New HTC Hero

 Hey everyone, I have gotten the pleasure of un-boxing HTC Hero today! I was not expecting to be become a fan of this phone, but the more I handled it and saw the different features the more I liked it. The Hero is a fully touch screen phone with only the basic keys such as volume, call control, home key, menu, and back button as well as the track ball. A welcome addition to the keys is the “search” button, a clever expansion that allows the user to search the phone and/or the web with just a touch of the button.

  As a person who characterizes herself as a “keyboard texter”, meaning I rather phones with keys (ie. G1, Sidekick, Blackberry), I was very interested to see how the all touchscreen keypad would perform compared to other phones. With that in mind I conducted my own experiment using three phones which feature touchscreen keyboards, the iPhone, G1 and of coarse the HTC Hero. I proceeded to type a text message with each phone, to get an idea of how each phone worked with letters and numbers.

  The G1’s keys we’re lack luster compared to the other phones but that is to be expected since it also has a full slide out keypad. Next I typed the same text on the iPhone I was not surprised at the sensitivity and precision of the keys. I also enjoyed the fact that it automatically fixes words in some cases as well as adds punctuation. Over all I was very satisfied with the iPhone. Last I tried the Hero. I noticed first that unlike the iPhone and G1 I do not have to push another button to switch alpha keys to number keys, all the I have to do is hold the key down and it automatically places the number or punctuation in place. I had an issue with how small the keys were when upright, but they do get larger once it’s turned to the side-view. My main concern with typing in the side-view is the light sensors, located at the top of the phone on both ends of the speaker, dim the screen whenever it gets dark. This means if your typing and your hand obstructs the sensor the screen darkens, which can become annoying while your trying to type. On the other hand the sensitivity and intuitiveness of the Hero’s keypad is equal if not better than the iPhone and G1 in my opinion. 

 After my experiment with the keypads I was curious to see how this phone would handle online surfing, since i am almost always on the Internet from my phone. One of the most gratifying  features of the Hero is it’s ability to display Flash. This means online gaming, video, and thousands of other flash enhancements that are on the web are now available from your phone! With this new technology users can now see eighty percent of all content on the web!

 The phone also features the new “HTC Sense” which allows the phone to work in a more simple and natural way. The phone is fully customizable and has cool features such as “Profiles”. Which allow the user to create different looks and setups depending the users needs. So if I am at work i can setup a “Work” profile with my work email, work contacts, files and documents. Then when I’m off I could switch it to a “Weekend Profile” where only music, social networks, and fun apps are visible.

 There are so many great features to HTC Hero I will be avidly looking forward to it’s release in the states this fall!