beer planet » apple http://beerpla.net where things have nothing to do with beer - tutorials, tips, how-tos, thoughts, hacks, and other techy nonsense Thu, 17 May 2012 22:50:53 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 HTC Hero Coming To Sprint October 11th! $179.99, Powerful, And Sexy. Here Is Why You Need To Own Ithttp://beerpla.net/2009/09/03/htc-hero-coming-to-sprint-october-11th-179-99-powerful-and-sexy-here-is-why-you-need-to-own-it/ http://beerpla.net/2009/09/03/htc-hero-coming-to-sprint-october-11th-179-99-powerful-and-sexy-here-is-why-you-need-to-own-it/#comments Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:16:55 +0000 Artem Russakovskii http://beerpla.net/2009/09/03/htc-hero-coming-to-sprint-october-11th-179-99-powerful-and-sexy-here-is-why-you-need-to-own-it/ image Well, it looks like the wait is over. I have been waiting for almost 5 years for a new phone that is good enough to make the switch from Samsung A900 (which has free tethering). Don't even get me started on the iPhone and its outrageous monopoly with AT&T. Android and the growing multitude of devices running it is, however, completely different business. Android offers unparallel freedom and I truly believe it will be the top phone OS within a few years as more and more Android phones are introduced to the market.

But where was I? I have been closely following Android news since its inception, then the introduction of the first phone – T-Mobile G1 (aka HTC Dream), ...

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]]> image Well, it looks like the wait is over. I have been waiting for almost 5 years for a new phone that is good enough to make the switch from Samsung A900 (which has free tethering). Don't even get me started on the iPhone and its outrageous monopoly with AT&T. Android and the growing multitude of devices running it is, however, completely different business. Android offers unparallel freedom and I truly believe it will be the top phone OS within a few years as more and more Android phones are introduced to the market.

But where was I? I have been closely following Android news since its inception, then the introduction of the first phone – T-Mobile G1 (aka HTC Dream), followed by G2 (aka T-Mobile MyTouch 3G, HTC Magic, Google ION), the introduction of the app store (Android Market), and noticing throughout all this time that Android was still not quite there, not appealing to the masses, and not picking up speed. But then…

The Hero

I believe the market perception of Android is about to change because of the newest Android phone – HTC Hero. Thanks to Phandroid (my favorite Android blog) for the announcement.

Why

Hero has a super sexy Sense user interface. Just check out this video of the European version of Hero running Sense (the US version looks slightly different):

Hero also has:

  • Flash support (!) – the one from Adobe, not the one that helps taking photos. That means playing flash games, videos, etc, which iPhone does not support and is not planning to support in the near future.
  • First Android phone to support multitouch. It also has a trackball.
  • Lipophobic coating – special coating to repel fingerprint oils.
  • A speedy 528Mhz Qualcomm processor.
  • 5MP camera with autofocus – 5 megapixels is a step up over most of the competition, except maybe Nokia.
  • GPS.
  • Digital compass.
  • MicroSD slot for expanding memory.
  • WiFi 802.11b/g.
  • Accelerometer.
  • Audio supported formats: MP3, AAC(AAC, AAC+, AAC-LC), AMR-NB, WAV, MIDI and Windows Media® Audio 9.
  • Video supported formats: MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 and Windows Media® Video 9.
  • And of course, it runs Android applications.

Check out this comparison between HTC Hero, MyTouch 3G, Apple iPhone 3GS, and BlackBerry Storm:

image

When

Hero is already released in Europe and is coming to the US to Sprint on October 11, 2009.

How Much

$179.99 after a mail-in rebate and a 2 year agreement with Sprint.

Speed/Lag Concerns

Initial reviews of the Hero reported occasional lag, especially with a lot of widgets activated on the home screens. However, it looks like the latest firmware updates may have fixed the lag issues. We will see very shortly.

The Chin

The US version of the Hero does NOT have the "chin" like the European version does. Compare the picture of the EU version (below) with the pictures of the US version (further down in the Media section).

image

Pictures Of The US Version

image  image  image

I'm extremely excited about the Hero. It is the strongest Android contender on the market. Can you feel the excitement? Go out and get yours on October 11th!

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]]> http://beerpla.net/2009/09/03/htc-hero-coming-to-sprint-october-11th-179-99-powerful-and-sexy-here-is-why-you-need-to-own-it/feed/ 4 Sun Definitely Developing A Phone This Yearhttp://beerpla.net/2008/04/21/sun-definitely-developing-a-phone/ http://beerpla.net/2008/04/21/sun-definitely-developing-a-phone/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 02:30:06 +0000 Artem Russakovskii http://beerpla.net/2008/04/21/sun-definitely-developing-a-phone/ JavaFX_Mobile One thing that still springs to mind when I think of the MySQL User Conference last week is Sun's opening keynote. While talking about Sun's market penetration with open source software, Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's CEO, slipped in a short mention of the mobile market saying something along the lines of "Sun is going to be entering the mobile market later on this year". He didn't spend more than 5 seconds talking about it, moving on to the acquisition of MySQL.

Last year, Sun already made an announcement of JavaFX, a Java-based mobile platform but didn't provide any concrete timelines, so I was excited to hear the more on the subject. With Apple iPhone's advent last year and ...

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]]> JavaFX_Mobile One thing that still springs to mind when I think of the MySQL User Conference last week is Sun's opening keynote. While talking about Sun's market penetration with open source software, Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's CEO, slipped in a short mention of the mobile market saying something along the lines of "Sun is going to be entering the mobile market later on this year". He didn't spend more than 5 seconds talking about it, moving on to the acquisition of MySQL.

Last year, Sun already made an announcement of JavaFX, a Java-based mobile platform but didn't provide any concrete timelines, so I was excited to hear the more on the subject. With Apple iPhone's advent last year and Google entering the same space later on this year with Android, Sun's addition to the game definitely won't hurt consumers. After all, competition usually leads to better products.

So when is the phone coming, Jonathan? My guess is you're going to try as hard as possible to compete with Google's second half of 2008 timeline but are you going to manage to beat it? And will it blow us away? I guess time will show.

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]]> http://beerpla.net/2008/04/21/sun-definitely-developing-a-phone/feed/ 6 Most Awesome Halloween Costume. Signed, Apple Fanboy.http://beerpla.net/2007/10/28/most-awesome-halloween-costume-signed-apple-fanboy/ http://beerpla.net/2007/10/28/most-awesome-halloween-costume-signed-apple-fanboy/#comments Sun, 28 Oct 2007 22:32:47 +0000 Artem Russakovskii http://beerpla.net/2007/10/28/most-awesome-halloween-costume-signed-apple-fanboy/ Can you think of a better Halloween costume this year than what these guys came up with? Lifesize iPhones, coming to a Halloween party near you. Normally, I'd say, this is dorky, but… it's just awesome. Imagine wearing this to a club, you'd be the life of the party.
 
Similar Posts:]]> Can you think of a better Halloween costume this year than what these guys came up with? Lifesize iPhones, coming to a Halloween party near you. Normally, I'd say, this is dorky, but… it's just awesome. Imagine wearing this to a club, you'd be the life of the party.
 
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