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[Pimpwerx]

Can anyone with personal experience post their thoughts on the HTC Hero? First Android phone my area is getting and I'm seriously thinking about getting it...

Great phone. The battery life was the only drawback before, but with the last software update from Sprint, it's a fantastic phone. Battery life is average for a 3G smartphone. Probably in-line with the iPhone now IMO. That's just based on an offhand observation. HTC Sense really makes this phone what it is.

If you're moving to a new carrier, you could consider the Droid Eris on Verizon, which is the same as the Hero, but is available for $30 at Walmart.com with a new 2yr contract. PEACE.

 

[jonnybryce]

Can anyone with personal experience post their thoughts on the HTC Hero? First Android phone my area is getting and I'm seriously thinking about getting it...

Amazing phone. I just ditched my iPhone 3GS for it, and I've most recently had a Palm Pre and Blackberry Tour. It's my favorite phone ever. Android is really great (from the notification pane to multitasking) and the Hero is an extremely solid phone. The battery life is awesome and so is the screen, the trackball, camera is pretty good. Sense UI is amazing, I have 7 pages of widgets, apps and photos laid out in a way that makes sense for me, my bookmarks on one (it's an awesome visual bookmark widget by the way, with snapshots of the pages), picture frames and Facebook on another, a quick GPS on/off and Wifi on/off settings button, etc. It's great.

So are the Sense-ified album, browser, etc apps. I'd say pop into a store and play with one. The browser is very quick to render although the flash, being lite, isn't entirely reliable but a nice bonus. The pinch to zoom works well.

The one complaint I can think of is that while overall it runs very smoothly there are some times where the you'll encounter a slowdown or stutter, the keyboard may slowdown for a brief second, little things like that occur here and there. Not a big deal and not happening enough to call it an issue or be annoyed.

Very impressed with it and highly recommend it.

 

[Chris R]

Great phone. The battery life was the only drawback before, but with the last software update from Sprint, it's a fantastic phone. Battery life is average for a 3G smartphone. Probably in-line with the iPhone now IMO. That's just based on an offhand observation. HTC Sense really makes this phone what it is.

If you're moving to a new carrier, you could consider the Droid Eris on Verizon, which is the same as the Hero, but is available for $30 at Walmart.com with a new 2yr contract. PEACE.

I'd love to be able to get anything from Verizon but they have no presence in Alaska. The only national carrier is AT&T (NO Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, ect), and they charge too much per month (otherwise I'd have an iPhone by now). And I guess I could be considered a person "moving" to a new carrier as I don't even own a cellphone now :lol

That is why I wanted info on the HTC Hero (sounds good so far, going to research online tonight). Still, the company doesn't even plan on getting them in until the end of January, but if I want one I need to get on a list now :lol Cellular Companies are just soooooo ass backwards :lol Wish I could just buy the droid and use it on the best network up here

 

[Zyzyxxz]

WOOT

Just found out that Google Navigation has back back-ported to Android 1.6!

Installed it and now I have voice navigation on my phone! Great day indeed

 

[kojacker]

Hi, could someone with a Hero confirm that it can run j2me applications? That's something I'd be really interested in. I've been checking out if there were plans for Maemo to run Android and came across a post mentioning that HTC had bundled a j2me emulator with the Hero.

As pointed out by one of the commenters below, Android does not currently support J2ME natively. What HTC has done for the Hero is to include a J2ME emulator, simply called “Java” which resides in the application drawer.

It's the only review I've come across so far that mentions this.

 

[Ripclawe]

Droid moving up.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Hi, could someone with a Hero confirm that it can run j2me applications? That's something I'd be really interested in. I've been checking out if there were plans for Maemo to run Android and came across a post mentioning that HTC had bundled a j2me emulator with the Hero.


It's the only review I've come across so far that mentions this.

Whoah, I don't know. Mindblown if true.

 

[Totakeke]

Hi, could someone with a Hero confirm that it can run j2me applications? That's something I'd be really interested in. I've been checking out if there were plans for Maemo to run Android and came across a post mentioning that HTC had bundled a j2me emulator with the Hero.

I could check for you if I knew what exactly what to check j2me for.

 

[SimleuqiR]

There is hope for T-mobile getting the Hero?

