back to article HTC's next-gen Android flagship phone to debut Feb 2010

The head of HTC's Swedish operations has said the company will unveil the 'Hero 2' smartphone in February 2010 and ship the Android-based handset soon after. The gen comes by way of IDG's Swedish-language newssite. According to the executive, one Patrik Andersson, the second-gen Hero will be announced at Mobile World Congress …

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  1. Dirk Vandenheuvel
    WTF?

    How many Androids a day?

    Seriously... how many new Android phones come out each day? In a crazy quest to compete with the iPhone, manufacturers are totally destroying the Android market (if there ever was one).

    1. James Hughes 1

      What??

      How does more people using Android, destroy the Android market? Surely it's the exact opposite? Or have I missed something vital here?

    2. Matt White 1
      Go

      How many Androids...?

      False comparison. It's like saying that each Windows Mobile phone is an attempt to compete with the iPhone. Different manufacturers are bringing out different phones aimed at different parts of the market - look at the lower end ones on PAYG.

      It might shock you to hear this, but not every phone that's released is aimed at the iPhone.

  2. Macka

    Beg to differ

    Why does a slide out Qwerty keyboard have to be a missing feature? For me that's an improvement. I like using on screen keyboards, they're just as fast once you get used to them, don't wear out and enable the phone to be slimmer and lighter than it otherwise would be.

    I'm an iPhone 3G user at present with a contract break coming up at the end of January, but I'm not going to automatically upgrade to a 3GS. I'm going to hang on and see what this new Hero with - possibly - Android 2.1 looks like before I make my next choice. But if it comes with a slide out keyboard I won't even bother.

    1. Law
      Thumb Up

      agreed

      prefer phones without the physical keyboard now... although I would say in portrait the iphone keyboard is a little better than the hero's, thought I'd stop pressing fullstop instead of space eventually, but it seems nearly impossible to not hit it accidently, for me anyway.

      I'd say hold on a bit longer than feb's hero 2 too - see whether Apple bring out widgets and new iphone design in march or whenever their developers conference is on this year.

      1. OffBeatMammal

        T20 Slider?

        I hate the phones where you need to turn it to landscape mode, slide out a keyboard and try and type on a full qwerty keyboard with normal sized fingers.

        I much prefer the style of the HTC Juno (T-Mobile Shadow) with it's T20 (compressed qwerty) slideout keyboard I can use in portrait mode.... simple and easy to use.

        In fact, my #1 phone was the old HTC StarTrek flip phone (smartphone clamshell) :)

    2. Campbeltonian

      @Macka

      I'm in the same situation as you - iPhone 3G contract ending in January. My plan is to hop over to O2's unlimited texts and internet PAYG plan for a while, and then see what comes out this summer.

      I won't even consider a phone that comes with a physical keyboard. For me it's the fact that after a short period of typing my fingers start to hurt due to the pressure required to push the keys - capacitive touchscreen keyboards have won me over because they don't require any pressure.

      The Hero is a contender... although I would prefer a phone less festooned with face buttons.

  3. Hayden Clark Silver badge
    Unhappy

    So that's Hero 1 stuffed then..

    ... no Android 2.0 for you!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Headmaster

      Why?

      Just because there's another device coming out, why would they not update previous ones?

      And besides, HTC have already stated they're going to push out 2.0 to existing Hero handsets.

    2. Law
      Happy

      erm... but it is coming to hero 1...

      so it's not stuffed - they've already confirmed they are working on 2.0 for hero 1.0! :)

      A (hopefully) early build has been leaked too, with re-tweaked widgets too... I say hopefully early build because apparently it has the ui lag of the original hero firmware, I've a feeling they won't rush the release of a laggy firmware though, so when it comes it should be fairly solid.

    3. Dafydd Lawrence

      Android 2

      HTC have already said they are releasing Android 2 for the Hero, they are just re-writing their Sense UI to work with it.

    4. Patrick O'Reilly

      @Hayden Clark Hero lives to die another day

      The Hero will live on, HTC have already committed to release Android 2.0 for the Hero and an early beta build is already floating around on XDA-Developers that shows that the Hero will infact be getting Android 2.1. Hopefully this will happen before Christmas.

      Even if no further updates are released, someone will release a Hero 2 rom for the Hero 1. Sure just look at all the roms available for the G1.

