End users of HTC's
Hero are now getting official access to the
major new firmware build that's been floating around lately, with the company's Danish site being among the first to offer it to downloaders official stamped as version 2.73.405.5 (for comparison, UK visitors are still left out in the cold as of this writing). The big deal here is speed -- the new build stamps out many lag-related concerns buyers had at the phone's initial release, and we've heard (and seen) that the new code is nothing short of magic. Unfortunately, US residents still don't have a good reason to expect to find this on their local HTC support site yet -- Sprint won't be dropping the Hero until early next month, at which point we'd certainly hope the latest and greatest speed improvements would've already been incorporated -- but Europeans hesitant to give the Hero a shot might want to give it another look with the new goods installed.
[Thanks, Frederik C.]
posted Sep 14th 2009 7:03AM
Interesting. I'd like to hear from anyone who has used this as the demo on Modaco looked very good but practical evaluation is needed.
It is awesome. The speed difference is nothing short of amazing.
I had my reservations at first but with this update I would not swap my Hero for anything, including a 3GS.
Running MoDaCo ROM v2.0 btw.
I can give practical evaluation.... :)
The phone undergoes a magical transformation to an iPhone killer! I must admit that I was beginning to get frustrated with the previous (default) build, as it was lagging in every respect. From switching screens, to opening SMS messages, typing or just making phonecalls etc. All these issues have been polished out.
Of course the MoDaCo requires rooting, which can be a little bit of pain, particularly when you are completely new to this, but I just couldn't wait any longer, as I would have thrown the phone against the wall.
The update seems to have resolved issues with disappearing SMS or better say I have had nothing going missing since. Also, there was an issue with WIFI indicator not working properly on (some) encrypted networks. This is now fine too.
So, it is thumbs up to HTC (and Paul from MoDaCo) for the update. The only outstanding issue is getting bluetooth transfers sorted, as the BlueEx app doesn't work on Hero.
Any questions, please ask away.
This is good news as the European reviews were very favourable with the exception of the lag. If this issue has been fixed then the phone will move to the top of the touchscreen pile.
Speedup is massive, including with all widgets enabled and signed into Facebook (which slowed down the UI considerably in the original release).
This is the smoothest multitasking phone ever - kudos to HTC.
If only Sprint kept the chin.
Yeah I really want the white version of the phone. I really don't want that cheap gold striped Chinese looking knock off version sprint wants to peddle. And I was so excited when I heard the hero was coming to sprint. Now I'm not.
Come on Sprint, bring us the original Hero.
The Sprint version doesn't have the gold stripe. Look at the official pictures.
yeah but now i dont have 3g
Good to know
Looking forward to Josh re-reviewing this as the Sprint device.
I just upgraded my Hero yesterday. The speed improvement is nothing but phenomenal. It does not lag anymore and it's really nice to use and fast!
There are a few typos here and there in the translations and some wrong labels which I find sluggish from such a big company like HTC.
But hey - now I've got a fast phone with danish UI with a only few typos here and there. BIG improvement! :-)
Now we just need the new 1.6 donut, the newly designed Market application and the possibility to buy applications in Denmark and other countries.
I have no doubt someone else will beat me to the punch, but checkout http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=508
Update is available for all who care to take a look here, there is now also a choice of custom ROMs.
And it really is that much faster and smoother.
Been running this for a few weeks now, I'd go as far as to say it renders any compaints about sluggishness obsolete.
Doesn't it still have a crappy Touchflo UI? Is that even usable?
About what i thought...
Actually it's quite obvious you seldom think at all.
I have an Orange networked (locked) Hero in the UK and am desperate to upgrade to this new ROM. A couple of questions, if you wouldn't mind:
1) Will this Nordic ROM update work on my Orange locked Hero or do I need to do some wizardry (what is all this 'rooting' about??) Or is it worth waiting for the official HTC UK version?
2) If I install the ROM direct from the HTC website and it wipes the phone, once it's updated itself, is it just like getting a brand new Hero. i.e. is it simple to just set the phone up again?
"rooting" your phone allows you to install 3rd party custom ROMs, this is an HTC offical update that you will get from Orange or HTC eventually google for it and see if you can download it.
So Engagdet how about another review with the updated firmware.
I predict, in Josh's review: numerous comparisons to iPhone, with the Jesusphone somehow coming out on top in most categories.
Although I don't subscribe to the "there must be an iPhone killer" mentality, I think this phone is definitely a step forward in the evolution of Android devices. It would be nice for Google to let us G1 and MT3G users legally (without rooting) flash this rom, as it really gives Android some kick. I think this little guy can quickly become the geek's (read: most of us) preferred phone over the iPhone, just because of all the improvements, and the iPhone is getting a little stale in my opinion.
Still, I wish they would've kept the chin and the teflon white. That was a fuckin sexy phone. I'll wait a year or so with my MT3G to see where Android goes by then. I think it's just starting to explode now.
For those wanting the rom now, you may want to look here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=559622
Hi guys,
Here's a video of Paul demoing the new update and as stated by the lucky few who have the update and are using it, it is does indeed appear very fast and responsive. Wow. I guess this just shows how promising Android can be and the advantages of it being open source.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYV9NNoI8Hc
Why are US customers waiting on Sprint to subsidize the phone with outrageous subscription plans?!? You can just buy the phone unlocked, no?
The Sprint model will be CDMA. The unlocked units are GSM.
It's even fast on my Vogue, as long as I keep the memory usage down. The Hero has 160MB more RAM than the Vogue, so I'm sure that isn't much of a problem.
It's even fast on my Vogue, as long as I keep the memory usage down. The Hero has 160MB more RAM, so I'm sure that's not much of a problem.
so will Engadget be reviewing this update?
if this fixes most of the issues that they had with the phone, will they be perhaps re-reviewing the phone.
God I cant wait till the 11th!
I've been on the fence when it came to the hero of Pre, i think i'm going the rout of the Hero though... I never would have guessed it a few weeks ago...
here is a sample of the the Firmware update... Mostly showing the speed of the hero after the update.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYV9NNoI8Hc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2Fvideosearch%3Fq%3Dhtc%2Bhero%2Bupdate%26www_google_domain%3Dwww.google.com%26hl%3Den%26emb%3D0%26aq%3D0%26oq%3Dhtc%2Bhero%2Bup&feature=player_embedded
Question... I have the HTC Hero and bought it last Friday love it but it does lag. I was wondering if I can download this firmware even though in using the phone in the U.S and on AT&T's network will it do anything to the phone or the settings I have on it now?
Thnx
Sweet, Its out for the UK now!
It is here, folks! For all european customers, his majesty the hero now with ahead speed ahead. I am so happy I bought this wonder. Hey Josh! Why don't you look at this beast a second time?
I upgraded to the new firmware from the UK site. Yes, the phone seems to be faster in the home screen, the video playback is now usable, I noticed some improvements in the music player. However, the keyboard is sluggish when typing, and I'm having a problem that I didn't have before: in the browser, if I'm using it in landscape and press the search button, the top notification bar tries to show up and all the screen starts to "shake". Is anybody having the same problem? I'm posting this from my Hero and I must say, the keyboard sluggishness is very annoying.
Hey Guys,
I am in Australia, and the firmware is not available on the Australian HTC website!
Is there any other way I could download it?