HTC Hero Android Phone Sprint

Posted by Smartphone Review on July 27, 2010

Built on the Android Platform, the HTC Hero for Sprint offers a rich mobile Internet experience, an intuitive user interface for extraordinary personalization power, and a full capacitive touchscreen display. With the Android smartphone platform, you’ll be able to access built-in Google mobile services–including Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube. And through Android Market, you’ll get access to thousands of useful applications, widgets and fun games to download and install on your phone, with many more apps being added every day.

Stay connected using the integrated social networking apps including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, as well as add more apps via the Android Market.

Capture on-the-go memories with the 5.0-megapixel camera/camcorder.

It also includes HTC Sense, a user interface overlay from HTC that makes it easy for you to create an individualized mobile experience tailored specifically to your needs.

You’ll enjoy high-speed connectivity via Sprint’s dependable 3G network (EV-DO Rev. 0.) as well as such optional services as Sprint Navigation for GPS turn-by-turn directions and Sprint TV’s video-on-demand with full-motion video and vivid sound (see more details on optional services below).

Stay connected using the integrated social networking apps including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, and capture memories with the 5.0-megapixel camera/camcorder. You can also get quick and easy access to specific voicemail messages via the Visual Voicemail feature, which enables you to go directly to a specific message, without needing to listen to or skip past previous messages. Other features include Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g), microSD memory expansion (up to 32 GB), access to personal and corporate e-mail, and up to 5 hours of talk time.

HTC Sense and Smart User Features

The intuitive HTC Sense overlay allows the HTC Hero to be completely customized according to your desires and needs via the seven-panel wide home screen, which can be populated with customizable widgets that bring information to the surface.

The HTC Hero users can easily create and switch between Scenes to reflect different moments or roles in your life, such as work, social, travel and play. For example, a work Scene can be easily set up to include stock updates, work e-mail and calendar; a play Scene could have music, weather, and a Twitter feed; or a travel Scene could offer instant access to the local time, weather and maps.

You can silence the HTC Hero by simply turning it over. It also offers an advanced smart dialer for quickly accessing contacts with just a few letters or numbers and a dedicated search key that automatically searches for only information relevant to the current function. When pressed in the mail application, the search will be for text within the mailbox, while a press of the same key from the browser will initiate a Google search.

This device also offers the HTC Footprints application, which enables you to chronicle your on-the-go special moments by capturing a digital postcard on their phone. Once captured, Footprints provides the ability to take notes and an audio clip of that favorite restaurant or special place while identifying its specific location. In addition to identifying each postcard with its specific GPS coordinates, Footprints also auto-names each postcard with its general location or area.

Key Features

Powered by the Android operating system with deep integration of Google services and access to thousands of apps to customize your phone via the Android Market.
Fast 3G connectivity thanks to Sprint’s EV–DO, Rev 0 network
GPS using Sprint Navigation for turn by turn directions, and points of interest searches
3.2-inch touch-enabled screen (320 x 480 pixels, 262K color depth, LED backlighting)
5-megapixel camera with auto-focus lens
Video capture capabilities
Digital audio player allows you to transfer music files from a PC or download tunes from the Amazon MP3 Store.
Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g) for accessing home and corporate networks as well as hotspots while on the go.
Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity with stereo music streaming (A2DP) capabilities as well as hands-free headsets and car kits.
Memory expansion via microSD card slot with support for optional cards up to 32 GB.
Access to personal and corporate e-mail with Microsoft Direct Push Technology and HTML support. Send and receive email from multiple corporate and personal email accounts. Also, get wireless email access to popular commercial POP3 and IMAP accounts like AOL, Gmail, and Yahoo!
Instant messaging via popular services including Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger.
View documents including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF on the go to maximize your productivity
Visual Voicemail gives you quick and easy access to just the messages you want to listen to by letting you go directly to a specific message, without needing to listen to or skip past previous messages.
Airplane mode allows you to listen to music while the cellular connectivity is turned off
TTY compatible
Hearing Aid Compatible (HAC) with a rating of M3 for hearing aids operating in the acoustic mode. This handset has a HAC rating of T3 for hearing aids operating in the telecoil mode.
3.5mm stereo headset jack

Vital Statistics
The HTC Hero weighs 4.5 ounces and measures 4.5 x 2.2 x 0.5 inches. Its 1500 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 5 hours of talk time. It runs on the 800/1900 CDMA/EV-DO Rev. 0 frequencies.

