Google I/O Almost Gave Us A Sense-Free Honeycomb Flyer Tablet, Almost.

Yeah thats right all you HTC fanatics out there. If HTC had their way all you Google I/O attendees out their would have received a Sense-free, Honeycomb powered Flyer tablet AND an unspecified phone from their portfolio. Wow (by the way HTC if the offer is still open you can definitely get in touch…).

This information comes from Twitter user and I/O attendee @alsutton who tweeted that he heard on good authority that HTC did infact want to give this stuff away to everyone there. Apparently Google said no since they don’t want Google I/O to slowly descend into a gadget free-for-all, I mean if Google TV takes off next year you could go home with a Google TV box, Chromebook, Tablet, Phone and who knows what amount of new accessories (dibs on the giant Labyrinth).

It makes sense though, however much we want freebies the event is about Google developments and the developers who want to be involved and the journalists who want to scoop the latest news. People coming to freeload is of no help for any of the involved parties and would just dilute the experience.

Google or HTC are not commenting, nor do I expect they ever will but it is does make sense that companies are starting to see the enormous potential in giving away their tablets to highly skilled, highly motivated developers.