HTC has been talking about Android 2.0 and 2.1 for a long time now. If you own an HTC Magic, you’re most likely running on Android 1.6 already, but if you’re a proud owner of HTC’s flagship HTC Hero, you’ve been stuck on Android 1.5 since launch. Meteor (an Irish mobile operator) has just announced that HTC will be rolling out Android 2.1 to the Hero in late March.
Just got another update on this and HTC have said they are releasing 2.1 on the Hero and we are hoping to have this available by the end of March.
This will be available via the HTC website and we are also looking at other ways to make this update easier to access for our customers. As soon as I hear any more on this I’ll let you all now because I know the release of 2.1 is something that everyone is looking forward to.
This is great news for Meteor customers and those who purchased an unlocked GSM HTC Hero. Now let’s just hope that Sprint and Verizon and give us an update on when they plan on rolling out their OTA android 2.1 releases for their CDMA DROID Eris and Hero handsets.
Source: Meteor Forum
Not so good for Eris owners. Need the bluetooth dialing. Have to return them, see what alternative phones come out before March.
HTC never, never, never again !!!
I agree htc are crap hero flagship still on 1.5 like buying a core 2 quad running windows 95 htc now sayno update till march the hero is out of date and it shows but nexus get 2.1 will never buy htc again cant be doing with broken promises and lets face it you can get a pretty good pc for the price of this phone with win 7 on it takes the p…
I’m not a Hero owner, so I don’t really feel your pain. But lets keep in mind that HTC has been the best about updating their Android handsets so far. The Magic and Dream were the only phones to get Android 1.6 and at least they are talking about 2.1
As a first time HTC owner (Hero), I have been fairly impressed so far. My previous phones were sony-ericssons and nokias (and a truly shameful WinMo. What was I thinking??) and I can honestly say that I probably only performed one phone update in the past 5 years. News that an update is coming for a phone which, for me, is working perfectly, comes as welcomed news.
Keep in mind that it’s only Nexus One that has 2.1 as of today, it might be strategical that the 1st gen phones has been left out. I’m still on 1.5 with my generic HTC Magic..it is even older than the Hero.
Release 2.1 at end of March…? By that time HTC Bravo may released already. I will rather to get a Bravo instead of keep waiting till my Hero outdated. Before I purchased my Hero at December, HTC announced Hero will release Android 2.1. HTC people on twitter said something make me feel it will be release very soon so I go for Hero. I am not regret but feel disappointed by HTC – early announcement, lately released.
By the way, hope it can be asap.
ir really upsets. Everybody is waitng for this update and now HTC moves date to march. I don`t understad this. Moving date looks a trick to get more attention of customers, like a PR step. hope we`ll get 2.1 till june.
@Alexey
This probably due to releasing new phones with 2.1 It would be economically bad strategy to release an update to an older phone before the new one comes out.
Let’s face it everyone, the hero is the best phone on Sprint. If your so pissed, what are you going to do, how about spend 250 to get out of your contract and another 400 for new network and phone. Let’s say Sprint releases 2.1 today, and all the things they test for go wrong, or maybe even just one little glitch. Would I be wrong to assume that all of you would be right back on here complaining about how your phone doesn’t work? They do these things for a reason. As far as PR goes, I would think Sprint would get more contracts if they already had 2.1 out. Bottom line, your phone works great, its got more features than almost any other phone out there. The update is coming soon, it won’t kill you or your phone to wait, patience is good. There’s much greater evils to consider than a phone company that’s behind on they’re OS. If all your worried about is getting 2.1, root your phone or get a girlfriend.
@Fredric
I understand your point and it sounds reasonable. Of course it`s silli to provide and update while other phones already have NEWer version.
@ian
As for me i`m not pissed off as you wrote. The angry is about changing date almost when «it`s time». HTC is a huge company and it has a lot of experts and specialists. How could they screwed up?
of course Hero works well and has 5% bugs of WM phones. But i want more! I don`t want to be limited with software that locks hardware options (i`m talking about file transfer via bluetooth)
@ ian. for you information not every user is on sprint there are other countries not dominated by the united states which also have mobile phones in countries such as the uk.if you feel that the hero is the best phone you can get on sprint then thats fine but its not the best phone period. in fact from what i have heard the sprint hero has been plagued with issues such as short battery life cdma issues and more, i have read the threads,and saying root your phone or get a girlfriend just shows your ignorance and its people like you these companys love as they can sell you a pile of shit and your happy,why would having a girlfriend have anything to do with the performance and reliability of a companys word and promises? these companys need to stop using customers as test subjects for dodgy and incomplete software just to make money while we wait at their beck and call for the next so called update (FIX).and as dennis chan states there will be the release of the bravo by then which will also be plagued with issues. the nexus has major 3g issues being unable to connect to 3g, being unable to make 911 calls while connected to gprs yes htc may be giving lots of updates/fixes but there are 2 ways to look at it great customer services or crap software constantly needing repairs the term microshite comes to mind yes nokia may not be all flashy and glitzy but it does work and i came from the n97 to the hero thinking this was going to be a phone revolution but its turned out to be more of a revelation, remember you cant polish a turd! you can paint it any colour you like but underneath its still a turd !!!