What’s in the Box
HTC Hero handset, rechargeable battery, charger, 2 GB microSD memory card, USB cable, quick start guide, user manual

Sprint Services

Broadband-like 3G network: Supporting the EV-DO Rev. A high-speed data standard, this phone enables you to download and stream high-quality video, straight onto your phone. Where coverage is available, EV-DO Rev. A connectivity provides average download speeds ranging from 400 to 700 Kbps, with peak rates up to 2 Mbps.
GPS capable with Sprint Navigation: This GPS-enabled phone provides optional access to Sprint Navigation for driving directions on your mobile phone–by voice and onscreen. Along the way, turn-by-turn directions will be announced in a clear voice and displayed on your phone. For example, Sprint Navigation will say, “Go 1.2 miles and turn right on Elm Street.” As you approach the turn, you will hear, “Turn right on Elm Street.” Sprint Navigation also provides proactive traffic alerts with one click re-routing. And it’s easy to find restaurants, banks, cafes, hotels and more from over 10 million points of interest across the U.S.
Sprint TV enabled: With Sprint TV, you can make your cell phone your always-on source for news, weather, sports and more. This comprehensive video service combines high-quality streaming audio and video from channels including ABC, The Weather Channel, Fox Sports, E!, CNN, The Discovery Channel, and more.
Stay Sporty with Sprint: With NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile, instantly connect to the NASCAR information you want, when you want it. Follow NASCAR action from practice to race day with real-time leaderboard and alerts. Get exclusive access to your favorite NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver with real-time driver stats, breaking news and more. Live in-car audio, race radio, NASCAR on SPEED and other audio/video only available on select phones. Visit sprint.com/speed for details.
To access, just text “NASCAR” to 7777 on your Sprint phone or visit the Sprint Digital Lounge to download NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile (standard text messaging and data rates apply).

This phone also provides access to Sprint Football Live–free for any phone with a data plan. You’ll be able to follow all the live play-by-play action with the Live Game Center for both pro and college football games, as well as stay on top of the pro football draft with a Live Draft Tracker and in-depth analysis and bios on nearly 500 top prospects. Access by texting “FOOTBALL” to 7777 on the handset to download Sprint Football Live from Sprint Digital Lounge (standard text messaging and data rates apply).

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars HTC Hero
Very happy with all aspects of the Hero. I have not encountered anything negative and would highly recommend to someone who desires an Android phone.

3 Stars Its ok….
phone is not all that it was hyped up to be. battery is horrible. I find certain areas of the screen to be unresponsive sometimes. call quality is good. speaker for speaker phone is not that loud. will not hardly play videos. you have to reformat them in a low quality to get them to play. also the youtube feature is horrible. i find that the phone probably only plays about 25% of the videos.

1 Star Slowest phone ever
This phone has a LOT of potential, unfortunately the software is TERRIBLE and it is either extremely underpowered or just poorly designed software. When the phone is new it is responsive to your touch, has a little bit of a lag when moving around but that’s normal.

Once you load apps on it and start attempting to use it towards it’s potential the phone becomes crippled and in my opinion is the worst phone I’ve had it 10 yrs. I often wait 3-5 sec after clicking on pretty much any button for my input to be acknowledged. When dialing a call I will hit the person’s name and it will actually not start the call for 35+ seconds. I’ve timed it with a stopwatch. It is so bad that in the beginning I thought it didn’t take my input so I’d retouch the screen. Fortunately, this phone is so smart that it would recognize both inputs with the huge lag so it would connect my call with person A, and then when i was on the call with person A it would dial person A again at the same time so I’d be talking to them and we’d both hear the phone ringing. They’d ask me, why are you calling again when we’re on the phone and I’d have to explain how ridiculously slow the phone is to respond and the problems. Only way to remedy this situtation is to hang up and retry.

The phone drops calls in areas where my old phone never dropped calls, so i’d rate reception as worse.

The battery life is awful. I use it fairly heavily, but after owning it for 6 months my phone battery is usually done after about 6hrs of being unplugged.

I upgraded to the new Android OS 2.1 but this makes things even worse. Seems to have some nice newer features but that just makes the phone hog the internet more and be less responsive.

