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HTC Hero review
The HTC Hero has been an object of lust for some time now for gadget enthusiasts. Even from the earliest days of leaked hardware shots and blurry demo videos of its UI, smartphone fans seemed to agree that the company had finally achieved what has been missing in the world of Android. Namely, a polished and attractive device -- polished enough to go head-to-head with the iPhone -- that kept its open source heart. So, here we are months later with an actual, bona fide Hero in our midst. Yes the reports were true, it is a beautiful device, both inside and out (though of course opinions differ on that chin). But does being a beautiful device mean Android is about to move to a bigger stage? Is HTC's spit-shine enough to overcome some of the hurdles that have plagued the platform? That question -- and more -- is answered in the text below, so read on for the full review.
HTC adopting Android on 50% of its handsets in 2010?
Uh oh Microsoft, this can't be good news. HTC, the premier manufacturer of Windows Mobile cellphones is rumored to be shifting half of its handsets to Google's Android OS in 2010. To put this in perspective, HTC lists 28 devices on its European website and of those, just 2 run Android, the rest are WinMo. DigiTimes' sources also claim that HTC is on track to make 30% of its 2009 handsets Android-based which means that several of Andy Rubin's 15 to 20 Android handsets coming this year would have to be HTC branded for this to be true. DigiTimes also claims that HTC will launch a handset that's simultaneously a "high-profile 3G handset" and "entry-level model" with touchscreen and TouchFlo 3D / Sense UI. HTC is said to achieve this seemingly contradictory feat by basing the handset on Qualcomm's BREW Mobile Platform when it launches in September or October. Of course, none of this is confirmed, but will undoubtedly be a topic of discussion when HTC reports earnings on July 30th.
The HTC Hero has landed... in our hands
Guess what the Gadget Stork delivered on our doorstep today? A robot baby? No. Better. An actual, real, in-the-Teflon HTC Hero. Let's just say this -- it's pretty much the sexiest Android device ever created. We're not going to go into too much detail right now, as we're planning on delivering a full review next week, but we do want to say that this thing has our eyes glazed over like Scrooge McDuck checking out a pile of gold... if you know what we mean. HTC has truly outdone themselves here, not only with build quality (the thing kind of feels like a luxurious rock in your hand -- it's a good thing), but so far the software seems truly outstanding as well. Of course, we haven't taken the deep dive yet, so for now, feast your eyes on these photos, and get ready for the main event.Update: Oh why, HTC? Apparently, this thing ain't covered in Teflon at all. According to the company's PR, only the white models are getting the dirt-resistant treatment. We're guessing the unit we have is just sporting a regular, soft-touch coating. It feels good and all... but now it seems so much less special
HTC Hero pre-release model taken for a spin, previewed in Russia
It's been less than two weeks since we laid hands on HTC's latest Android masterpiece, the Hero, and so while we wait to see it again, the cats at Russian site Mobile-review have gotten some extensive time with a pre-release engineering sample, and give it some high marks for those in the "tech geek" demographic who are looking to pick one up. Some caveats to be had, including the use of pre-release Sense UI firmware and the curious case of calling the screen resistive, especially since the model we used was definitely the more finger-friendly capacitive, and all the promotional material we've seen show a capacitive model in use. Still, it's well worth a read, if for nothing else than a glimpse at the sample pictures / video we can expect to capture with the phone ourselves.[Thanks, Fegan]
Engadget Podcast 152 - 06.26.2009: The Day the Music Died 2
Yes, that's the one and only MJ to open the podcast -- this one was recorded just shortly after the Engadget crew had learned the news. Join Josh, Paul, Nilay and special guest Chris Ziegler as they deny the Nokia N97, get angry at the HTC Hero, bargain with Windows 7, depress themselves over the fate of the netbook, and finally learn to accept the Zune HD's Tegra processor. We won't lie -- Engadget Podcast 152 was a struggle, but in the end we all learned a little something about life, love, and forgiveness. Update: Any further tasteless MJ jokes will be met with a swift ban. Be nice! Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller Guest: Chris Ziegler Producer: Trent Wolbe Song: Billie Jean Hear the podcast 00:02:26 - Nokia N97 review: a tale of two bloggers 00:26:28 - HTC Hero running Android and Sense UI leaks from HTC's own website (updated, official, video) 00:30:28 - HTC Hero hands-on: Flash, keyboard and ruminations (updated!) 00:48:09 - Windows 7 official pricing announced, limited pre-orders start tomorrow 01:03:40 - HP Mini 5101 cleans up nice, shows the serious side of netbooks 01:05:15 - HP ProBook 4310s hands-on 01:10:25 - Entelligence: Netbooks, R.I.P. 01:22:50 - Zune HD has a Tegra processor, confirms official Zune podcast Subscribe to the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC). [RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator. [Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace Download the podcast LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) LISTEN (OGG) Contact the podcast 1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com. Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget
HTC's Sense UI not coming to any "Google" branded phones
We've got some good and bad news... mostly bad, though. First, the good news: HTC is looking into finding a way to bring its new Sense UI -- the one featured prominently in the new Hero -- to its non-Google branded Android devices, such as Canadian carrier Roger Wireless' Magic. Unfortunately, and this is the bad news, even that's not a sure thing, and as you can probably guess from the wording, any phone that's got the "with Google" branding, like T-Mobile USA's G1 and myTouch 3G, won't be getting a chance at all due to the same licensing terms that prevented Microsoft Exchange clients on those same phones. Them's the breaks, folks, but we're sure some hacker with enough know-how will bypass the silly restrictions and do it anyway.
HTC Hero hands-on: Flash, keyboard and ruminations (updated!)
