HTC dropped a present at our door today: an unlocked HTC Hero, all ready for the official Android Community review. We wasted no time in shooting a video unboxing and brief Sense UI overview video, together with a few in-hand photos to whet your (and our!) appetites.
In case you’ve forgotten, the HTC Hero has a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, HSPA, WiFi b/g and GPS, together with the latest Android OS 1.5 “Cupcake”. Where it differs from HTC’s previous Android devices, however, is in HTC Sense, the company’s new UI which integrates with the open-source OS and adds numerous widgets and other usability improvements.
We’ll have the full review of the HTC Hero very soon, after we’ve had the chance to put it through its paces. First impressions? It’s perhaps the best Android device to-date.
HTC Hero unboxing and Sense UI overview:
I really need it badly..
hope to hear a LONG LONG COMPLETE review! =D
so with the hero.. the phone comes preinstalled with myspace, fb, and twitter apps?
thats less apps taking up space id have to worry bout, not to mention i got like 4 fb apps and 5 twitter 1s lol
Unless of course I get Hero with Donut!
Chris
Chris
anyway, thanks for the pics!
I wonder if BlueX is still working with HERO, can you confirm it?
Chris
"The special thing about the browser is that you can access Flash video, which is a first for an Android device"
Nothing new, I know, but I was babbling
Chris
I hope they sell an unlocked version that works with T-Mobile 3G bands.
"The special thing about the browser is that you can access Flash video, which is a first for an Android device"
Nothing new, I know, but I was babbling
I only wish I got to keep it! Has to go back in a week
Chris
I hope they sell an unlocked version that works with T-Mobile 3G bands.
Chris
i usually dont like onscreen keyboards but if it works good in widescreen i might get a hero.
i still dont get why they put a trackball on those kind of handsets... what do i need it for?
Clinton
i usually dont like onscreen keyboards but if it works good in widescreen i might get a hero.
i still dont get why they put a trackball on those kind of handsets... what do i need it for?
Chris
Chris
Any idea what the other LED on the left side does?
cause the Hero has DUAL LED as i read in the specs.
and there's a light sensor on hero also right.
Any idea what the other LED on the left side does?
cause the Hero has DUAL LED as i read in the specs.
and there's a light sensor on hero also right.
I hope its not asking for too much but I would like to see a full section review on just adobe flash itself. I really want to see if it can play flash games well like say on (addictinggames.com), how are the games that require a keyboard going to work?
I also would like to know if flash on myspace or imeem would work that plays music will also work. Im really curious in these two features. Hopefully you can cover them. We'll be waiting for your review
If I could make a small request for the review, could you touch on the subject of how the new HTC apps and widgets compare to native Android apps and most used Market Apps? In other words, what does the new mail app mean for GMail users, how does the Twitter app compare to alternatives such as Twidroid, are those a trade between integration vs. features, things like that?
Thanks, and cheers.
What bluetooth profiles are supported? You NEVER see any information on any site about this, but I find it quite important. For instance, my carkit has Remote Sim Access Profile so I would need this to make a connection.
Cheers,
mcastelijn
Would you mind trying your HTC Hero with doubleTwist?
http://www.doubletwist.com
doubleTwist helps you sync your media to various devices and automatically converts video to the correct format for your device. We already support the HTC Dream and HTC Magic Android phones.
If the Hero doesn't get detected as an Android phone (i.e. you don't get the Android icon and there's no video tab), then you can use the Submit device info feature to help us add support for it.
Thanks!
Jon from doubleTwist
Update: forgot to mention that we've already added support for the Samsung Galaxy and it will be included in the next update.
What bluetooth profiles are supported? You NEVER see any information on any site about this, but I find it quite important. For instance, my carkit has Remote Sim Access Profile so I would need this to make a connection.
Cheers,
mcastelijn
In GSMarena, they put something in the magic like "Headset supprt only" while there is none with the HERO..
pls pls try!
=D
looks like a very good android phone!
Chris
http://thefeed.orange.co.uk/2009/07/...ro-demo-video/
Doesn't look like much customization has been done aside from a wallpaper.
I'm curious about the battery life, too. Really try to drain it and let us know how it lasts.
www.htcpedia.com
Not sure about the hardware, but I'm running a modified Hero ROM (JACHero 2.7.3) on a G1, and it works just fine with doubleTwist.
(for those who haven't checked out doubleTwist, do so. It's brilliant!)
Also, thanks to Chris for the great video unboxing. Very much looking forward to reading the review later in the weekend!
Would you mind trying your HTC Hero with doubleTwist?
http://www.doubletwist.com
doubleTwist helps you sync your media to various devices and automatically converts video to the correct format for your device. We already support the HTC Dream and HTC Magic Android phones.
If the Hero doesn't get detected as an Android phone (i.e. you don't get the Android icon and there's no video tab), then you can use the Submit device info feature to help us add support for it.
Thanks!
Jon from doubleTwist
Update: forgot to mention that we've already added support for the Samsung Galaxy and it will be included in the next update.
its avaliable in the netherlands from 22th...
Cheers
Cheers
<p>[IMG]http://androidcommunity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/HTC_He... Read more
Chris - techradar posted their review and are claiming that the OS is laggy and web browser is slow. Can you confirm or defute these claims. It could be that they have an early version?
Chris - techradar posted their review and are claiming that the OS is laggy and web browser is slow. Can you confirm or defute these claims. It could be that they have an early version?
as long as my hero works fine i'll be content :P
We shall see! but I suspect it will lag sometime when multitasking like every other phone that multi task! Wouldn't be a big deal for me but some will try to exaggerate the problem!
And I would like to see how it performs with the music playing in the background! I'm sure we'll gets some lag!
What bluetooth profiles are supported? You NEVER see any information on any site about this, but I find it quite important. For instance, my carkit has Remote Sim Access Profile so I would need this to make a connection.
Cheers,
mcastelijn by mcastelijn
ConnectiviteitBluetooth® 2.0 met Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) en A2DP
Cheers
MC
What bluetooth profiles are supported? You NEVER see any information on any site about this, but I find it quite important. For instance, my carkit has Remote Sim Access Profile so I would need this to make a connection.
Cheers,
mcastelijn by mcastelijn
ConnectiviteitBluetooth® 2.0 met Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) en A2DP
Chris
Chris
That said, you never find anything on bluetooth profiles anywhere. Not a single review that just creates a tiny little list.
Another question though. How would this device stand against the Palm Pre? Fellow gadget lovers tell me that the Pre supports multitasking and that the Hero doesn't. Is this true? Even Windows Mobile can handle multitasking (basically having multiple programs open and still being able to do something with them in the background), so I'd be amazed.
Cheers,
MC
Cheers,
MC
Clinton
Clinton
Clinton
Clinton
is that the magic with 288 mbs of RAM?
is that the magic with 288 mbs of RAM?
Clinton
Clinton
Chris
Cheers,
MC
Cheers,
MC
As soon as I hear anything I'll post about it.
Chris
http://androidcommunity.com/htc-hero...iled-20090724/
Chris