Handheld Now » Sprint

Sprint Hero Sense 2.1 Update Coming Early May

Kyle — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 02:00:03 +0000

Sprint has been toying with its customers for months now. They promised a 2.1 update for the Samsung Moment and HTC Hero in “early Q2.”

Android update! Upgrades to 2.1 for Hero/Moment now expected early 2Q10. Currently working through options for upgrades w/ HTC and Samsung.
-10:42 AM Feb 16th via CoTweet

Now Q2 is April, May, and June, so logically early implies April. Waiting an extra month is torture for some Android users watching other phones like the Motorola Droid and Nexus One touting their brand new 2.1 Operating Systems.

So when will the wait finally be over? Mobile Crunch published a post about a week ago citing a Sprint memo. The visible part of the memo states, “Android 2.1 software update is coming early May!” There is not any mention of either the Hero or the Moment, but MC only writes about the Hero receiving the over the air update.

Samsung’s device has a (pretty much) stock version of Android 1.5, so I cannot understand why it has taken this long to upgrade, since the first 2.0 device (Motorola Droid) launched November 6, 2009.

I can wrap my head around the delay of the HTC Hero though. First, the Hero runs SenseUI, which is a very customized version of Android which naturally would take some time to implement the new version of Android. I am positive that it took them no time at all to do this though. The real reason that the update has not arrived is that the first US SenseUI 2.1 phone is launching April 29th on Verizon. HTC would not like their older models to upgrade right before the next great smartphone launches.

Several video walkthroughs have emerged on the internet of SenseUI 2.1, and it comes with a few notable upgrades:

Live Wallpapers (Android 2.1)
Friend Stream – A widget aggregating your social network feeds (SenseUI 2.1)
Leap – A quick way to navigate through the seven homescreens (SenseUI 2.1)

Those are the only notable upgrades. It may not seem like much, but the minor tweaks like an improved Android Market (With Screenshots!). Many applications require 2.0+ and Hero users will now be able to download these apps.

Will the long wait have been worth it? That has yet to be seen, but what do you think?

Sprint HTC Hero Review

Kaitlin — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:41:24 +0000

I have mixed opinions about the HTC Hero. In theory, it’s amazing. In practice, it can use a little work.

The phone, of course, comes without a physical keyboard. The on-screen keyboard is decent, though a little more cramped than that of the iPhone. Basically, it would be disastrous without the predictive text. With the predictive text, it’s actually pretty good. With one word, I typed every letter wrong and it still knew what I meant. Impressive, right?

Then there’s the messaging. To me, messaging is the most important function of any phone. It’s all I do every day. It’s somewhat of an improvement over my last phone, as the messages are grouped together into conversations where instead of viewing one message at a time, you can see a whole thread of them. It also allows you to send messages that are more than 160 characters. There is also this really cool feature where the phone tries to guess when messages you received were sent, and insert them in the correct place on the timeline. For example, if someone sends a message a minute before you but you don’t receive it until after send yours, the phone will insert it before your message. Unfortunately, sometimes this messes up and it can be confusing because the phone will show someone answering your question before you actually asked it.

The phone includes a 5 Megapixel camera. Although it does not have a flash, it takes beautiful pictures outdoors and indoors, as long as there is enough light. This camera has autofocus, which helps eliminate blur. Sometimes the camera will bring up an error and refuse to open, but usually all you have to do is restart the phone and it will start working again.

The Hero has multitask capabilities. You can have many different programs open at once, though as other reviewers will tell you, it will start to lag if you have too many programs open.

Lag is a major problem with this phone. Even when you only have messaging and mail open, it will sometimes start to lag. Generally turning it off for a few minutes will fix this too. Most problems on this phone can be fixed with a restart.

Battery life is about as to be expected for a smartphone. If you use it heavily (such browsing YouTube for six hours straight), you might have to recharge it when you get home from work or school. Otherwise, you should be fine if you plug it in to the charger nightly.

Overall, it’s a pretty good phone. It’s multitouch and multitasking, with a beautiful camera and a fairly intuitive interface. Unfortunately, it likes to lag to the point where it takes 10 seconds for the text message to catch up to your typing. I’ve yet to decide if the delay is worth all the things it can do.

Camera Test

Quick Review of the Palm Pixi

Kyle — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:19:16 +0000

First off let me say this, I have always been a major fan of webOS. The GUI is absolutely gorgeous, and the way it handles multitasking is lightyears ahead of the rest of the market. The Pixi comes preloaded with the latest build of webOS and with it comes Yahoo integration.

I had to go to a Sprint retail store since Palm is unreliable with their review units. We received an email shortly after the release of the Palm Pre from Palm’s marketing department letting us know that they would be sending us a unit to review ASAP, but to this date we have still not received it.

The Pixi is extremely tiny. As you can see in the picture, my hand dwarfs the entirety of the device. While having a small device might seem convenient and appealing at first, you should know that the keyboard is way too cramped and the screen is hardly manageable with its 2.63-inch multitouch screen with 18-bit color, 320×400 screen resolution Sub-HVGA display.

While it lacks WiFi, Sprint’s network is very capable of handling most of your data needs. The web browser on the device is in my opinion second only to the one found on the iPhone. Like the Pre, it also features over-the-air backup, restore, remote erase, and software updates.

