Remember the excitement when the G1 was first rooted? Now there’s the same for owners of the Sprint Hero and Samsung Behold 2. For the Hero, there’s a thread over at xda-developers with clear instructions on how to Root your Sprint Hero. Not much yet in the way of custom ROMS or other goodies, but you can run applications that require superuser such as wireless tethering.
For Samsung Behold 2 owners, head over to All Droid for your rooting instructions.
I don’t have either of these handsets, so I can test myself, but if anyone successfully roots (or doesn’t), let us know in the comments how it went. And as always with hacking and modifying your phone, do so at your own risk.
I had a little chuckle and a little frown at this unboxing video. Unboxing videos are generally crap, but this one is worth a look. It’s a bit long, but skip ahead to about the 1 minute mark for the action. Nobody likes to see a brand new phone destroyed, especially if it’s an Android phone.
The videos and pics were floating around for a while as the Click, and now HTC has official announced their newest Android handset, know as the HTC Tattoo. You can think of it as the Hero’s younger brother with a bit of attitude. It’s a full-featured smart phone sporting the standard Android features and the acclaimed HTC Sense UI. And decent specs for a device aimed at the low end of the smart phone market:
528MHz Qualcomm MSM7225 processor
512MB/256MB ROM/RAM
2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen LCD
900/2100MHz HSPA/UMTS
GPS
802.11b/g Wifi
Compass and accelerometer
3.2 megapixel autofocus camera
And the much desired 3.5mm stereo headset jack
And per it’s namesake, customers will be able to design and purchase custom “tattooed” covers for the phone, or choose from popular choices. Just like the old Nokias with the snap-on faceplaces! Will the gimmick be enough to drive the average phone buyer to get this over a budget flip or slider phone? We’ll find out when the HTC Tattoo is rolled out in Europe next month, and to the rest of the world in the next few months. No word on carriers or pricing yet, but you can imagine this will be a lot less than the similar featured Hero.
What would you put on your HTC Tattoo? And how long before an Apple fanboy gets one adorned with the Apple logo?
Just another tidbit of great news for Sprint users that are fans of Android. The HTC Hero just passed FCC approval with CDMA/EVDO, which Sprint and Verizon use. Along with all the other evidence, we’re now just waiting for an announcement from Sprint or HTC. The rumored release date is still October 11th, along with the Samsung InstinctQ. With this, the HTC Hero may be the most widespread Android phone, with at least 4 carriers as of right now. We’re still waiting to hear more about the Hero with AT&T 3G bands that skated through the FCC nearly 2 months ago.
Engadget posted a story Tuesday showing a support page on HTC’s website all but confirming the HTC Hero coming to Sprint, which has been the rumor for quite some time now. They didn’t post a direct link but a quick Google search or some URL hacking would reveal the page. As of right now, HTC has changed the page and removed the word Sprint. But the Google search still shows it as “HTC Hero (Sprint). This all but confirms it. And if we are to believe the tipster from xda-developers, the projected release date is October 11th. Now we just wait for the leaked spy shots and internal documents from Sprint.
Gizmodo and Engadget both recently posted picture galleries showcasing the upcoming HTC Hero alongside it’s brothers, the T-Mobile G1 and the T-Mobile myTouch 3G (aka the Dream and the Magic). If you still haven’t gotten your fill of HTC Hero and you wanna drool over more pictures, hit the links for some HTC family reunion photos.
The HTC Hero is on the Amazon UK site for preorder now with a release date of July 15th. Although it’s been available for preorder from other European phone sellers for a week or so now, Amazon might seem like a better option for wary US shoppers. At a rather steep price of £429.99 or $710USD, considering T-Mobile UK and Orange UK have announced they will be offering the Hero free for new customers with certain plans. But if you’re locked into a contract already, it seems like an almost normal price for a new unlocked smart phone. Although there are other Android options, like an unlocked HTC Magic going for only $579 right now or the unlocked HTC Dream currently at $449 at the Amazon US site. But with the slated US release looking like the end of the year, for a yet unnamed carrier, we know more than a US Android lovers will be looking to snap this up for use on T-Mobile or AT&T.
And the full specs from Amazon UK:
Processor Qualcomm® MSM7200A™, 528 MHz
Operating System Android™
Memory ROM: 512 MB RAM: 288 MB
Dimensions (LxWxT) 112 x 56.2 x 14.35 mm ( 4.41 x 2.21 x 0.57 inches)
Weight 135 grams ( 4.76 ounces) with battery
Display 3.2-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 320×480 HVGA resolution
Network HSPA/WCDMA: 900/2100 MHz Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz (Band frequency and data speed are operator dependent.)
Device Control Trackball with Enter button
GPS Internal GPS antenna
Connectivity Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)
3.5 mm audio jack Camera 5.0 megapixel color camera with auto focus
Audio supported formats MP3, AAC(AAC, AAC+, AAC-LC), AMR-NB, WAV, MIDI and Windows Media® Audio 9 V
ideo supported formats MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 and Windows Media® Video 9
Battery 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.)
Expansion Slot microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC Adapter Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz DC output: 5V and 1A
Special Features
G-sensor
Digital Compass
Some juicy details on the HTC Hero firmware just got posted over at xda-developers by Haykuro in the form of screenshots and a video. No word on if this is going to be available anytime soon, but the overall more polished look is very enticing, although nothing really groundbreaking from the other 1.5 firmwares out right now. Haykuro says he won’t be releasing this for legal reasons, so we can only hope the HTC Hero will be dropping on a carrier sometime soon.
Remember the excitement when the G1 was first rooted? Now there’s the same for owners of the Sprint Hero and Samsung Behold 2. For the Hero, there’s a thread over at xda-developers with clear instructions on how to Root your Sprint Hero. Not much yet in the way of custom ROMS or other goodies, but you can run applications that require superuser such as wireless tethering.