Terrible lag when typing messages.

Why can’t the software developers figure out that this is a SINGLE CORE processor and it CANNOT multi-task. If the user is actively using the phone, background tasks need to be halted so that the phone can be responsive. I’m tired of waiting 5 seconds between each click, and actually set the phone down when navigating through screens (e.g. like adding a new contact, seriously!!)

5 Stars Amazing (really 4.5 stars)
Lets go down the list: (Ratings 1-5)

Design- Very nice, Solid, Awesome screen-5

Software- Android 2.1 is amazing-5

Speed- Uhh..usually fast but laggy delay when pressing talk and call actually starting-3.5

Camera- Good, but 5mp could be better-3.5

Integration- No complains equal to webOS-5

Call Quality- Really good speakerphone should be louder-4

Sprint service- Hated sprint in 05, MASSIVE improvements now, LOVE sprint all day everyday-5

Battery- ehhh its okay, for a high powered smartphone i’ll forgive-3.5

Show-off factor-LIKE 10!!! can hold its own against ANY phone

5 Stars The Hero is Awesome!
I have had my HTC Sprint Hero since November 2009. It is a great phone and I love the Android OS. It’s not quite as fast as the EVO or the Incredible (I love HTC phones :)) but the trackball is nice and its pretty responsive. Plus there are now 100,000 apps in the app Market, most of which are free. I have not had to pay for an app yet. If you are looking for the next hottest phone - get the HTC Evo, Droid Incredible or the Droid X (And i think the Droid 2 just got announced today), stay away from the iPhone with its reception issues and stay away from AT&T with their crappy Android phones. Get this if you want to be close to those other android phones but for less money. I almost went and got the Evo then i realized the Hero is still pretty sweet so it wasn’t worth the money for me. And if you get bored of it then head on over to XDA-Developers, root your hero and start loading custom roms!

Buy/More Info

Comments: Be the First to Comment

Filed Under: Wireless

Tags: 3g Network, Capacitive Touchscreen, E Mail, Flickr, Fun Games, Gmail, Google, Intuitive User, Memory Expansion, Microsd Memory, Mobile Experience, Networking Apps, Optional Services, Search Google, Social Networking, Speed Connectivity, Twitter, Vivid Sound, Voicemail Messages, Youtube

HTC Hero Android Phone Sprint

Posted by Smartphone Review on July 21, 2010

HTC Hero Android Phone Sprint

Built on the Android Platform, the HTC Hero for Sprint offers a rich mobile Internet experience, an intuitive user interface for extraordinary personalization power, and a full capacitive touchscreen display. With the Android smartphone platform, you’ll be able to access built-in Google mobile services–including Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube. And through Android Market, you’ll get access to thousands of useful applications, widgets and fun games to download and install on your phone, with many more apps being added every day.

Stay connected using the integrated social networking apps including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, as well as add more apps via the Android Market.

Capture on-the-go memories with the 5.0-megapixel camera/camcorder.

It also includes HTC Sense, a user interface overlay from HTC that makes it easy for you to create an individualized mobile experience tailored specifically to your needs.

You’ll enjoy high-speed connectivity via Sprint’s dependable 3G network (EV-DO Rev. 0.) as well as such optional services as Sprint Navigation for GPS turn-by-turn directions and Sprint TV’s video-on-demand with full-motion video and vivid sound (see more details on optional services below).

Stay connected using the integrated social networking apps including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, and capture memories with the 5.0-megapixel camera/camcorder. You can also get quick and easy access to specific voicemail messages via the Visual Voicemail feature, which enables you to go directly to a specific message, without needing to listen to or skip past previous messages. Other features include Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g), microSD memory expansion (up to 32 GB), access to personal and corporate e-mail, and up to 5 hours of talk time.

HTC Sense and Smart User Features

The intuitive HTC Sense overlay allows the HTC Hero to be completely customized according to your desires and needs via the seven-panel wide home screen, which can be populated with customizable widgets that bring information to the surface.

The HTC Hero users can easily create and switch between Scenes to reflect different moments or roles in your life, such as work, social, travel and play. For example, a work Scene can be easily set up to include stock updates, work e-mail and calendar; a play Scene could have music, weather, and a Twitter feed; or a travel Scene could offer instant access to the local time, weather and maps.