Mysterious job posting hints at T-Mobile HTC Hero
Written by Nick Gray
Wednesday, 25 November 2009

T-Mobile HTC Hero
A lot of people were disappointed when T-Mobile announced that they didn’t have any plans to release the HTC Hero in the U.S. market. Granted, they were asked the question during the launch of the myTouch 3G and to be fair, their response was more like “we CURRENTLY have no plans.” Since then, the HTC Hero has shown up on Sprint, Verizon (DROID Eris), and even Telus up in Canada. But it appears as if T-mobile USA may be keeping a secret. Back in early August, HTC accidentally launched the HTC Hero (T-Mobile USA) support page on their site. That’s not a huge deal, but they also did the same for the Sprint HTC Hero which is now on sale. Now, TmoNews has just uncovered a new job listing from T-Mobile which might hold a few new clues about the Hero coming to the U.S. market. The job title says it all: “Senior Product Manager, Hero Handsets.” Ok so that could simply indicate that T-Mobile is working on a new line of handsets, but I don’t think that it’s any coincidence that the job location is in Bellvue, WA. That’s right, the same Bellvue, WA where HTC’s North American headquarters is located. If that doesn’t convince you that HTC and T-Mobile are working together to release a GSM Hero, I don’t know what will.

Check out the full job posting after the jump.

The Hero on T-mobile would be great! I wouldn't mind them keeping the chin design too. And I would love to get the one with Teflon coating.

I still think T-mobile, as the one carrier who jumped started this whole Android thing, should get a Snapdragon phone out soon. They should not fall behind to the other carriers specs wise.

 

[tokkun]

There is hope for T-mobile getting the Hero?



The Hero on T-mobile would be great! I wouldn't mind them keeping the chin design too. And I would love to get the one with Teflon coating.

I still think T-mobile, as the one carrier who jumped started this whole Android thing, should get a Snapdragon phone out soon. They should not fall behind to the other carriers specs wise.

I don't really see the motivation for them to launch a Hero on T-Mobile US. There is not enough to differentiate it from the MyTouch. If HTC just released Sense for the MyTouch, most people wouldn't know the difference.

 

[Totakeke]

I don't really see the motivation for them to launch a Hero on T-Mobile US. There is not enough to differentiate it from the MyTouch. If HTC just released Sense for the MyTouch, most people wouldn't know the difference.

I keep looking for differences between the two, aside from 3.5mm headphone jack, and camera being the most obvious ones, do the software performance run any different between Magic and Hero? Better optimizations for Hero? No?

HTC Sense is already officially available on Magic and Dream/G1 in some parts of the world anyway.


I find the audio quality to be quite lacking on the Hero being somewhat of an audiophile, just sounds flat, which I guess isn't that surprising for a device by a smartphone only company. I wonder if Motorola Droid is any better...

 

[Jokergrin]

Hi guys,

LG Eve. Talk to me.

 

[tokkun]

I keep looking for differences between the two, aside from 3.5mm headphone jack, and camera being the most obvious ones, do the software performance run any different between Magic and Hero? Better optimizations for Hero? No?

HTC Sense is already officially available on Magic and Dream/G1 in some parts of the world anyway.


I find the audio quality to be quite lacking on the Hero being somewhat of an audiophile, just sounds flat, which I guess isn't that surprising for a device by a smartphone only company. I wonder if Motorola Droid is any better...

The MyTouch had its RAM gimped for some reason compared to the other versions of the Magic and the Hero. I guess that there is probably some difference in performance when you are running a lot of applications at once. But, I still don't think there is enough difference between the two to merit T-Mobile launching a Hero variant, especially not after they've invested a lot in the advertising and accessories for the MyTouch.

 

[jonnybryce]

Hi guys,

LG Eve. Talk to me.

Resistive 3.0 screen = pass. Cliq > Eve

 

[Jokergrin]

what does Resistive 3.0 screen mean?

 

[radioheadrule83]

I didn't know the HTC Hero wasn't on T-mo in the US.. I've just got it on a UK T-Mobile contract (they call it the T-Mobile G2 here).

It seems pretty cool, but I find it curious that google maps doesn't have multi-touch zoom... do I have an old ver. or something?

Do we have an Android Apps thread at all?

NES and SNES emulators run surprisingly well -- if only this thing had more buttons!

 

[jonnybryce]

what does Resistive 3.0 screen mean?

Resisitive screen, 3.0 inches. The Eve is also trying to be social, but the Cliq seems to do it better. The Moment is also faster. It looks nice and there's probably not much wrong with it (except why is the screen resistive, no excuse) but other phones seem better at this point.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

what does Resistive 3.0 screen mean?

