Incredible [wikipedia.org] back in the day. It was one of the best damn phones I've ever owned.
The Incredible was a great phone; the optical trackball was a standout navigation option that I still miss. HTC also had the Rhodium / Touch Pro2, which had the best keyboard of any phone I've ever owned. The HTC HD2 is a legend; it was sold as a Windows Mobile 6.5 device (probably the best device with that OS ever made), but it ran Windows Phone 7 quite well, and also ran Android all the way up until version 6, which was super impressive for a phone that never shipped with Android officially. Going back a
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Why would I notice? (Score:2)
I owned a HTC Raphael 110 and not only was it poorly designed and constructed, but HTC's followup was piss-poor. It could be fixed with a piece of tape but they didn't bother to add one when they refurb'd them. Screw me once...
Android tablets were always doomed. (Score:1)
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I think there are a LOT of Android tablet manufacturers that would disagree with you. The ~30% of the tablet market that Samsung controls is nothing to sneeze at and there is another ~15% of the tablet market that is non-Apple.
https://gs.statcounter.com/ven... [statcounter.com]
smart move (Score:2)
producing forgettable devices like this.
Some markets don't care about your bling-bling, they want a functioning thing. So the author is wrong, and that's why he's a poor journalist and someone else will make millions on this device.
Not bad (Score:2)
It's what the future noble-price winners in Asia will be using to learn, while the US plays on their iPads.
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For those that like.... (Score:2)
HTC owners will understand.