You can silence the HTC Hero by simply turning it over. It also offers an advanced smart dialer for quickly accessing contacts with just a few letters or numbers and a dedicated search key that automatically searches for only information relevant to the current function. When pressed in the mail application, the search will be for text within the mailbox, while a press of the same key from the browser will initiate a Google search.

This device also offers the HTC Footprints application, which enables you to chronicle your on-the-go special moments by capturing a digital postcard on their phone. Once captured, Footprints provides the ability to take notes and an audio clip of that favorite restaurant or special place while identifying its specific location. In addition to identifying each postcard with its specific GPS coordinates, Footprints also auto-names each postcard with its general location or area.

Key Features

Powered by the Android operating system with deep integration of Google services and access to thousands of apps to customize your phone via the Android Market.
Fast 3G connectivity thanks to Sprint’s EV–DO, Rev 0 network
GPS using Sprint Navigation for turn by turn directions, and points of interest searches
3.2-inch touch-enabled screen (320 x 480 pixels, 262K color depth, LED backlighting)
5-megapixel camera with auto-focus lens
Video capture capabilities
Digital audio player allows you to transfer music files from a PC or download tunes from the Amazon MP3 Store.
Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g) for accessing home and corporate networks as well as hotspots while on the go.
Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity with stereo music streaming (A2DP) capabilities as well as hands-free headsets and car kits.
Memory expansion via microSD card slot with support for optional cards up to 32 GB.
Access to personal and corporate e-mail with Microsoft Direct Push Technology and HTML support. Send and receive email from multiple corporate and personal email accounts. Also, get wireless email access to popular commercial POP3 and IMAP accounts like AOL, Gmail, and Yahoo!
Instant messaging via popular services including Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger.
View documents including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF on the go to maximize your productivity
Visual Voicemail gives you quick and easy access to just the messages you want to listen to by letting you go directly to a specific message, without needing to listen to or skip past previous messages.
Airplane mode allows you to listen to music while the cellular connectivity is turned off
TTY compatible
Hearing Aid Compatible (HAC) with a rating of M3 for hearing aids operating in the acoustic mode. This handset has a HAC rating of T3 for hearing aids operating in the telecoil mode.
3.5mm stereo headset jack

Vital Statistics
The HTC Hero weighs 4.5 ounces and measures 4.5 x 2.2 x 0.5 inches. Its 1500 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 5 hours of talk time. It runs on the 800/1900 CDMA/EV-DO Rev. 0 frequencies.

What’s in the Box
HTC Hero handset, rechargeable battery, charger, 2 GB microSD memory card, USB cable, quick start guide, user manual

Sprint Services

Broadband-like 3G network: Supporting the EV-DO Rev. A high-speed data standard, this phone enables you to download and stream high-quality video, straight onto your phone. Where coverage is available, EV-DO Rev. A connectivity provides average download speeds ranging from 400 to 700 Kbps, with peak rates up to 2 Mbps.
GPS capable with Sprint Navigation: This GPS-enabled phone provides optional access to Sprint Navigation for driving directions on your mobile phone–by voice and onscreen. Along the way, turn-by-turn directions will be announced in a clear voice and displayed on your phone. For example, Sprint Navigation will say, “Go 1.2 miles and turn right on Elm Street.” As you approach the turn, you will hear, “Turn right on Elm Street.” Sprint Navigation also provides proactive traffic alerts with one click re-routing. And it’s easy to find restaurants, banks, cafes, hotels and more from over 10 million points of interest across the U.S.
Sprint TV enabled: With Sprint TV, you can make your cell phone your always-on source for news, weather, sports and more. This comprehensive video service combines high-quality streaming audio and video from channels including ABC, The Weather Channel, Fox Sports, E!, CNN, The Discovery Channel, and more.
Stay Sporty with Sprint: With NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile, instantly connect to the NASCAR information you want, when you want it. Follow NASCAR action from practice to race day with real-time leaderboard and alerts. Get exclusive access to your favorite NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver with real-time driver stats, breaking news and more. Live in-car audio, race radio, NASCAR on SPEED and other audio/video only available on select phones. Visit sprint.com/speed for details.
To access, just text “NASCAR” to 7777 on your Sprint phone or visit the Sprint Digital Lounge to download NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile (standard text messaging and data rates apply).