Resistive means it's a resistive touch screen. Short version is that resistive screens require more force and aren't as responsive as their counterparts, the capacitive screen. However, you can't use styli on capacitive screens, just your fingers.

I actually didn't know the LG Eve was resistive.

3.0 is the screen size, 3.0 inches in diagonal.

It seems pretty cool, but I find it curious that google maps doesn't have multi-touch zoom... do I have an old ver. or something?

No Google apps for any version of Android have multitouch yet. HTC could add multitouch to the browser since that's part of the open source codebase, Google's apps aren't.

Do we have an Android Apps thread at all?

Android Software Thread - Tasty Desserts, Tastier Apps

 

[jonnybryce]

No Google apps for any version of Android have multitouch yet. HTC could add multitouch to the browser since that's part of the open source codebase, Google's apps aren't.

Yeah, going into Google Maps is always a brief "WTF?" moment on my Hero, seeing as how they replaced the zoom controls with pinching in albums and the browser. It felt alien.

 

[panda21]

out of the HTC Touch, HTC Hero and HTC Tattoo which is best?

and will it be upgradable to 2.0 or is that relying on the provider?

are they nicely responsive? windows mobile on the samsung tocco is driving me nuts and the touchscreen interface is complete shit

 

[jonnybryce]

out of the HTC Touch, HTC Hero and HTC Tattoo which is best?

and will it be upgradable to 2.0 or is that relying on the provider?

are they nicely responsive? windows mobile on the samsung tocco is driving me nuts and the touchscreen interface is complete shit

Hero. HTC said an upgrade for 2.0 is coming although the timing relies on the provider, I'm sure with roms you can have it earlier you want if you're into that and not patient. Very responsive, this is Android and HTC we're talking about, not a little Samsung feature phone.

 

[moist]

I'd love to be able to get anything from Verizon but they have no presence in Alaska. The only national carrier is AT&T (NO Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, ect), and they charge too much per month (otherwise I'd have an iPhone by now). And I guess I could be considered a person "moving" to a new carrier as I don't even own a cellphone now :lol

That is why I wanted info on the HTC Hero (sounds good so far, going to research online tonight). Still, the company doesn't even plan on getting them in until the end of January, but if I want one I need to get on a list now :lol Cellular Companies are just soooooo ass backwards :lol Wish I could just buy the droid and use it on the best network up here

If you have family out of state just sign up with verizon using their address and get unlimited roaming. They roam on ACS's network just fine.... Also apparently ACS will be getting the droid soon since they are roaming partners and shit.

 

[Dazzla]

So, I'm offloading my iPhone (unlocked by O2, out of contract in February), passing it onto my mum. I want to pick up an Android phone to tide me over until my contract is up and then get a more permanent phone (X10, Milestone etc).

I'm on the fence between picking up a cheaper G1 or a Hero (about £90 difference). I'd quite like the G1 because I can hack away and play to my hearts content (and it's cheap) but the Hero looks a lot nicer and seems like a better phone.

How's the hacking community for the Hero? It seems fairly poor in comparison to the G1.

 

[SimleuqiR]

Oh, by the way. The pricing of the X10 will be roughly the same as the launch price of the Satio. In Denmark that’s about the equivalent of £480.

This is about, what $800.00?

As you can see, it’s quite thin and it actually feels surprisingly good in your palm. Especially the black one as its back is rubberised, whereas the back of the white phone is a glossy surface. The phone is pretty light as well.

I know many are hating on this phone, but I just can't seem to look away.
I might actually thinking of just re-newing my T-mobile contract and importing this sucker down the line...decision, decisions.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

http://www.androidguys.com/2009/12/01/ziilabs-announces-trinity-platform-for-android/

• 3.5G quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, Tri-band WCDMA, HSDPA Cat 8 at 7.2mbps
• Accelerated OpenGL ES 3D Graphics, Video and Imaging
• 3.1-inch 480×800 16M colour AMOLED capacitive multi-touch
• Mini HDMI port for 1080p video output, Composite Video output
• 5 megapixel rear facing, auto-focus camera, VGA forward facing camera for video conferencing
• USB 2.0 Micro port for connectivity and charging
• MicroSD storage expansion and SIM card slots
• 256MB low-power DDR memory
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR and Hardware GPS
• 1130mAH lithium polymer battery

Battery, screen size, and storage seem to be disapointing, especially compared to the Zii EGG (which had a 3.5-inch screen and 32 GB of internal memory.) However, they do seem to be keeping their promise of developing for Android as Android 1.6 is on this and was released recently for the Zii EGG. Hopefully they or whoever picks this up can get the Market on it...

