Step aside, JAC Hero, there's a new firmware in town. Fatal1ty (
that Fatal1ty?) and nk02 have not only managed to obtain the
HTC Hero's new (and almost final) Sense UI-infused firmware, but have spruced it up for consumption by HTC Magic / Dream users. There's naturally a bit of glitchiness -- apparently WiFi and Bluetooth don't work at the moment, and the camera is all funkified, but the real treat here is the first implementation of
Flash 10 on Android, even if it is a bit "laggy" on the RAM-starved G1. The widgets are also on display, and other than Flash the general experience is apparently pretty snappy. Naturally, the xda-dev folks won't be leaving well enough alone, and we should be seeing refined versions of this and future Hero firmwares leading up to and after the release of the actual device.
[Via
xda-developers forum; thanks Jeremy W.,
screenshot by johnnylicious]
posted Jun 30th 2009 10:40AM
cool
If you don't want to flash your phone, here's all the wallpapers from the new HTC Hero build. Amazing! http://htcsource.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=604&Itemid=47#josc1016
XDA dev's i choose you!
I just wish someone wiul dhurry up and get a good build of android onto Winmo phones..
cant stand 6.1 any more..
Why aren't you using 6.5 then? ;)
can you get 6.5? if so link?
I tried a few winmo 6.5 roms on my tilt and they worked great for the first day or two but became very glitchy and laggy after that. Once phones start launching which actually support it i believe it will be a great mobile OS. But what i am looking forward for even more is to see what they come up with in winmo 7 since it will be an entirely new OS and not a fancy new UI on an old platform. All in all winmo has everything you could want in a mobile OS, it just needs to be packaged in a more user friendly way.
Anyone care to try this on their G1?
ahh its a pain to try to get this on
im stil trying though
Time to flash back to Hero again! XDA here I come!
JACHero uses this release version of the Hero firmware as well(as of yesterday afternoon)
I think HTC is behind the game. They need to start making phones with the arm cortex processor and OLED screens if they expect to compete with Apple and Palm. And a 3.5mm headphone jack would be great too.
uumm... they are getting there.... just wait little more... the have the 3.5mm headphone jack in Hero... and probably will have it in next models... and about screens and cortex processors.. (I have no idea about that) but I assume they might have a contract with some kind of company so they can't really change them... (just a guess)
I somewhat agree... But with their virtually unlimited degree of tweaking and personalizing through android. They are way ahead of the game. I love my G1!
look at this this way... People complain about WinMo6.1 they get Android (I would like 6.5 though), people complain about 3.5mm Headphone jack and they get it.. I think HTC is doing their best. .
and engadge's comment system is not-__-..
They need the snapdragon.
I have a G1 and owned an iPhone before that.
I'm waiting for the first tegra powered Android phones before I purchase my next phone, once that happens we'll truly see what mobile gaming is about.
Hopefully the UI is as buttery smooth as the iPhone too, that's the only thing I miss.
The Hero has a 3.5mm jack. As for the rest, since neither the iPhone or the Pre have an OLED screen and there is little difference for all intents and purposes between the Cortex 8 and the MSM7200a it's really down to personal preference.
Exactly...
New HTC Android phones should have a MINIMUM of 256MB RAM and a 500mhz ARM Cortex-A8 or ARM Snapdragon equivalent. (Snapdragon is a custom ARMv7 core with better performance and power efficiency than Cortex-A8).
The G1/G2 are far to slow compared to the 3GS and Pre.
Android has been using Qualcomm MSM chips, importantly and almost quietly it has been expanded to MIPS. This opens up Android to a wide variety of processors such as Godson, Tegra, Snapdragon, among others. These processors not only expand the speed of Android but are extremely battery efficient and robust to handle FLASH.... even though currently android does not outspec the competition at the moment... by the end of the year we shall see who outspecs who... with what was 18 android sets left minus the 3-4 that have been or are about to be released... there is a lot more phones to come with a lot more capability.. not to mention the ones that come stateside might be different configurations than their European siblings...
Sounds like Mortal Kombat levels, hee hee...
wish the whole carrier/subsidy thing wasn't such a huge hassle here in the states. can't just buy a phone and use it. it's ridiculous.
i'm unwilling to bog down my G1 with this heavy UI, but i would love to just pay the money and pick up something with more horsepower and not get locked in by subsidy.
just pay 600$ get a phone then throw a sim in. why can't it be that simple? oh no, if you want a non-carrier specific unlocked non subsidized phone we're going to charge you 900$.
ridiculous. phones don't cost 900$. i've had enough of your shenanigans.
and mind you, 600$ is being EXTREMELY generous. we've taken these things apart, we know what they cost to make
it would probably make around 200bucks if not less... but software and so on,, and they go to make profit...