I have the HTC Hero, find it to be a fantastic bit of kit, bit of a shame about the bluetooth and the delay on Android 2.1… but to be fair, i’d rather wait and get firmware that works first time… as opposed to the premature releases of Nokia/Sony Ericsson software. I work within the industry and get sick of customers returning with N97’s or Sony Ericsson’s even after they’ve updated the software… the handsets are hyped up and overmarketed and simply don’t live up to the standards implied.
I have lost count of the amount of exchanges required on N97’s and Satio’s, even the W995… The service provider i work for don’t overload the handsets with their own software either, so it cannot be blamed upon that.
Quite simply a failing on the part of Nokia and Sony Ericsson, i’d buy my HTC Hero 100 times over before considering either of the aforementioned.
HTC have been very supportive too, keeping in constant contact and updating on progress. Overall, HTC are fantastic, just a little behind on certain aspects!
@Alexey: Changing the date? When have they ever given a date? Even this is just second hand info and just when they hope to have it. HTC has never promised it for any date, therefore they have never changed anything.
So I am assuming this will have SenseUI on it and will probably be the first legit release of 2.1 running SenseUI. This to me is rather disappointing to be perfectly honest. How far behind these companies are in terms of which revision of Android their UI runs on is ludicrous.
The official Android 2.0 SDK has been out since, what, October, and SenseUI won’t be officially ported until the end of March?!? You’ve got to be kidding me. An even worse offender is Sony with the Rachel UI. The thing isn’t even out yet and will be running on Android 1.6. Who knows what version of Android will be official by the time that thing comes out.
Mainly I just want them to hurry up so I can port a stable release to my Droid 🙂
/rant
Hi, I am Hero user from the UK. when I got this phone on Orange there was a lag issue. it was not major but it was there I downloaded software on the Htc website it and was good to go. I have no issue with the phone which now holds 650 songs a plenty of apps. I recommend Htc to everyone who asks me about this phone I can say I love it. And I will be puting money aside for the bravo.
@Tom: i`ve read about release on the 15th of february. Now i`m thinking there were a rumors.
and ofcourse i`m waiting for fimare cuz its previous version works great!
I think it is funny that some people are vowing to never buy another htc phone and in the same breath are praising the nexus 1, because the nexus is built by htc!
I just want an update to fix all the weird glitches on my droid eris. Am I really goimg to have to wait to the end of march to get YouTube working again?!
Will this update be for the Sprint hero also ? Read somewhere that Sprint was gonna update. By July
HTC showed us Android, they gave us the Hero with a fantastic number of extras, sense multi home screens, flash!, maps, youtube, and access to many apps and customizations… sure the Hero could, should have had a gpu, the update to android would have been nice sooner, but hey, Android has updated 3 times in not so many months… I personally am glad of a HTC official update to the latest version, it’s free and coming soon. Cheers HTC!
So many People complayning about HTC Hero doesn’t have upgrade 1.6 2.0 2.1, blá,blá,blá…compared to an first generation Iphone the Hero with droid 1.5 and Htc Sense 1 is a superphone.. It does everithing smooth, and handles well pretty much everithing. The market can supply software for the most demanding, and it’s hyper customizable…
What the f…can android 2.1 or 16 or 2.0 bring to a Hero that will make a big big major difference to the user exprience?? nothing at all, that’s right…
Now for those that are going to buy a new phone of corse thay have the new hero with better display and new software, the legend…but the experience to them will be the same as for ones how adquire an hero in the first place.
I do not agree with uge software upgrades, i guess that windows politics is better that android regarding updates becausde they say well 6 series is over, now neew fones with recent tec, will have 7 series.
I am having issues with my Sprint Hero and I am hoping that release 2.1 will resolve them. Right now my phone will start doing things that are unexpected. Example: I will be keying in a phone number and another application will suddenly pop up. Sometimes two or three do. Or, if I am trying to hang up the phone, something pops up and I have to kill it to disconnect. I am finding the operating system to be erratic. I have been checking out websites to see if this is a common issue or not. I can’t find anything. I’ve spoken to another person and they have this issue as well. I like what the phone can do, but I am ready to ditch it and move over to AT&T and the I-phone.
To me, it sounds like you may have an app that’s gone haywire. I’d suggest uninstalling all the apps that you don’t use on a regular basis to see if the issues go away. The other option would be to completely wipe your handset and start out fresh.
Nick, this was from day 1, even before I installed any apps. One thing that has helped a little bit is an app that I installed and run frequently – Advanced Task Killer Free. My niece, who is not technically oriented, has similar issues.
@infamous one: “what the f… can Android 2.1 do that will make a major difference?” – How about supporting many apps that you CAN NOT use on a 1.5 device for a start?
The HTC Sense updates are not THAT interesting, but having 2.1 will allow us to finally install all those new apps which aren’t supported on 1.5.
I bought the FLAGSHIP device HTC Hero because i thought it will be treated like a Flagship, but this isnt the case.
Oh well i really love HTC Sense, but im thinking about switching to the nexus one….the better the android market gets, the more i can live without HTC Sense because there will be good 3rd party apps which can replace it.