This phone also provides access to Sprint Football Live–free for any phone with a data plan. You’ll be able to follow all the live play-by-play action with the Live Game Center for both pro and college football games, as well as stay on top of the pro football draft with a Live Draft Tracker and in-depth analysis and bios on nearly 500 top prospects. Access by texting “FOOTBALL” to 7777 on the handset to download Sprint Football Live from Sprint Digital Lounge (standard text messaging and data rates apply).

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars The Hero is Awesome!
I have had my HTC Sprint Hero since November 2009. It is a great phone and I love the Android OS. It’s not quite as fast as the EVO or the Incredible (I love HTC phones :)) but the trackball is nice and its pretty responsive. Plus there are now 100,000 apps in the app Market, most of which are free. I have not had to pay for an app yet. If you are looking for the next hottest phone - get the HTC Evo, Droid Incredible or the Droid X (And i think the Droid 2 just got announced today), stay away from the iPhone with its reception issues and stay away from AT&T with their crappy Android phones. Get this if you want to be close to those other android phones but for less money. I almost went and got the Evo then i realized the Hero is still pretty sweet so it wasn’t worth the money for me. And if you get bored of it then head on over to XDA-Developers, root your hero and start loading custom roms!

3 Stars Plagued by bugs and will not receive Android 2.2 upgrade
This is a very attractive phone and the HTC Sense enhancements to the native Android OS makes HTC phones much more polished than non-HTC phones. HTC enhancements include multi-touch, integration between Facebook and contacts (the Facebook profile photos of your contacts can automatically be associated with the contacts in your phone, for instance), and more. Android by itself is great, especially if you use Google Contacts and Google Calendar since the ability to sync between the phone and these apps is part of the Android OS. The phone looks cool, has a decently-sized screen, isn’t bulky, has a nice built-in camera, and is generally a nice product from a hardware standpoint.

The problem is that Sprint’s version of Android leaves a lot to be desired. Specifically (based on my own experiences and/or experiences of others):

* The phone ships with Android 1.5, even though 1.6 was released in September 2009, 2.0 in October, and 2.1 in January. The Sprint/HTC version of Android 2.1 doesn’t actually provide full Android 2.1 support, however. Live Wallpapers, for instance, is mysteriously missing from the upgrade. And, to add insult to injury, the upgrade to 2.1 requires a Windows computer. The irony here is that Android is built on Linux, yet Linux users can’t use Linux to upgrade their Linux phones. The last time I checked, even Mac users appeared to be left without a way to upgrade.

* Android 1.5 for the Hero is buggy. Receiving picture messages (MMS) while the phone is connected to WiFi, for instance, is just one huge bug. There are also GPS-related bugs requiring either temporary disabling of GPS and/or reboots of the phone (which take several minutes to complete) and problems where the phone will go to voicemail after only ringing a couple of times, if at all.

* Sprint/HTC’s Android 2.1 upgrade has released even more bugs that include reports of random crashes, delayed dialing (in some cases it takes several minutes to be able to dial out), inability to answer some incoming calls or shut off the alarm, and problems with Bluetooth among other things. A quick web search should turn up a lot of complaints.

* The Android ships with preinstalled NFL, NASCAR, Sprint TV and other apps that use resources but cannot be uninstalled. Personally, I like the Sprint TV app but have no need for the NASCAR or NFL apps but I can’t uninstall them. The only way to get rid of them is to “root” the phone, which voids the warranty on the phone.

* Sprint has confirmed that it will not be providing the Android 2.2 upgrade for HTC Hero phones, despite the fact that 2.2 actually provides incredible speed enhancements for Android phones and Hero users who have rooted their phones and installed 2.2 from other sources report huge performance increases with the Hero.

If you want a phone that fully supports Android 2.1 and above, and if you want a phone that will support Android upgrades in the foreseeable future, do not purchase the Hero–and certainly not on a 2-year contract in which your contract will outlive Sprint’s commitment to keeping the phone upgraded (that appears to have already ended). There are a lot of angry Hero owners who are furious at how Sprint has handled upgrades for this phone. You’re probably better off either paying a bit extra for the HTC Evo, or looking at other Android phones from other service providers.

If, on the other hand, you don’t mind voiding the warranty and hacking the phone a bit to use non-Sprint Android software, you may find that you’re able to tap into the phone’s real potential and surpass the limitations and frustrations experienced by those who have played by the warranty rules.