The problem is that we have four major carriers and none of them have fully cross-compatible technology. You can pretty easily get an unlocked phone from Europe and run it on AT&T or T-Mobile without carrier approval, but you'll be limited to EDGE data speeds.
Um... the developer HTC G1 is $400. Quit yer bitching.
that's what i have. and from a hardware perspective it is a lump of coal :|
i yearn for something AMOLED and Snapdragon with my android.
for about 600$
Flashed my Google Ion with Fatal1ty's v1 Magic-compatible ROM. It's much more stable than the SuperHero v2 I tried a week ago. However it's still slow and my custom ringtones didn't work. I haven't tried the latest ROM yet (v1.1).
What are the chances we can get some of the widgets without the full OS?
Pretty much 0, they use the proprietary libraries(and sometimes each other) so taking out one of those libraries breaks everything.
Actually pretty high, the htc hero's music already working great in JF's build.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=530572
"funkified"??
Can you dig it?
Somebody said you had to flip between video and camera then it started working normally. Others said it's just horrible looking.
XDA rocks! Can't wait for it to make its way into some non-Android phones to do some testing. Android really needs a better interface than the stock UI.
I have zero interest in Flash on my handheld. HTML is designed for all kinds of devices, and it's the real hypertext web. Most Flash-only web sites were created thoughtlessly and wouldn't be usable on a small device. Google's strong support for HTML 5 will make Flash unnecessary.
Multitouch would be nice, if only so the iPhone users don't look so silly trying to use the phone, though I prefer on screen controls so you can use the device with one hand.
What I'd rather see than this is constant optimization for the G1/Dream, which will benefit all devices. It would be a travesty if the G1/Dream were made obsolete by required new features before a few years pass.
kinda ridiculous to say most stuff wasn't written with hand held internet devices in mind so let's blow off the whole thing.
as if people can't make new content for the platform anymore... nope. can't be done.
ryan, my point is I don't want Flash in the future. HTML (for all its growing pains) is a thing of beauty, it emerged with the Internet disruptively and creates open, linked data as it goes along. Flash is a blob of goo from Adobe that is a short term solution to the problem of needing more dynamic, canvas level toolkits. There are so many entertainment and restaurant sites that are done entirely in Flash, where they're trying to create an "experience" when I just want to find out where they are or who's playing tonight, and can't or it is aggravatingly more difficult because some Flash designer, who for many purposes couldn't be bothered to figure out how to do it in HTML, made something that should have been handed out on a CD-ROM in 1995 and has no place on the modern web. Android getting Flash is a fail. I hope the iPhone never gets or needs Flash.
So flash is useless?
How about:
Flash games?
Hulu?(megavideo...)
You know it would really helpful for developers too. For instance some games for iPhone are just Flash converted games.. so you won't have to sit and convert them..(if it is free it is good, if not then rewrite it)
Dking, then they would lose all the platform level features. The game would be bigger, slower, and eat more battery.
Anyway all this will be done with HTML 5 in a year. It has full support for the canvas and media. That's where everyone is heading - Google, Palm, WebKit (Safari/etc). We will see some level of cross-device compatibility for dynamic apps that use local features like location. But it will be based on standards and preserve the advantages of HTML.
If you were Apple, Palm and Google, would you optimize for an Adobe controlled Flash where you're constantly contributing to your competitor, or a multiparty developed Web standard where you can be a leader.
sorry not that geeky about all this stuff...
Re: huh
Dude, do you actually work in web programming? I've been building sites for over 10 years. I am an ActionScript developer now, and know intimately the strengths and limitations of the Flash Platform. To say HTML is "a thing of beauty" is absurd, and you really undermine your credibility saying dumb shit like that. HTML is friggin hoax. JavaScript in the browser would be even funnier if it weren;t so sad. The one thing Flash has going for it over its browser-dependent ancestors is a relatively stable VM that runs on all target platforms as expected. Does Flash have issues? Of course. Are there dumbasses out there writing terrible Flash applications? Of course. But the market has proven that Flash is a robust and viable medium for online apps, especially video. You need to get your head examined if you think the people working with HTML 5 have a clue about the intricacies of video. Putting video on the internet as a business venture is a hell of a lot more complicated than you may know. I do it all day, every day.
By the way, Adobe enabled "view source" in the Flash Player to further adoption of the language (and mimic one of the key strengths of HTML), but unfortunately it is not often used by developers.