Applications are all the rage these days. The App Catalog found on the Pre and Pixi is still quite undeveloped when compared to other devices. With that in mind, their new Ares SDK has just left private beta testing and now is in public beta. Hopefully this will breath some life into the App Catalog and catch it up to par.

All in all the device really is not that bad. My only faults with it are its small screen and cramped keyboard. I am extremely bias though because I am used to the iPhone with a bigger screen and have never really liked keyboards. I would recommend this to a first time smart phone user or somebody who is in love with webOS’s brilliant GUI and maybe just does not want a slider phone (Palm Pre).

HTC Touch Pro2 To Launch On Sprint And AT&T In US?

Kyle — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:08:25 +0000

In the past day we have seen pictures of both a Sprint and an AT&T HTC Touch Pro2 (Tilt 2 on AT&T). This phone has debatably the best keyboard on a mobile phone. It runs Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional and has a resistive touch screen. As a replacement to zooming with multitouch like you would see on capacitive screens, HTC has added a zoom line below the screen where you can run your finger across to zoom in and out. Continue for more pictures.

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Carrier Wars – All About The Numbers

Kyle — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:22:56 +0000

Verizon Wireless is leading in the United States with 87.7 million subscribers. Closely tailing Verizon is AT&T with around 80 million. This is largely due to AT&T’s exclusive deal to sell the iPhone. So that speaks loads about Verizon because they don’t have a phone anywhere near as popular as the iPhone and have around 7 million more customers.

In third place is Sprint which is behind in the game. Even with the launch of the Palm Pre last quarter Sprint’s subscribers are declining. Currently they have 48.8 million customers. They HTC Hero is rumored to launch in the United States on Sprint so that might help.

Bringing up the rear is T-Mobile with just over 30 million subscribers. The reason for this is largely because of their late adoption of a 3G network. Now that they have one established they can hopefully get more customers.

Sprint Spends $483 Million To Acquire Virgin Mobile

Kyle — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:04:41 +0000

Why would Sprint bother spending so much to acquire Virgin Mobile? The reason isn’t to increase Sprint’s users but their prepaid Boost Mobile’s. Boost Mobile’s position is now strengthened in the prepaid market. Also they will benefit from all the new high level employees from Virgin Mobile.

“I have known Dan Schulman for many years, and I feel very fortunate that a leader with Dan’s talents is joining Sprint to take us to even greater heights in prepaid,” Hesse says.

Sprint is gaining market share and catching up in the game. They may soon take over as top dog.

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Sprint Taking A More Agressive Marketing Strategy

Kyle — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:48:51 +0000

Sprint is definitely taking a shot at Apple and AT&T. Basically they are suggesting that you get much much more for a lot less. $1200 dollars less to be exact.

The ad is targeted at 1st gen iPhone users whose contracts are expiring and are looking to either renew or switch. It really is a tempting offer getting unlimited everything for only $99 a month. Also you get Sprint TV which you don’t get with an iPhone.

On top of all of this the Palm Pre is debatable superior to the iPhone 3G S (or any of the previous models) because it actually lets you multitask.

Truly it all depends where your priorities are. If you want a fun Apple device and have the money you might want to go the iPhone/AT&T route. If you want a powerful multitasking phone and want to save lots of money then the Pre is for you.

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webOS 1.03 Available For Palm Pre Owners

Kyle — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:37:51 +0000

You have a slight update for your new Palm device. Read on to see what all you get.

Version information

Version: 1.0.3
Release date: 19 June 2009
Configuration: Sprint 1.5

New applications

No new applications in update 1.0.3

Feature changes to existing applications

Calendar

Events created in your Google calendar—either in Calendar on your phone or in Google online—that contain a symbol or accented character in the event name can now synchronize. Previously, including a symbol or accented character in an event name prevented the event from synchronizing.
Changes made to Google events on the phone now sync with Google online within a few minutes.
The sync interval for Google events has been decreased from every few hours to every 15 minutes.

Clock

If you create a weekday alarm on a weekend, the alarm sounds only on weekdays. Previously the alarm would sound on the weekend also.

Contacts

Changes made to Google contacts on the phone now sync with Google online within a few minutes.
The sync interval for Google contacts has been decreased from every few hours to every 15 minutes.

Email

Power performance in areas where wireless coverage is sporadic or unavailable has been enhanced.
Non-SSL Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) mail servers are now supported.

Other

Miscellaneous updates for Email, Phone, and other applications.

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Blackberry Tour 9630 Announced for Sprint and Verizon

Kyle — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:10:28 +0000

Blackberry Tour 9630 just got announced for Sprint and Verizon. It will be $200 after rebates on Sprint. Check out the specs and features below.

• World Phone Capabilities
• 3G Network
• Camera (3.2 MP)
• 256 MB Built-in Memory
• Enhanced Media Player
• Supports BlackBerry App World™
• BlackBerry® Maps
• Wireless Email
• Organizer
• Browser
• Phone
• Corporate Data Access
• SMS/MMS
• Battery: 1400 mAHr
• Talk Time: 5 hours
• Standby Time: 14 days
• 480×340 pixel screen
• Camera: 3.2 MP camera
• Auto focus, image stabilization, and video capture
• 2X digital zoom
• Geo-tagging functionality
• Video recording capabilities
• GPS
• Expandable memory capability
• Synchronize iTunes® music and playlists to and from the device

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