We're going to need some real time with the device to make a final opinion, but we're cautiously optimistic that HTC has a winner with its new Hero. Here's what we've got from our first looks at the phone in London and NY: The beveled edges along the back makes the handset sit comfortably in the hand, and while the teflon coat doesn't necessarily feel revolutionary, it's going to make a world of difference after a couple of months riding in our grubby pockets. It's certainly solid, but much more so than other "brick" phones. The Sense UI (or as HTC terms it, "user experience") riding a capacitive touchscreen offers a people-centric approach to managing your information that is absolutely dreamy at first blush -- though it shares a lot of TouchFLO heritage. In fact, HTC promises to have a very similar Sense-branded experience for Windows Mobile. The on-screen keyboard also seems quite useable with a nice simulated haptic forced-feedback bounce when you strike each key in either landscape or portrait mode (which can naturally be deactivated). HTC has built its own touch keyboard from the ground up, and in our brief couple of tests we'd say it's probably the best touchscreen typing experience we've ever felt. It never lags behind, and has great colorful visual cues for its auto-corrected words -- green means it's suggesting a correctly spelled word, red means we've gone off the beaten path, and the T9-style multiple suggestions are heavenly. This intuitive one-hander isn't shy with the specs either as we've already seen in the official press release. Our only concern is possible sluggishness from the Qualcomm processor that cause the graphic transitions to stutter a bit and results in screen rotations that feel dangerously uncomfortable. We were told that the device we saw was running pre-production firmware so there's still time to tweak -- though not much with a July European launch. The Hero is not a "Google Experience" device. As such, you won't find the Google logo anywhere (no big deal) but you also won't be downloading any firmware updates over the air -- sideloading only kids. Not a deal breaker but an annoying and seemingly arbitrary limitation nonetheless. There's still a small lack of clarity of how updates will work with HTC's "mods" living on top of basic Android -- even if they're able to port in new Android versions seamlessly, we imagine there will be some breakage. For a device without a physical keyboard, the Hero seems a little thick up against its HTC Magic, Nokia N97, and iPhone 3G counterparts, but not overly so. HTC has confirmed that whichever (unspecified) carrier gets the phone in the US will have a modified version, both in software (carrier-specific services) and in hardware chassis tweaks. Just don't take our teflon away, ok HTC? Battery is the same larger slab that's in the myTouch, and HTC also claims to have done some vague, unspecified things OS-side to improve battery life as well. "Heavy users will be able to get through a day." The camera is responsive and seems to do a fine job at autofocus, but wasn't astonishingly great at first glance. The phone will be available for free on T-Mobile UK -- if only we could be so subsidy lucky in the US. There are four videos for you after the break. The first shows Flash running at full screen on the HTC Hero courtesy of YouTube. The second, however, shows it failing when running a trailer from Yahoo Movies, just like Adobe did -- in fact, it crashed all four times that we tried it on what we were told was a Hero running the final build of the OS. Third one is a quickie showing the on-screen keyboard rotating from portrait to landscape and back. Lastly, we demonstrate the hardware a little bit and show off our lightning speed at typing. For the real completists, there's also a new gallery of hands-on shots from the NY launch event right below.
Adobe demos Flash on the HTC Hero
Been hankering to see what Flash -- via the Open Screen Project -- actually looks like on an Android (or any modern mobile) device? Well hanker no more, ya'll. Adobe has helpfully dropped a video on us which has Flash team member Adrian Ludwig demo'ing the newly minted HTC Hero (multitouch gestures included). Once the content loads up, it seems to run at a pretty snappy rate, though waiting on Flash content to appear doesn't look encouraging if you're in the midst of casual browsing (or on a weak connection). We'll be interested to see what this is like in the real world -- and for platforms beyond Android -- but for now at least we've got something to go on.Read - HTC Hero: The first Android device with FlashRead - New HTC Hero Delivers More Complete Web Browsing Experience with Adobe Flash Technology
HTC Hero running Android and Sense UI leaks from HTC's own website (updated, official, video)
As we prepare for HTC's official launch event today, we're starting to see some details appear on HTC's own website of the much rumored Hero. Through some URL trickery, we've managed to unearth several details that confirm the previous rumors. Hero includes the new HTC Sense widget-based interface that puts at-a-glance info right up front on the home screen where it belongs. A new Scenes profile feature lets you transform your phones focus from business to weekend mode. Viewing your contacts shows the usual data in addition to the interactions you've had through social networking status updates and photos from the likes of Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, and Twitter. A dedicated search button searches the phone as well as services like Twitter. In fact, like Palm's Pre, the HTC Hero seems ready to fully integrate your local data with all your subscribed social media sites. The biggest deal here, however, might just be that HTC is touting this as the first Android device to support Flash out of the box.Inside you'll find Qualcomm's MSM7200A proc running Android at 528MHz, 512MB/288MB ROM/RAM, 3.2-inch TFT-LCD with 320 x 480 pixel rez, 900/2100MHz HSPA and Quad-band GSM, trackball, GPS, 802.11b/g WiFi, 3.5mm audio jack, G-sensor, compass, and 5 megapixel auto-focus cam with microSD expansion. It's all there baby. The White version of the device has an industry-first Teflon coating (right, just like your pans) to keep things clean and grime free. Multi-touch and anti-fingerprint coating too. Hero arrives in Europe in July with T-Mobile and Orange, Asia later in the summer, and North America even later in 2009. Stay tuned for a full hands-on, but for now, enjoy the press shots in the gallery below and the new video after the break!Other HTC Hero coverageRead - Adobe demos Flash on the HeroRead - Hero hands-on and impressionsRead - Product pageRead - Official PR