@Huh
While I agree that most Flash sucks, it is still the de facto way of streaming music and videos on the web. Until a fully streamable audio/video codec comes along that works (AND is adopted) on all major platforms, Flash will continue to reign supreme.
It sucks, because I too hate Flash with a passion, but there you have it.
Also, don't confuse markup languages (HTML, XML, etc) with multimedia technologies. HTML is not going to replace Javascript or Flash or whatever else comes along. For now, and in the foreseeable future, that will simply not change.
fashionista, that's interesting, and I might even take you seriously if you weren't such a potty mouth and obviously biased. The could have/should have info about what most Flash designers don't do is particularly impotent. For sure HTML has had some issues over the years as standards bodies and individuals struggle with its intricacies and failings. We'll see in a few years, or we can just look at the Web today and see how much important content is Flash (zilch, aside from a few video players). The good news is your skills will transfer as what you talked about is not unique to Flash.
Dmitri, quite right, Flash is the most suitable media player on the Web today, but that's a single role really, and is done as a single facet of an HTML site. I could imagine a very interactive Flash video player scooping HTML 5, but one of the goals of HTML is to make Flash unnecessary, as the Web should be entirely multi-party standards based. With the huge growth of mobile devices like the iPhone, Androids, Palm, etc, for the foreseeable future, it is not sensible to code essential elements of a site in Flash, and videos are best streamed today via a link to YouTube.
@fashionista
While I agree that Huh didn't really understand what he was talking about, I also think that your calling HTML a "friggin hoax" reveals an ignorance unsurpassed by Huh or anyone in recent memory.
Well la-di-da
Dimitri, maybe you should take a deeper look at what is happening with HTML 5 before calling others ignorant. I certainly do understand what I'm talking about. While I've very intentionally eschewed Flash, aside from the occasional embedding of Flash video, I have developed many interactive sites and follow the main direction of web standards, with experience of how the heel-dragging, meddling and inabilities of various players interacts. I'd like to see a future with no Flash, and it's likely to happen within a few years outside the playground/commercial aspects of the web, unless Adobe really pulls up its socks and forces Flash developers to do things properly in the way that xHTML forces sites to be more compatible and accessible.
@huh
Your heart is in the right place. Really. But your understanding of the web is more wishful thinking than reality (with no disrespect intended).
You wrote: "one of the goals of HTML is to make Flash unnecessary".
That is demonstratively false. Not mostly false, or matter-of-opinion false, but absolutely, 100% false.
Where did you get that idea? Who said that? Certainly not the W3C organization; I guarantee you that.
Anyway, I fully agree with you, in principle, that Flash generally sucks, but that is where our agreement ends.
Cheers.
D
@fashionist So AJAX web development is a hoax? Ill make sure to let the web 2.0 devs know. Ill bet they get right on closing down Facebook, twitter, linkdin and al the other HTML+Js hoax sites.
"Hai guys, shut it down, fashionista says that everything your working on is a hoax, yup just like area 51 and the cold war. I know it doesn't make any sense, but i read it on the internetz from a professional FLASH developer, so you know its true".
A 1 armed monkey could put flash video on the internet, its not hard and certainly not something i would go around bragging about while downplaying the language that makes it even possible to put it on the internet. Of course to even try to defend a closed source plug-in while calling yourself a "Web Developer" pretty much invalidates your whole argument.
Sure there is a place in this world for flash, but that place is getting smaller and smaller and if we are all lucky it will one day disappear into nothing like what flash did to the open source SVG.
"HTML (for all its growing pains) is a thing of beauty"
As a developer I couldn't possibly disagree more with this statement. HTML is an abomination that's holding back the entire software industry. Designing a simple interface with HTML, CSS, and Javascript is many orders of magnitude more difficult than it needs to be. It is far and away the most difficult language I have ever used, and I've used quite a few. It needs to die as quickly as possible and get replaced with something that isn't horrible.
If you want to see a markup based interface language done right, take a hard look at XAML. It's not an open standard, but it's truly a beautiful and powerful (and easy to use) language. HTML is pathetically antiquated in comparison, there are superior alternatives out there.
i doubt any of you naysayers know the first thing about what flash even does. HTML5 doesn't even come close. it's ridiculous to even make the comparison. oh wow you can embed videos.
if you think that was the primary function of flash you are pretty dumb
Just to clarify, I am a developer but not specifically a web developer. I work mostly in managed languages like Java and C#, with some unmanaged C++ on the side. I approach HTML as a person who is experienced at programming in general but who struggles constantly to get HTML and Javascript to play nice in any kind of complex scenario. When things do work, the code is rarely elegant or beautiful as it usually is with compiled languages.
