HTC Hero Phone

[POS Racing]

So my 4 year old Cell decided to go to a better place earlier this week.....

So I ditched AT&T and the old phone and got myself a HTC Hero from Sprint.

Still trying to figure what this thing is capable of doing. I watched the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars game on it last night.

So do any of you have on of these phones? What apps do you like and what advice can you give a newbie owner.

[Miatamaniac92]

I got the same phone about a month ago. I love it so far.

My favorite are the following:
Google Maps (for live crowd-sourced traffic info)
Yelp
Trapster (crowd-sourced hiding spot locations for radar w/ google traffic overlay)
The Weather Channel app
Advanced Task Killer
Flashlight
Compare Everywhere (uses camera to scan bar codes and compare prices online)
Google Skymap



Gizmodo has a great list of apps:
http://gizmodo.com/5423054/essential-android-apps/

And since you have multiple lines (I assuming for business and home) you might try to give Google Voice a try if you can get an invite (still waiting on my second, my first one expired).
http://gizmodo.com/5425039/how-to-to...h-google-voice

The only bad part I've found is that text messages from unknown numbers acts strange on the phone.

Chris

[Maverick]

I don't have the Hero, but I have a MyTouch which runs the same Android OS. Your phone is capable of doing much more than you'll likely ever ask it to.

My favorite apps so far are Google Maps, Google Places, Weatherbug Elite and NewsRob for RSS feeds. Google Sky Map is fun to play with, as is GPS Status and the Google Goggles beta.

ES File Explorer has a lot of nice features in addition to being a file manager, like the ability to browse your local network (via WiFi) and has now added FTP as well.

I use CurveFish's widgets for WiFi On/Off, Bluetooth On/Off, 2G 3G On/Off (when I'm not browsing the web or downloading apps, switching to 2G-only saves tons of battery), and Brightness Level. They're just shortcuts so I don't have to dig through the settings menu to toggle them on and off.

I'm not sure how good the web browser is on the Hero, but the default one on mine sucks, so I use Dolphin Browser, but I'm also awaiting the release of Fennec, which is shaping up to be much, much better than any other mobile browser on the market.

There's a mobile version of Photoshop that gives you limited photo editing functions, Wapedia for Wikipedia articles, Amazon.com has an app, and there are many apps for tracking exercise and weight loss, if you're into that sort of thing. Usually about once a week I'll just browse the Market just to see what's there.

A hearty second to the info Miatamaniac gave you. There's dozens of Android-centric websites which all have their own recommendations, but the Gizmodo list covers most of the best apps out there.

[POS Racing]

Man I can't get this thing to sync with my work computer..... It is beginning to piss me off.

[jrj512]

Man I can't get this thing to sync with my work computer..... It is beginning to piss me off.

That part is always a PITA. I find that they often send old versions of software with new phones that do not yet support the phone. Check for a new version f the sync app from the manufacturer's web site.

[Miatamaniac92]

There is a firmware update for the phone already, though it doesn't upgrade to Android 2.0.

Chris

[POS Racing]

Well looks like it may be caused by some sort of a conflict with some old Ericsson cell phone software I had in my work computer many many moons ago.....

[CobaltFire]

I have an HTC Dream, aka T-Mobile G1.

I typically use Google Maps, GMail, and PDANet for Tethering.

There is a lot more you can do with the Android phones; I expect them to overtake the iPhone in the next year at the rate they are going. They already have in the military from what I have seen.

[Miatamaniac92]

Browsing with it now while riding back to the state capital. Ftw

Chris

[POS Racing]

Yea I know I dug up and oldie!

Any of you kids try the 2.1 upgrade? Is it worth the effort??

Software Update for the HTC Hero with Google
Provides updates to your HTC Hero, including the Android 2.1 update.
The software upgrade posted below provides several key enhancements for your HTC Hero:
Upgraded OS to Android 2.1 Éclair
Includes enhancements to Sense UI
Includes enhanced corporate email support
Includes a variety of minor bug fixesTechnical Specifications:
Dated: 5/19/2010
Software Version: 2.27.651.5
Download (117MB)

[goofygrin]

ya the 2.1 is a big upgrade. Wife is salivating for the new HTC Evo phone (no pun intended).

[Dave04]

Ya'll haven't updated to Android 2.1 (aka Eclair)? They've announced Android 2.2 (Froyo) will be released in June.

Announced features of 2.2 include:
* Faster, changes to Just In Time compiler to provide large performance boost and smaller memory footprint
* Wifi hotspot tethering support
* Native Exchange server support
* Flash 10.1 support

[goofygrin]

The HTC phones get the releases late because they put their own touches on them :-/

[onething]

Anybody teach this series of phones to not butt dial yet? I keep getting calls from pos that he doesn't know about.




















Maybe my question should be can anyone teach pos how to not butt dial.

[LePapirrikY]

you should try getting the EVO :)

[brandonmpace]

I love Android phones!
This year when I upgrade I'm getting one. So glad someone finally brought linux to phones.

[Miatamaniac92]

I did it last week and I like it.

Make sure to backup your contacts using HTC Sync or one of the other backup application in the Market.

The biggest improvement is the keyboard speed (not as much lag) and Google Maps turn-by-turn support.

I haven't seen a difference in battery life.

Chris

[POS Racing]

It was a spooky upgrade!

But all seems to work I use google contacts so no worries about contacts since all that stuff is on the interweb.

I like the NAV better than the Sprint Crap Nav. I haven't really typed on it much yet! What else were they fixing??