HTC Hero spied with Cox firmware?
By Chris Ziegler 
posted May 17th 2010 9:27PM
posted May 17th 2010 9:27PM
We've known for some time that Cox -- a name traditionally associated with cable television -- is on the cusp of turning over its trial CDMA networks in a handful of markets to the public as it marches towards LTE on a swath of 700MHz bandwidth, but what we don't know is the kind of hardware selection we can expect once these guys go live. Take it for what you will, but it seems that an unbranded CDMA HTC Hero that looks suspiciously like Sprint's version of the handset has just changed hands on Craigslist, and -- you guessed it -- it's got a Cox splash screen when you power it on. Cox's strategy boss said just last week in an interview with Light Reading Cable that there'd be Android devices in the mix for the launch, but he played coy when pressed on details; the Hero could certainly be on the short list, but doesn't it seem a little long in the tooth to kick off a brand new network launch? Of course, this could be a hoax or a cobbled-together prototype to help test the trial network, so we'll just have to hang tight and see how this cookie crumbles; in the meantime, follow the break for the damning video evidence of the Cox Hero in the wild.
lol, cox
@bougelahi
I thought all Heros came with cox....
Oh, wait..
@bougelahi
lol
@account5
Why do you let this guy on here engadget?
@SolidSnake
Not Justin Beiber
@SolidSnake Wonder-woman, but we all know she wants one in her.
@bougelahi
The name just sounds like the nickname of a gay rights activist.
@account5
yeah hey troll, how about crawling somewhere else and spew your unintelligent crap there. no one cares what you have to say, so why are you still continuing to bother with it? do you understand that after almost every single one of your comments are whited out, there's a chance NO ONE here actually cares what you say?
christ.
cox employees in my area (Newport news, VA) are already using these phones, this is not fake. they are piggybacking off of Sprint towers
@uhhmoney
and damn, dude, have you heard of AUTO FOCUS????
@uhhmoney
ikr
@uhhmoney
Blame Mr. Blurrycam..
He NEVER listens.
@uhhmoney Many of these "blurrycam" photos are likely taken with devices (such as cellphone cameras) that have a fixed focal length and therefore cannot properly focus on close up objects.
OMFG I HATE COX SUCH ANNOYING SERVICE
I pay for 15mbps internet, i end up with less than 100KBPS
They screw me over soo much and they suddenly cut off the internet sometimes. So fking annoying.
@fowenati
btw im in SoCal (OC) to be specific.
@fowenati
Cox in OC isn't that bad, I regularly get over 30mbps on my 10mbps plan.
@Lando Calrissian
Well i pay for 15mbps, and get less than 1/10
@fowenati
I have 2 houses in OC, in irvine i get around 55kbps, even though im paying for 15mbps. In newport i get 90kbps and im paying for 15mbps. Are you telling me this is good? and when they guy comes to fix the problem all i get is an increase in speed for 1-3 days and it goes back
@fowenati Sounds like Time Warner for me in western new york, pay for 10mbps, my speedtest.net results say .44down, .87up.
Its pathetic, they've come and checked it twice in the last year and both times told me the signal is fine and plenty strong and therefore not their fault Just like its not their fault I lose service (cable and internet) for an entire day once a month. I can deal with it for 12 days a year, I just wish they'd man up and take some responsibility instead of trying to blame everyone and everything but themselves for their crappy service.
Im moving in a month and Im not going anywhere that doesnt have FIOS
@wsh03370
Just moved out of Buffalo. We were about to get FiOS too.
Time Warner Cable sucks.
@wsh03370 wow that sucks, i pay for 15mbps Comcast and usually get 30mbps Comcast. (by usually i mean almost every single "local" speedtest)
@wsh03370 Wow that sucks. You don't have to have fiber to get decent speeds. http://www.speedtest.net/result/817914400.png
@slipdisc
Well some of our providers screw us over. FiOS is available everywhere EXCEPT irvine and newport, its cause the irvine company has a monopoly over those areas and has struck a deal with COX so that they are the only provider (leaving out ATT cause their speeds are even worse and more expensive)
@fowenati File a report with the FCC
@fowenati I call BS. I've lived in Irvine for over 8 years and have lived in three different houses. The slowest I've ever gotten is around 20% less than rated speed (So 8Mbps instead of 10). 99% of the time it's operating at rated speed. All of my friends who have Cox never complained either.
So, either your computer has problems, or the coax line to your house has problems. Either way, why don't you give cox a call? Or switch to uverse, my neighbors says it performs as advertised.
Also, Cox only offers 10Mbps or 20Mbps in Irvine/Newport not 15.
@Roller
I just checked, we were paying for the 20mbps, but switched back to 10 becuase nothing happened, our router is a new N router, and we have had teh idiot come at least 10 times. From what iv seen though my friends that don't live in westpark have outrages speeds and my friends that do have the same speeds as me. Anyways idk why i still get this crap at my newport house.
@fowenati
I just did a speed test, now i am getting 1mbps max thats 1/10 of my paid speed.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/817965012.png
@fowenati http://www.speedtest.net/result/818024076.png
sux for you I get almost 20 up and pay for 10 =P
cox rox
@wsh03370 heres my latest speedtest link
http://www.speedtest.net/result/808305083.png
...yeah...roadrunner "highspeed" in buffalo 10mbps my ass. Sad part is my street did get FIOS last year but they stopped at an intersection 10 houses down from me and wont run it to my house, I called and asked five times before giving up. But like I said above, Im moving in a month anyway
Cox firmware? We have a wiener!
@furquanatique
This made me chuckle :)
@Bskballa92
-ring ring- ring ring-
"Oh excuse me hunny, I have to handle my cox."
"Hello?"
"one moment hunny, im still busy touching my new cox."
...
WHO THE HELL IS DUMB ENOUGH TO NAME THEIR SERVICE AS A PRIVATE PART?
Mite as well call Microsoft, SoftPenis.. .. WTF!
What a horrible idea. I already get to explain why cox cable is so much worse than uverse now their cell phones too? What's next directv iphones?
@circarider I would buy...
@Alexpeegs at least it wouldn't be at&t
Anrdroid takes Cox and loves every minute of it
@AlienSix
Android takes Cox and loves every inch of it.
Since Comcast has 3G/4G wireless internet I'm guessing we'l have more and more companies selling cell service
"Cox Hero"
...
...
...
no comment
@KeegdnaB
Hero of Cox, oh wai...
Cox ucker!
More competition in the cellphone business the better.
I could see someone like Cox jumping on board with a new 3G network and side-stepping all the costs associated with a legacy network.
If true, this could be good... more competition the better.
@Hazdaz They are going to be a really weak MVNO who tries to supplement things with some of their own sporadic coverage. The prices will not be competitive. They are banking on their existing customers enthusiastically bending over for whatever bundle this will certainly be a part of. That's my prediction anyway.
@Sawawa The articles indicate Cox will use their own infrastructure and initially also use Sprint's service... so they're not going to be primarily a MVNO.
twenty bucks says Cox gets 2.1 before Sprint users do! Even tho I rooted I'm still somewhat bitter about that whole update thing
Will give cox for 2.1... o wait nevermind
I didn't even know Cox was gonna provide cell service.
can't stand cox; can't wait to get rid of them in my house.
@iamajim
they suck, giv me 1/10 of my speed http://www.speedtest.net/result/817965012.png
I hope it's not too veiny.