I'm also not saying that a proprietary Microsoft standard should take over the web. That would be pretty horrible for everyone. I'm simply saying that Microsoft has developed an XML based markup language for user interface that is both significantly more robust as well as exponentially easier to write, so I know that HTML isn't "as good as it gets" for a text based interface markup language, and I would prefer that it gets phased out in favor of something much closer to XAML in design.
HTML was developed back when transferring large amounts of data was considered a thing of dreams, and the fact that we still use (and build upon) such an arcane system is ridiculous. There is no reason why a "webpage" can't be a standardized compiled piece of software. The fact that you have to "work" with HTML to make a page look the way you want it to and "check it" against other browsers, shows its problem right there.
I hate flash, but one thing is with flash, you load it on ANY platform that supports it, and it looks the EXACT same (sans-performance), you don't have to put in 2 API calls into your scripts for backwards capability, and, other then the HTML embedding, you don't have to test it on 5 computers to make sure it looks the same.
XAML and silverlight are great to work with, feel more like traditional programming, and give you consistant, relilable results. HTML was developed to make quick vertical slop via scripts when the web first came out (think geocities). Now-in-days we have to Frankenstein web pages together and hope that all our APIs talk nicely, ;
The fact that there still exists jobs to convert "photoshop mockup to working web page" and it can't be done 100% of the time (still no subpixel positioning) shows that HTML is not good.
HTML != a thing of beauty
just my 2cents.
@ryan And if YOU think that video and Audio are the primary standouts for HTML 5, then you sir are the less intelligent one. You got animations both 2d and 3d, you got Canvas which is life in browser multi-user vector drawing, the list goes one. Flash will die a horrible death hopefully sooner than later.
You could call adobe and ask them but they are closed for the week, hmm interesting.
@dan2600
Where are all you people coming from??
Flash and Silverlight do NOT always behave the same way on all browsers and platforms, even when you're running the same version.
As a programmer who is quite familiar with Flash and both iterations of Silverlight (1.0 is completely different from 2.0), I can tell you there are LOTS of inconsistencies and bugs.
A Flash SWF that works fine on one system or one browser, may inexplicably crash on another. I know this all too well.
If you haven't inexperienced such problems, you're still green. Give it 10 more years and talk to me then.
D
Tell you what, you guys go mess around with some "neat" programming languages, I'll keep focusing on the open, hypertext and evolving Web which we have thanks to HTML, which you clearly don't understand (comparing HTML to a programing language is astounding ignorance) is critical as a universal open standard designed for any device, rather than whatever it is you think is so great about Silverlight or today's other branded kit. We would not have anything like the Internet from Microsoft or any other single tech company, so maybe you would be happier on a closed AOL or Compuserve or XBox land, where your programs work perfectly on computers exactly like yours (same OS, performance, libraries and general display/io properties). The web sites I develop are for government and health and are meant for everyone, not gimmicks for bored people, and fortunately standards are where the weight of the Internet goes.
ooooh i so want to try this, but i can't deal with no WIFI, so I shall wait for a little while longer.
It seems all (or most) of the Android devices use the same class of CPU... I would love to know when something a lot more powerful is going to surface. These devices are obsolete CPU wise. Thinking to the future for power it needed.
Just as an FYI, JACHero is already up to 2.0r6, and he has Wifi and a few other things fixed.
justanotherdev: @cyrowski it looks like they took a saphirre ROM and dumped the system apps and framwork on it
Can you guys ever research your shit before releasing. There is already a Jac version of this out and a superhero on the way.
Is flash 10 visually/graphically enhanced then its predecessors?
Finally Sprint is getting some cool phones!
Sources speaking to PhoneNews.com have confirmed that Sprint is internally testing the HTC Hero currently slated for release at the end of the year.
The biggest news however, has to do with Samsung and its device currently in testing which is a CDMA/WiMax device running Android according to preliminary details.
No amount of Hero ROM refining will get me a 3.5mm headphone jack on my G1.
No but for £($)2-3 you can buy a htc port to 3.5mm adapter i have one for crappy HTC phone its not rocket science to figure out im bored of people whining about no 3.5mm port
So yea... Think about it artic fox... Your listening to music on your phone and it dies... what are you going to do now? Unplug your headphones and use the usb port for charging... you have no other choice... No headphone jack was a stupid decision on the G1 and its a bad decision on the mytouch. Some enterprising person needs to find a way to make a usb adapter that has the usb plug and another port on the thing so that way you could charge and listen to music on headphones at the same time.
I had a 6 hour layover at an airport right after I got the phone and I had to sit there watching stuff on youtube with my head next to the speaker while I was charging it.