1 Star Android Platform Rock, HTC Hero does NOT…
I had this phone for a while, I eventually traded it for a palm pre, which so far I’vew loved. I do however miss the android platform and am looking into getting a Samsung Moment.

The HTC hero does not turn the screen off when you talk on it, so your cheek can press random buttons, start 3 way calls, etc.

The phone is slow. I was regularly killing my apps, but the OS was always freezing or randomly restarting on me.

I could NEVER receive picture mail.

I would enevr go back to this phone, it was awful.

1 Star Slowest phone ever
This phone has a LOT of potential, unfortunately the software is TERRIBLE and it is either extremely underpowered or just poorly designed software. When the phone is new it is responsive to your touch, has a little bit of a lag when moving around but that’s normal.

Once you load apps on it and start attempting to use it towards it’s potential the phone becomes crippled and in my opinion is the worst phone I’ve had it 10 yrs. I often wait 3-5 sec after clicking on pretty much any button for my input to be acknowledged. When dialing a call I will hit the person’s name and it will actually not start the call for 35+ seconds. I’ve timed it with a stopwatch. It is so bad that in the beginning I thought it didn’t take my input so I’d retouch the screen. Fortunately, this phone is so smart that it would recognize both inputs with the huge lag so it would connect my call with person A, and then when i was on the call with person A it would dial person A again at the same time so I’d be talking to them and we’d both hear the phone ringing. They’d ask me, why are you calling again when we’re on the phone and I’d have to explain how ridiculously slow the phone is to respond and the problems. Only way to remedy this situtation is to hang up and retry.

The phone drops calls in areas where my old phone never dropped calls, so i’d rate reception as worse.

The battery life is awful. I use it fairly heavily, but after owning it for 6 months my phone battery is usually done after about 6hrs of being unplugged.

I upgraded to the new Android OS 2.1 but this makes things even worse. Seems to have some nice newer features but that just makes the phone hog the internet more and be less responsive.

Terrible lag when typing messages.

Why can’t the software developers figure out that this is a SINGLE CORE processor and it CANNOT multi-task. If the user is actively using the phone, background tasks need to be halted so that the phone can be responsive. I’m tired of waiting 5 seconds between each click, and actually set the phone down when navigating through screens (e.g. like adding a new contact, seriously!!)

3 Stars Its ok….
phone is not all that it was hyped up to be. battery is horrible. I find certain areas of the screen to be unresponsive sometimes. call quality is good. speaker for speaker phone is not that loud. will not hardly play videos. you have to reformat them in a low quality to get them to play. also the youtube feature is horrible. i find that the phone probably only plays about 25% of the videos.

Buy/More Info

Comments: Be the First to Comment

Filed Under: Wireless

Tags: 3g Network, Capacitive Touchscreen, E Mail, Flickr, Fun Games, Gmail, Google, Intuitive User, Memory Expansion, Microsd Memory, Mobile Experience, Networking Apps, Optional Services, Search Google, Social Networking, Speed Connectivity, Twitter, Vivid Sound, Voicemail Messages, Youtube

Google Says Android Money Comes from Mobile Ads

Posted by Digg RSS Search for smartphone on July 18, 2010

Google's Android operating system is not material to the search engine, but Google makes millions of dollars from the advertising sold on Android smartphones sold all over the world. Android has become Apple's iPhone foil.

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Filed Under: News and Reviews

Tags: Advertising, Apple, Google, Iphone, Mobile Ads, Money, Operating System, Search Engine, Search Google, Smartphones

Vatican search brings fake paedophile site

Posted by Yahoo! News Search Results for ipad reviews on July 17, 2010

AN internet search for the Vatican through Google threw up a link to a website linked to the Italian word for paedophile.

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Filed Under: News and Reviews

Tags: Google, Internet Search, Italian Word, Search Google, Search Internet, Site Internet, Vatican

HTC Hero Android Phone Sprint

Posted by Smartphone Review on July 14, 2010

HTC Hero Android Phone Sprint

Built on the Android Platform, the HTC Hero for Sprint offers a rich mobile Internet experience, an intuitive user interface for extraordinary personalization power, and a full capacitive touchscreen display. With the Android smartphone platform, you’ll be able to access built-in Google mobile services–including Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube. And through Android Market, you’ll get access to thousands of useful applications, widgets and fun games to download and install on your phone, with many more apps being added every day.

