HTC 10-Inch ‘Puccini’ Tablet Appears Headed for AT&T 4G

The tablet parade continues with news that a 10-inch tablet from HTC has made its way to the FCC for the obligatory approval process. Based on details from that FCC submission, it appears that the HTC “Puccini” will be distributed through AT&T, and is designed to work with the budding AT&T 4G network.

Pretty much everything about the tablet is still a matter of rumor and speculation. There have been hints that the Puccini will have 2GB of RAM, a 1.5GHz processor–likely dual-core, a 10-inch display with 1280 x 720 resolution, and running some version of Android Honeycomb.

With the FCC filing, though, we get a sneak peek at some more specific details. The HTC tablet appears to support the GSM, 3G, and LTE bands and frequencies owned by AT&T. It seems fair to assume that the HTC Puccini might launch alongside the AT&T 4G/LTE rollout this summer.

HTC launched a 7-inch sibling–the Flyer–in late May. The HTC Flyer has had generally favorable reviews, but has not been a tremendous success. It has two things that rival tablets lack and make the HTC tablet unique, though: Sense UI, and a stylus. The HTC Sense UI overlay could be even more impressive on a Honeycomb tablet than on a smartphone OS running on a tablet.

The HTC tablet will have to compete with a whole slew of 10-inch Android tablets, and the HP TouchPad, as well as the Apple iPad 2. Just in recent months the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Toshiba Thrive have hit the street. Both of those are running Honeycomb, so the HTC Puccini is going to need to run at least Android 3.1, if not Android 3.2 to keep up.

The Toshiba Thrive is having some glitches out of the gate, but the various ports on the tablet make it appealing to users who feel constrained by the lack of USB ports, or SD memory card capabilities on tablets like the Galaxy Tab 10.1 or the iPad 2.

We don’t yet know what sort of ports and slots will be available on the HTC Puccini, but if the HTC tablet can work with the same stylus as the flyer, it might be a draw for business professionals that want the ability to “write” on the tablet. Salesmen, real estate agents, insurance adjustors, and more could all benefit from being able to interact with the tablet via stylus and use the stylus for collecting customer signatures electronically.

Add in a little 4G zip, and you might have something. I’m looking forward to seeing what the HTC Puccini can do when it finally gets here.