HTC Flyer on pre-order for £599.99

The HTC Flyer tablet will cost 599.99 when pre-ordered at Carphone Warehouse, the store has announced on its website.

Although the exact date for the launch of the HTC Flyer is still unknown, the phone store started taking pre-orders for the iPad rival today.

The HTC Flyer was presented at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, yet there has been speculation about possible delays of the launch.

The setting of the official price for the Flyer tablet may go far to quash any fears around such delays and the planned second quarter launch should be met.

HTC's tablet, with its seven-inch display and 1.5Ghz processor, is destined to compete against the iPad 2 and a host of other tablets making their way to market this year.

It will also come with HTC Scribe Technology and an accompanying stylus for note taking, as well as 32GB of internal storage and Wi-Fi/3G capabilities.

The Flyer measures in at seven inches, compared to the iPad 2's 9.7-inch length.

Some may be shocked by the pricing, given the lowest cost iPad is 200 cheaper, but this is the 3G and Wi-Fi version of the device. A Wi-Fi only model is expected later this year at a lower price.

Check our first-look review to see if HTC's tablet stands a chance to threaten the iPad's supremacy.