 

[DrFunk]

There’s very little to report alongside this one other than the device you see before you is a prototype of the HTC Touch.B. Also known by its codename “Rome”, the Touch.B is said to be running Android despite its strong resemblance to HTC’s current Windows Phone offerings. The guys and gals at MobiFrance haven’t a clue about any other specs but have promised they should have more information tomorrow.

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/12/01/htc-touch-b-aka-rome-spotted-in-france/

I'd think it was too small to be the Passion, but who knows?

 

[mckmas8808]

A slide out keyboard is in there isn't it? I really hope so.

 

[Dazzla]

The chin of that phone looks strangely similar to the HTC "Passion":

Seems strange, the lack of a trackball (present on the "passion") suggests it's not Android.

 

[tokkun]

The rumored Passion shot has a trackball and a significantly larger screen than this Touch.B. And what is that weird off-center pad in the upper-right shot?

The size of the Touch.B looks all messed up, like the phone seems really thick and unnecessarily long, like it is a phone from the mid-90's. I would be tempted to say that it might be a budget phone, but they already have the Click/Tattoo.

 

[jonnybryce]

The Touch B has a lot of similar styling to the Hero, the curved backplate is exactly the same as is the USB port. I hope that's not the Passion, but it's definitely Android. The screen looks small and the front is confusing...don't know if I like.

As for the Zii Trinity...lol.

 

[Fatalah]

The Touch B has a lot of similar styling to the Hero, the curved backplate is exactly the same as is the USB port. I hope that's not the Passion, but it's definitely Android. The screen looks small and the front is confusing...don't know if I like.

Looks like a myTouch... I hope it's not the Passion either.

 

[reaver18]

gettin my hero in a few days. cant wait!

 

[WoodWERD]

Is there anything worthwhile on the horizon for Sprint this holiday? I was excited for the Moment but the old 1.5 interface and sub-par reviews killed it for me. I want a physical keyboard and the 2.0 interface, but it's getting tougher and tougher to hold on to my old ass flip phone.

 

[Fatalah]

http://www.htcpassion.com

"the address of the domain owner points to a vacant rental space right next to an AT&T store... been going around the web and has been assumed fake."

 

[Pimpwerx]

Is there anything worthwhile on the horizon for Sprint this holiday? I was excited for the Moment but the old 1.5 interface and sub-par reviews killed it for me. I want a physical keyboard and the 2.0 interface, but it's getting tougher and tougher to hold on to my old ass flip phone.

If you have the Hero, you're still on 1.5, but the latest Sprint software update makes it the best Android phone outside the Droid. That'll be surpassed in a matter of weeks or months though. I hope Sprint has something Snapdragon available in Jan/Feb. PEACE.

 

[Level 8 Boss]

Guys wondering if someone can help.

I've got my G2 touch (t-mob re-branded Hero) rooted running modaco custom rom 2.9. I want apps2sd and have heard that Amon RA's custom recovery rom is the best to partion my sd card (I'm lazy).

Does anyone know how to flash this onto the device. I've got it on the root of my sd, do you save as an update, and run it in recovery mode? Sorry, but I'm a noob.

 

[Vyse The Legend]

A test unit of the Sholes Tablet (keyboard-less Droid) has been spotted in the wild:

The differences from the Droid are:
1) No Qwerty Keyboard (the screen is the same size)
2) HDMI-out for 720p Video output
3) 8MP camera (vs. 5MP)
4) Xenon Flash (vs. Dual LED)

Also, it's confirmed to be UMTS, so it's either going to T-Mobile or AT&T.

 

[jonnybryce]

Is there anything worthwhile on the horizon for Sprint this holiday? I was excited for the Moment but the old 1.5 interface and sub-par reviews killed it for me. I want a physical keyboard and the 2.0 interface, but it's getting tougher and tougher to hold on to my old ass flip phone.

