HTC Flyer Wi-Fi tablet now on pre-order at Best Buy, coming this spring

Best Buy has begun taking in-store pre-orders for the Wi-Fi version of the HTC Flyer tablet, which is set to launch this spring.

The Wi-Fi-only Flyer will sell for $499 at Best Buy and include 16GB of memory.

A Flyer model that can run on 3G and 4G networks will be released later this year as well, though HTC hasn't given an official release date for either version of the 7-inch touch-screen tablet.

Both the Wi-Fi-only and the 3G-4G Flyers will feature a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video chatting and a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera for photos and video.

The Flyer's screen will not only use touch input, but also be compatible with a "digital pen" stylus, which will be included with the tablet.

Like many tablets on the market, the Flyer will run on Google's Android operating system. Out of the box, the Flyer will run on Android Gingerbread, a version of Android built for smartphones. But the Flyer will be upgradeable to Android Honeycomb, which is Google's first OS designed specifically for tablet use.

The tablet will support Adobe Flash, as is becoming a standard of Android tablets, and run on a 1.5-GHz Qualcomm processor. The 3G-4G flyer, whose price HTC hasn't yet announced, will feature 32 GB of memory.

HTC seems to be aiming for a higher-end feel with its Flyer: It has an aluminum body, a 7-inch touch screen and a quick 1.5-GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm.