First 4G Android Tablet With Netflix Launches on Outdated OS

It's a great day of firsts for Sprint. The airline launched its first Andr
's a great day of firsts for Sprint. The airline launched its first Android tablet Friday compatible with the new 4G "Wi-Max" network. The unit is also the first Android tablet out there running Netflix.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that the first in line for 4G and Netflix, Sprint HTC Evo tablet comes with the older version of Android: 2.3 (Gingerbread), not version 3.0 (Honeycomb). A future software update will bring Honeycomb, Android version specially designed for tablets, with the device.

It speaks to a larger problem of "fragmentation" of Android devices: the inability to consistently implement the platform on multiple types of hardware from different manufacturers. Fragmentation is the main reason why Android tablets are slowly becoming popular video-streaming services like Netflix and Hulu on his units. This poses a problem to ensure that digital rights management technology - or applications to ensure that you do not rip and record one of the streaming content, you see - function in all units.

"It's not a gas that goes into every vehicle," said Netflix chief communications Steve Swasey, said in an interview. "DRM is not consistent across all Android devices, and unlike the iPhone and IOS devices, there is no universal solution."

Nevertheless, HTC Evo 4G is compatible with Wi-Max is important for those who want to watch streaming media on their tablet devices, such as the speed boost you get the transition from 3G to 4G device significantly.

The even better news for film buffs: Unlike many Android tablets already on the market this year, it is the first Android-running Tablet Netflix at launch. The unit will mainly come pre-equipped with Netflix app (after a minor software update in the first corner of the tablet). Starting today, only five official Android phones that can perform about Netflix.

"This is a result of extensive testing of the Netflix app on your device to see if it works seamlessly on our network," a Sprint spokesman told Wired.com.

Most of the tablets published in 2011 so far fall into two categories: Wi-Fi first, what type of phone that most producers have launched first, and a 3G or 3.5G network device as the original Samsung Galaxy Tab (a Sprint 3G network) or T-Mobile G-Slate (which is 3.5 G at best). HTC introduced the Flyer, Evo Wi-Fi-only predecessor, the late May

Under the hood, the Evo look 4G is not slow. The tablet sports a 1.5-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a gig of RAM, front and rear facing cameras and a 7-inch 1024 x 600 screen. It's also a stylus, which (for a limited time) for free if you have a two-year contract.