Sprint has some pretty great phones imo, but if you're looking for Android keyboard and 2.0 you'll have to wait for more Android phones to be announced. The only known 2.0 Android is the Droid.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

http://kevinrose.tumblr.com/post/267026891/top-10-gift-ideas-for-geeks

3. HTC Droid Eris ($99 w/2yr Verizon contract)
I admit it, I’m Android curious — and while I like the Droid, I’m over keyboards. The HTC Droid Eris is 100% touchscreen goodness w/the Android OS (see above link for review and details about upcoming update).

Apple fan numero uno is coming into the light. Things just got real.

 

[Randy Lanzarote]

T-Mobile Pulse is now £91 on PAYG (£10 mandatory top-up as well) http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobi...ates-rates/allowances/?WT.mc_id=ON_QM_A_BuyAT

If there was an instant way to get this working on Orange I'd be sending my Nokia 5800 off to Mazuma!

edit: Actually, does anyone know if there is a way to unlock the Pulse, or Android phones in general? (Note, not hack, just unlock to other service providers?) And is the Pulse confirmed as being capacitive, I remember some early previews insisting it was resistive.

 

[lionelhutz]

Great phone. The battery life was the only drawback before, but with the last software update from Sprint, it's a fantastic phone. Battery life is average for a 3G smartphone. Probably in-line with the iPhone now IMO. That's just based on an offhand observation. HTC Sense really makes this phone what it is.

If you're moving to a new carrier, you could consider the Droid Eris on Verizon, which is the same as the Hero, but is available for $30 at Walmart.com with a new 2yr contract. PEACE.

Nvm. I was asking about the FW version but found it to be 1.5 and it seems to be the latest version.

 

[SimleuqiR]

A test unit of the Sholes Tablet (keyboard-less Droid) has been spotted in the wild:

The differences from the Droid are:
1) No Qwerty Keyboard (the screen is the same size)
2) HDMI-out for 720p Video output
3) 8MP camera (vs. 5MP)
4) Xenon Flash (vs. Dual LED)

Also, it's confirmed to be UMTS, so it's either going to T-Mobile or AT&T.

Well after the SE X10 ordeal I have my doubts T-mobile will try to get any high-end Android phones in their line up for Q1/2010. First out of the gate, last to get to the finish line :-/

 

[Dimmuxx]

I got my Samsung i5700 galaxy spica yesterday, it's very nice and fast as hell!

 

[Fatalah]

Posted up in our comments under our Motorola Sholes Tablet article is supposedly another never-yet-seen Motorola Android handset. This is also apparently a full touchscreen device that features an 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and dual LED flash, 3.8 inch display, 800 MHz processor and has a sleek black, rounded appearance. Another picture after the break for you to enjoy while we send out our connects for more information…

 

[Totakeke]

Ugh, couldn't they come up with a better hardware design rather than the Droid with more rounded edges and a plastic-like behind? ;/

The better specs is nice though.

 

[Fatalah]

Ugh, couldn't they come up with a better hardware design rather than the Droid with more rounded edges and a plastic-like behind? ;/

The better specs is nice though.

True. I really like the style of the Droid. Not perfect, but I liked where Moto was going. Masculine, nice edges.

I know it's often said, but a ton of phones look way too much like the iPhone. Hell, even the Creative Zii looks like it, and it's not even a phone.

 

[NinjaFridge]

T-Mobile Pulse is now £91 on PAYG (£10 mandatory top-up as well) http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobi...ates-rates/allowances/?WT.mc_id=ON_QM_A_BuyAT

If there was an instant way to get this working on Orange I'd be sending my Nokia 5800 off to Mazuma!

edit: Actually, does anyone know if there is a way to unlock the Pulse, or Android phones in general? (Note, not hack, just unlock to other service providers?) And is the Pulse confirmed as being capacitive, I remember some early previews insisting it was resistive.

Pretty sure that it's capacitive. I think that you can buy unlock codes from some sites for £3 or £4.

 

[mckmas8808]

That phone looks so sexy.

 

[Pimpwerx]

That phone looks so sexy.

Meh. My next phone will have a big, honking screen like that, and an 8MP camera, but I'm not settling for some gimped snapdragon. It's 1GHz or bust. I'll wait for them to get decent battery life at that clock speed. I don't think any snapdragons are running fullspeed yet. PEACE.

 

[D'ultimate]

What phone do you have now Pimpwerx?

I was thinking of getting the Droid this weekend but the thought that a bigger screen Android phone might be right over the horizon is just too much. "I can't do it Capn" [/Scotty]