This morning, HTC launched their latest Android phone, and some say “flagship” phone with its state of the art HTC Sense user interface (“Sense UI”), the Hero, in MidValley Gardens Hotel. If you had been following me on Twitter, much of the information will be known to you already. Please see my tweets for more pictures taken at the event; I attach some additional ones below.
Here are some takeaway points from the launch, based on information in the press kit, presentations as well as answers to my questions which I posed during the event:
- the recommended retail price of the Hero in Malaysia is RM 2,399. It’s available in white or brown. The white version has a Teflon coating, presumably to help keep it clean(er). Both versions will have a fingerprint/smudge resistant screen. I couldn’t test this claim, as I believe the demo unit I handled came with a screen protector, which naturally had some fingerprints on it, with the Hero being a touchscreen phone!
- Celcom will be announcing their own plans and packages for the HTC Hero at a later date. It’s confirmed coming to Celcom, only the details need to be worked out. I suspect the plans will be very much similar to the plans on offer for the HTC Magic, the first Android phone in Malaysia.
- the Hero, being a non-Google branded device, will not come with the Android market. Instead, users will download and install applications using an application called SLIDEMe, which comes as a part of the Hero firmware/operating system. There is an additional application called “mroidstore”, also known as “marketroid” application (which can be downloaded from http://drop.io/mroidstore), which the user can install to download and install additional applications. I’ve been told there are some “local” applications, but I can’t tell for sure because I don’t have a review unit yet. The reason for the exclusion of the Android Market is because of licensing issues, HTC assures me that they are currently working on sorting this out, and if and when the Android Market becomes available, a new firmware upgrade/update will be issued to include the Android Market.
- I neglected to ask about the availability of the Hero in stores, but you can always call up your favourite PDA/smartphone retailer to check! Alternatively, you can call the HTC Call Centre, at 03 – 5569 8878 to check!
As you know, I have been playing with the HTC Hero’s ROM/operating system on my old T-Mobile G1 aka HTC Dream, HTC’s first true Android device, for some time now. The experience was not optimal due to the old hardware on the G1, with the software lagging all the time. I’m happy to report that based on my very limited time with the Hero, it is fast. The transition from homescreen to homescreen is quick, applications launch fast, and there were no noticeable lags whatsoever. I shall have more to report when I receive a review unit (hopefully soon!).
At RM 2,399, I think this warrants serious consideration to people wanting to try out a new platform. The use of the HTC widgets in the “live” homescreens (ie. the content of the homescreens change whenever you are online) is unparalled in any other smartphone platform. So is its use of 7 homescreens. HTC has done a stellar job of hiding the complexities of a mobile operating system from the end user, and should be applauded. I hope this “more reasonable” pricing beginning with the Hero (the Magic retailed at RM 2,699 when it was first released, leading to below expectation sales, in my opinion) will spill over into HTC’s Windows Mobile (WinMo) devices as well. We all want to see more affordable devices, and more of them! And my only major sore point with HTC devices has been somewhat erased with the reasonable pricing of the Hero.
HTC Hero™ from HTC at a glance:
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Processor
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Qualcomm® MSM7200A™, 528 MHz
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Operating system
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Android™
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Memory
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ROM: 512 MB
RAM: 288 MB |
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Dimensions
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112mm (L) x 56.2 (W) x 14.35 mm (T)
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Weight
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135g (with battery)
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Display
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3.2-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 320×480 HVGA resolution
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Network
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HSPA/WCDMA:
- 900/2100 MHz
- Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
(Band frequency and data speed are operator dependent.)
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Device Control
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Trackball with Enter button
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GPS
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Internal GPS antenna
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Connectivity
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Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g
HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)
3.5mm audio jack |
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Camera
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5.0 megapixel colour camera with auto focus
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Audio supported formats
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MP3, AAC(AAC, AAC+, AAC-LC), AMR-NB, WAV, MIDI and Windows Media® Audio 9
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Video supported formats
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MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 and Windows Media® Video 9
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Battery
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Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
Capacity: 1350 mAh
Talk time:
- Up to 420 minutes for WCDMA
- Up to 470 minutes for GSM
Standby time:
- Up to 750 hours for WCDMA
- Up to 440 hours for GSM
(The above are subject to network and phone usage.)
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Expansion Slot
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microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
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AC Adapter
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Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
DC output: 5V and 1A |
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Special features
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G-sensor
Digital Compass(3rd party software is needed) |
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Value Added Applications
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HTC Sense™, HTC widget, HTC Scenes, HTC Sync, Google Maps, Microsoft® Exchange synchronization, PDF Viewer, Quick Office, AK Notepad, Stock, Weather, Footprints, Twitter Peep, Smart Dialer, and Teeter game
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In the meantime, enjoy the additional pictures I took at the event below. Please, no insults about the quality of the photography – I have shaky hands, the venue was rather dark and I’m generally three quarters blind, so I can’t frame shots properly!
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If you’ve been reading this blog as well as listen to the ITChannel podcast that I am a part of, you’ll know that I’ve been consistently hammering Microsoft Malaysia regarding the Windows 7 launch – there’s no official price list to be found anywhere on the Microsoft Malaysia website, as well as the low key publicity surrounding the launch. First off, we had the launch event later than the rest of the world. While other people have moved on with their lives, we were only just beginning to get introduced the Microsoft’s latest and (some say) greatest operating system. And the launch events/roadshows – what event? What roadshow? Just check out these two pictures I took of the event in the Curve shopping centre last week, the second venue in the string of roadshow events around Malaysia.