Stay connected using the integrated social networking apps including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, as well as add more apps via the Android Market.

Capture on-the-go memories with the 5.0-megapixel camera/camcorder.

It also includes HTC Sense, a user interface overlay from HTC that makes it easy for you to create an individualized mobile experience tailored specifically to your needs.

You’ll enjoy high-speed connectivity via Sprint’s dependable 3G network (EV-DO Rev. 0.) as well as such optional services as Sprint Navigation for GPS turn-by-turn directions and Sprint TV’s video-on-demand with full-motion video and vivid sound (see more details on optional services below).

Stay connected using the integrated social networking apps including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, and capture memories with the 5.0-megapixel camera/camcorder. You can also get quick and easy access to specific voicemail messages via the Visual Voicemail feature, which enables you to go directly to a specific message, without needing to listen to or skip past previous messages. Other features include Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g), microSD memory expansion (up to 32 GB), access to personal and corporate e-mail, and up to 5 hours of talk time.

HTC Sense and Smart User Features

The intuitive HTC Sense overlay allows the HTC Hero to be completely customized according to your desires and needs via the seven-panel wide home screen, which can be populated with customizable widgets that bring information to the surface.

The HTC Hero users can easily create and switch between Scenes to reflect different moments or roles in your life, such as work, social, travel and play. For example, a work Scene can be easily set up to include stock updates, work e-mail and calendar; a play Scene could have music, weather, and a Twitter feed; or a travel Scene could offer instant access to the local time, weather and maps.

You can silence the HTC Hero by simply turning it over. It also offers an advanced smart dialer for quickly accessing contacts with just a few letters or numbers and a dedicated search key that automatically searches for only information relevant to the current function. When pressed in the mail application, the search will be for text within the mailbox, while a press of the same key from the browser will initiate a Google search.

This device also offers the HTC Footprints application, which enables you to chronicle your on-the-go special moments by capturing a digital postcard on their phone. Once captured, Footprints provides the ability to take notes and an audio clip of that favorite restaurant or special place while identifying its specific location. In addition to identifying each postcard with its specific GPS coordinates, Footprints also auto-names each postcard with its general location or area.

Key Features

Powered by the Android operating system with deep integration of Google services and access to thousands of apps to customize your phone via the Android Market.
Fast 3G connectivity thanks to Sprint’s EV–DO, Rev 0 network
GPS using Sprint Navigation for turn by turn directions, and points of interest searches
3.2-inch touch-enabled screen (320 x 480 pixels, 262K color depth, LED backlighting)
5-megapixel camera with auto-focus lens
Video capture capabilities
Digital audio player allows you to transfer music files from a PC or download tunes from the Amazon MP3 Store.
Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g) for accessing home and corporate networks as well as hotspots while on the go.
Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity with stereo music streaming (A2DP) capabilities as well as hands-free headsets and car kits.
Memory expansion via microSD card slot with support for optional cards up to 32 GB.
Access to personal and corporate e-mail with Microsoft Direct Push Technology and HTML support. Send and receive email from multiple corporate and personal email accounts. Also, get wireless email access to popular commercial POP3 and IMAP accounts like AOL, Gmail, and Yahoo!
Instant messaging via popular services including Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger.
View documents including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF on the go to maximize your productivity
Visual Voicemail gives you quick and easy access to just the messages you want to listen to by letting you go directly to a specific message, without needing to listen to or skip past previous messages.
Airplane mode allows you to listen to music while the cellular connectivity is turned off
TTY compatible
Hearing Aid Compatible (HAC) with a rating of M3 for hearing aids operating in the acoustic mode. This handset has a HAC rating of T3 for hearing aids operating in the telecoil mode.
3.5mm stereo headset jack

Vital Statistics
The HTC Hero weighs 4.5 ounces and measures 4.5 x 2.2 x 0.5 inches. Its 1500 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 5 hours of talk time. It runs on the 800/1900 CDMA/EV-DO Rev. 0 frequencies.