Don't worry, I bought two. A regular 3in. wire adapter and a 3 in 1 adapter. The regular one broke right away (I pulled too hard on the wire unplugging the headphones) and the 3 in 1 has terrible static while the phone is plugged in charging. I'm a big fan of the G1 ... some things are just nice to have.
@KrazyCalvin
There are a bunch of those out on the market, they've been available for years for HTC's other handsets. Just do a search on Amazon for extUSB to 3.5mm adapter. You'll get a bunch of standalone things, but there are at least a couple splitters available as well. They're a little more expensive ($10-15), but they work.
I agree that a bonafide headphone jack is better all around, but there are solutions to your problem that don't involve buying a whole new phone.
Personally, I just carry a separate MP3 player (flash Zune, to be exact) because I'm still not sold on the concept of using your phone as a music player. It's kind of cool for stuff like Last.fm and streaming radio, but to just listen to my MP3 collection I'd rather use a standalone unit with physical music controls. It seems more cumbersome to juggle the music player running in the background on your phone than it is to just carry a separate physical device where the music interface and controls are always available no matter what you're doing.
It's just not fast enough for me to use as a day to day firmware, I'll stick with my CM mod firmware, it's fast as hell. Hopefully the sense UI get's optimized for the G1 and someday it becomes fast enough for everyday use.
Yes, the CM mod is incredibly fast...my g1 leaps at the slightest touch, its great, especially if you've overclocked(doesn't CM mod do it by default?)
@engadget
this fatality->Johnathan Wendel
@engadget
this fatality->Johnathan Wendel
This is running on an HTC Touch Pro just fine!
@engadget
this fatality->Johnathan Wendel
I played around with installing custom roms back when I had an MDA and most of the time the rom was more harm than good. Mainly i would have problems with phone calls not ringing in... Id just randomly have a voicemail without a call. When I would flash back to the default rom it would be fine. Id rather not beta test a phone operating system, thank you... I have enough troubles without having to deal with a phone I broke myself.
I just flashed this ROM...the beauty and functionality of it is unparalleled rght now.
But as someone stated...it's just too slow for everyday use
Thanks, Engadget, you crashed XDA.
Dear engadget,
Please keep us up-to-date when a stable release is available, even if it's by download squad!
And thanks for this awesome news.
I'll be testing the new JAChero based on this tonight. I'll let everyone know how it works. The latest version before 2.0 was pretty snappy and stable enough for someone like me. Hopefully this compares.
It's not bad. An easy install with Jacman's 2.0r6. Definitely better widgets than 1.7 had. Big issue right now is no MP3 support so no music and also no ringtones for incoming calls as well as no alarm clock. Kinda a big deal, but all things considered, I can live with it till the next rev.
JAC and Manup are the real heroes.
For all those Android ROM developers out there: while working on the other updates, can u squeeze in UMA support (T-mobile hotspot@home) somewhere there? :)
With low signal receptions @ my new place, really miss my BB Curve for the wifi calling feature.
Hi there,
I'm Andrea Baccega co-owner of www.androidiani.com ..
Could you please cite us as the official announcement about the Magic rom?
And.. The rom was first created for htc magic and it is under development for the dream. (Wifi doesn't work)
The "official" announcement is here and not on xda-developers.. Please change the link to:
http://www.androidiani.com/news/i-nostri-heroes-ci-regalano-la-hero-2985
PS: fatal1ty is not the one you think :)
Isn't this kind of like what you were beating Haykuro up about in your diatribe about how self-centered he is behaving (see http://www.androidiani.com/news/androidiani-presents-haykuro-2999#more-2999 ).
You, too, are seeking attention and credit for hard work, in this case scooping the spy-shots of the Hero. Human trait that is, attention seeking.
Cheers,
Will S.
I know the Iphone was/is a great product.. but why must every post about other phones be filled with some comparison? Can people just stick to the current topic of discussion?
It's actually Flash Lite 3.1 that's installed on this device. However, if anyone can confirm it has Distributable Player capability then it *may* be possible to update to Flash 10 OTA at a future date.
BTW, those interested in developing for devices using Flash should check out our upcoming book we wrote the developer community at large. :)
AdvancED Flash on Devices:
Mobile Development with Flash Lite and Flash 10
http://www.friendsofed.com/book.html?isbn=9781430219040
More screenshots here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9982622@N02/sets/72157620742967010/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9982622@N02/sets/72157618858201445/
WOW! Engadget is late!
I had it (Hero build) running since Monday....or Sunday......wow.....does it really take 4 days to get this "news"......