HTC eyes dual-mode 4G tablet

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC is considering tapping into the growing Chinese market with a tablet computer that supports both LTE (long-term evolution) and China's own TD-LTE 4G standard. Steve Wang, associate vice president of HTC's mobile application and software design, hinted at the idea after attending an awards ceremony for an Android app design competition. "It's one of the possible options our company will consider," he said in an interview with Taiwan's Central News Agency. But he said the point would be not so much on technology but on improving the user experience. "What matters is how we improve the user experience and how we make consumers aware of the benefits that our products can bring to them," he said. The CNA report said China Mobile Chairman Wang Jianzhou had said Thursday the next generation of Apple's iPhone would support both LTE and China's TD-LTE networks. Such a move by Apple may allow it to further tap into the world's biggest smartphone market. On the other hand, the CNA report said such a move may intensify mobile device competition among the top brands with Apple's rivals, HTC and Samsung already having launched 4G smartphones and tablet PCs. Last month, HTC's second tablet, the 10.1-inch Jetstream, went on sale through the US service provider AT&T Inc. The Jetstream has LTE technology and a nationwide HSPA+ network, and includes a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon dual-core processor and Google's Android 3.1 software (Honeycomb). Honeycomb in turn integrates cloud-based capabilities, such as the online video service HTC Watch, and an Evernote cloud-based storage app. — TJD, GMA News