Since Honeycomb’s inception, the question has been “can we put it on a phone?” Until now, that’s pretty much been shot down. But it looks like AT&T could be introducing the first Honeycomb OS smartphone with the HTC Revolver. A source sent the image to the right into Engadget, and it could be HTC’s new flagship smartphone.
There’s something very manufactured-feeling about all this. It seems suspect that Google would specifically create a tablet-optimized version of Android only to then mold a smartphone version out of it. The reason Honeycomb exists is because the Android team felt a different platform deserved a different operating system – that smartphone and tablet UIs and firmware should exist at least somewhat exclusively.
Why wouldn’t the HTC Revolver, then, simply come packaged with Ice Cream (also formerly referred to as Ice Cream Sandwich), stocked up on all the latest Android OS updates? The Ice Cream (Android 2.4) upgrade will feature many smartphone equivalent enchancements of Honeycomb.
Skepticism aside, let’s take a look at the specs:
- 4.3-inch LCD touch display
- 16GB of storage
- 1.2 GHz dual-core processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 8-megapixel camera (3-megapixel front-facing cam)
- Android Honeycomb OS
- 3G+
None of these details really leap out at you, aside from the OS. Maybe HTC’s just planning to package an unremarkable (and not 4G capable) phone and market it on the fact that it’s the only Honeycomb phone. Google has officially stated that Honeycomb isn’t intended for smartphones, but that can’t stop a manufacturer from using it. The phone is due for the third quarter of 2011, so we’ll have to wait awhile to find out.
[UPDATE]
Our skepticism regarding the HTC Revolver’s legitimacy may be justified. A reader tipped us off this morning, saying the phone is a fake. After perusing a few Android fan blogs and their own readers’ comments, we’re inclined to believe him. So kudos to whomever made the image and sent it into Engadget, and for now the idea of a Honeycomb phone can probably be put to rest.