What’s in the Box
HTC Hero handset, rechargeable battery, charger, 2 GB microSD memory card, USB cable, quick start guide, user manual

Sprint Services

Broadband-like 3G network: Supporting the EV-DO Rev. A high-speed data standard, this phone enables you to download and stream high-quality video, straight onto your phone. Where coverage is available, EV-DO Rev. A connectivity provides average download speeds ranging from 400 to 700 Kbps, with peak rates up to 2 Mbps.
GPS capable with Sprint Navigation: This GPS-enabled phone provides optional access to Sprint Navigation for driving directions on your mobile phone–by voice and onscreen. Along the way, turn-by-turn directions will be announced in a clear voice and displayed on your phone. For example, Sprint Navigation will say, “Go 1.2 miles and turn right on Elm Street.” As you approach the turn, you will hear, “Turn right on Elm Street.” Sprint Navigation also provides proactive traffic alerts with one click re-routing. And it’s easy to find restaurants, banks, cafes, hotels and more from over 10 million points of interest across the U.S.
Sprint TV enabled: With Sprint TV, you can make your cell phone your always-on source for news, weather, sports and more. This comprehensive video service combines high-quality streaming audio and video from channels including ABC, The Weather Channel, Fox Sports, E!, CNN, The Discovery Channel, and more.
Stay Sporty with Sprint: With NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile, instantly connect to the NASCAR information you want, when you want it. Follow NASCAR action from practice to race day with real-time leaderboard and alerts. Get exclusive access to your favorite NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver with real-time driver stats, breaking news and more. Live in-car audio, race radio, NASCAR on SPEED and other audio/video only available on select phones. Visit sprint.com/speed for details.
To access, just text “NASCAR” to 7777 on your Sprint phone or visit the Sprint Digital Lounge to download NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile (standard text messaging and data rates apply).

This phone also provides access to Sprint Football Live–free for any phone with a data plan. You’ll be able to follow all the live play-by-play action with the Live Game Center for both pro and college football games, as well as stay on top of the pro football draft with a Live Draft Tracker and in-depth analysis and bios on nearly 500 top prospects. Access by texting “FOOTBALL” to 7777 on the handset to download Sprint Football Live from Sprint Digital Lounge (standard text messaging and data rates apply).

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star Slowest phone ever
This phone has a LOT of potential, unfortunately the software is TERRIBLE and it is either extremely underpowered or just poorly designed software. When the phone is new it is responsive to your touch, has a little bit of a lag when moving around but that’s normal.

Once you load apps on it and start attempting to use it towards it’s potential the phone becomes crippled and in my opinion is the worst phone I’ve had it 10 yrs. I often wait 3-5 sec after clicking on pretty much any button for my input to be acknowledged. When dialing a call I will hit the person’s name and it will actually not start the call for 35+ seconds. I’ve timed it with a stopwatch. It is so bad that in the beginning I thought it didn’t take my input so I’d retouch the screen. Fortunately, this phone is so smart that it would recognize both inputs with the huge lag so it would connect my call with person A, and then when i was on the call with person A it would dial person A again at the same time so I’d be talking to them and we’d both hear the phone ringing. They’d ask me, why are you calling again when we’re on the phone and I’d have to explain how ridiculously slow the phone is to respond and the problems. Only way to remedy this situtation is to hang up and retry.

The phone drops calls in areas where my old phone never dropped calls, so i’d rate reception as worse.

The battery life is awful. I use it fairly heavily, but after owning it for 6 months my phone battery is usually done after about 6hrs of being unplugged.

I upgraded to the new Android OS 2.1 but this makes things even worse. Seems to have some nice newer features but that just makes the phone hog the internet more and be less responsive.

Terrible lag when typing messages.

Why can’t the software developers figure out that this is a SINGLE CORE processor and it CANNOT multi-task. If the user is actively using the phone, background tasks need to be halted so that the phone can be responsive. I’m tired of waiting 5 seconds between each click, and actually set the phone down when navigating through screens (e.g. like adding a new contact, seriously!!)

5 Stars Awesome Phone!!
This phone is something that makes me very happy. First of all, the negatives….it’s a little slow. I am still going through and learning how to turn off some apps that would slow it down like the updating weather app. While it is cool that when it’s cloudy or rainy, it’s that on your screen, it slows down the phone when I go to make a call or really do anything. Other than that, this phone does it all. This is my first Android phone and I couldn’t love it more. It’s simple enough to understand and is a very durable phone. I really recommend it to anyone who isn’t an expert at Android but also wants a good enough phone.