    5. Piro Silver badge

      I'm pretty sure Eclair is confirmed...

      .. For HTC Hero.

    6. Ian Yates
      Thumb Up

      Title

      While it's possible, I'm confident HTC will release the Hero 2.1 update (they've already stated they're skipping 2.0).

      There is a leaked early 2.1 ROM with Sense UI around, but you need to have rooted your phone to try it out (and the feedback is that it's a little slow, with certain features disabled).

      I moved to a HTC Hero from a Touch Diamond, so I have a little faith HTC will do us right with an update.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Keyboard...

    I like the fold out keyboard on the G1 and I find the onscreen keyboard on the G1 to be complete pain. I've got biggish fingers and I can cope with the physical keyboard but the on screen one is just too fussy and hard to use - especially as you can't use a stylus on it.

    OK so maybe it makes the phone a bit thicker and clunkier but to be honest unless I can find another phone with a flip out keyboard, or one that has a touch screen keyboard that has been designed for someone who doesn't have cocktail sticks for fingers, I'm not going to be upgrading from my G1

  5. JeeBee
    Thumb Up

    Yay progress...

    The on-screen keyboard on my Hero is perfectly usable, once the typing correction is enabled (why is it disabled by default?) so that you only need to type roughly where the keys are (like the iPhone).

    I hope Android 2.1 comes out for the Hero soon, and that it doesn't get left behind by newer shiner phones. These contracts last a long time!

    I also hope that Android 2.1 can differentiate between podcasts and music.

    I haven't noticed much lag on the Hero, so a 1GHz CPU will make the device feel like butter I'm sure. Multitasking is a bugbear though - most applications don't have an option to quit, just to 'sleep', so after a while all your memory is used up and you have to use a third-party application killer (from the android market) to kill them and free up memory. In my mind this totally validates Apple's position on multitasking.

    Anyway, progress is good. I'm looking forward to what Android is bringing us in 18 months time, when my contract is up.

  6. Gary F

    Rather not have keyboard

    I had an HTC with a slide out keyboard and I only ever used it to show off - particularly if it was dark since they keyboard was backlit with a soft blue light. :-) I found inputting by stylus to be slightly faster and slide-out keypads make the phone thicker. I want thinner, not thicker please.

    Looking forward to the Hero 2's OLED display.

  7. IndianaJ

    @Hayden Clark

    HTC are working on an update to bring the Hero Android 2.0.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    keyboard?

    The on-screen keyboard is perfectly fine, thanks to the way it is implemented. The only thing missing from the original Hero was a flash for the camera. Now that Android 2.0 supports such hardware, I expect a good flash on the Hero 2.

    As for Android 2 on Hero, I still expect it to happen, as promised!

  9. Matthew Peddlesden
    Happy

    Lots of info...

    Lots of info here:

    http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=595648

    Personally looking forward to the Bravo - 3.7" AMOLED screen, Snapdragon 1ghz processor.

    @Hayden Clark: HTC have already said that the Hero will be getting Android 2.0 so I'm not sure that there's any doubt there.

    Matt.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Welcome

    So soon

    The HTC HD2 just came out not long ago, no one has digested the HD2 properly yet, and now soon already the Hero 2 is going to get the crown.

    This is just way too quick.

    And HTC said it still wants to make WinMobs.

    1. Renato
      Grenade

      WinMo

      I still prefer getting a WinMo mobile than a fscking resource hog (aka Java) based phone.

      Grenade - what you need to kill JavaVMs eating nearly all your RAM

      1. Greg D
        WTF?

        @Renato

        Oh yeah, cause WinMo is really fast, doesnt hog resources, doesnt crash every 10 minutes etc.

        I've owned an Android phone for just over a month now, and I've been using WinMo phones for years prior to the switch. The Hero is a huge improvement. I now no longer have to pretend my phone is good - it just is good.

  11. Wrenchy
    Linux

    Question?

    What's an iPhone??

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    @So soon

    Given the HD2 is a WinMo handset, it's not surprising HTC are bringing out a similar spec Android handset.

    Let's just hope it's a good looking one, because all the previous Android handsets by HTC have looked completely naff. I was seriously thinking I might have to buy the Sony Xperia x10 (even though I hate Sony for everything except the PS3)

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