I just don’t think it’s worth it to wait many months for a new Android version, and probably Android 2.1 will be the last update we will get for the HTC Hero…
There’s a lot of crap being spoken above I’m sorry to say. The fact is that for the money the Hero is a great phone. Used properly and not stuffed with untested and half-arsed apps on the free the phone works really well and knocks spots off most phones in it’s class. Running And1.5 is a little disappointing; however the unit I have hardly ever displays any of the tosh being posted above. I’m more than happy with it, in fact I love the Hero (size, weight, form, apps and UI.)
The “FREE” upgrade to the new operating system is a welcome bonus; after all I knew that the phone was running 1.5 when I purchased it… is everybody above who is complaining actually stating they purchased a product (laid down their hard earned cash) “hoping” that it would get free this and free that later.. if that is the case and you did, then you’re a dick.
I am looking forward to the release.
but whats al this naging about htc not updating ?
do u se DELL or HP saying,
here is a free update for your XXXXXXX now that windows 7 has come out.
You cant expect a hardware developer to always give you the newest os everytime microsoft ore the linux core ore what ever is updated.
I think it is fantastic that htc are even making a 2.1 release for hero.
and I am SO happy with my hero still
@Ron:
Yeah, get an iPhone. Either your phone is broken (I tried a hero once in a shop which had a trackball button that was linked to the call button… this was clearly a hardware error since wiping didn’t help… tried it there) OR you are not an able user for an android device.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t intend to insult you, but maybe android is too confusing for you… just as normal computers are too difficult for some people, that’s why I think the iPad will become a huge success.
For me… I never experienced these problems, and the web (as you admit yourself) doesn’t even list such problems. It’s not a common thing. I never had this problem and I don;t know anyone who had it. So either you have troubles using your phone, you have a bad carrier that might have loaded crappy branding on it, or you have some other defect. It’s not normal experience.
@Infamous One:
Well, android 2.1 has important features. Don’t downplay it. I also think that it’s not a big deal… March is early enough. They could release it in June and still be within their given release schedule (first half of 2010). But but but, there ARE features I need in 2.1 for example VPN support. I don’t care that much for minor UI features, I need the better system basics.
Peopel are getting so angry over an update to a phone that is working just fine. If anyone is interested, I asked HTC when the European (unlocked) update would be realeased…..
New Response From [ Dennis (UK – Ireland Support (Tech)) ]
Dear
Thank you for your enquiry about HTC Hero
The latest information we’ve got is that the Android 2.1 upgrade will be available some time towards/in april, though I do not have a specific date for it.
Best regards,
Dennis M
HTC
OK, Everyone! When you walked in and got the Hero, You paid for 1.5 of Android!!!!!
That is rite!! 1.5!
Get over it, HTC has put out up dates to fix problems and done a good job at that.
If you are having problems it is one of three reasons,
1) You dont have an update you need
2)bad program
3)Bad batch of Hero (It happens, with all phones. You phone might have problems my phone does not have even if they are the same.)
Point is, You paid for 1.5 and you got 1.5, They dont charger for updates and you should be happy about that! Its not free for them to make 2.1 work on all the Heros out there, So quit being a bunch of kids and be happy with your new toy or get a fucking flip phone and enjoy it,
Well finally got rid of that crappy android hero and got a touch hd and god what a much better phone! put duttys rom with windows mobile 6.5 on it easy no more rooting crap just flash and done manilla 2.5 rocks better screen no more crashes can install apps to sd without having to go to great extremes to do it,better camera bigger screen faster response times in a nutshell ANDROID SUCKS! its hard to get it do do anything even flash it without a great deal of effort, its buggy sluggish and basically crap reminds me of trying to use mandriva looks good til you need do do something, android 1.5 1.6 2.0 .2.1 christ what a mess android is to fragmented and its googles fault, guess thats what happens when you got your fingers in to many pies! and hey 2.5 is already on the way so your 2.1 update aint worth the paper its written on see thats the trouble with android and linux you dont get regular weekly updates like windows does and until there is a universal standard like microsoft use your gonna always be behind the rest.linux has been trying for years and still hasnt made it its open gl support for graphics is crap its very limited in hardware drivers support because its made by geeks for geeks, hey im not saying thats so bad if your a geek coz you can probably write your own software but for developers they will always be playing catch up with apps to fit whichever brand of android/linux thats out at the time.So the real question is do you want to always be behind waiting for someone at xda to solve your problem and lets face it they do some good work better than the manufacturers or do you want a device that just works can run any app made for that os no matter what? for me reliabilty and compatabilty is a must in this day and age and something a fragmented android/linux is struggling to achieve.
You know you taik about 2.5 like it is going to be the highest update there is, hat to tell you this they are working on a higher update so don’t get to happy it is just like everything eles today it is new tomorrow it is out of date so get off your high horse
Well, considering all positive reviews, I did put my hard earned money on the HTC Hero with Android 1.5, in the month of March 2010, in spite of knowing about the forthcoming Android 2.1 update. However, I personally feel HTC will live up to the expectations of Hero owners and definitely provide all the desired updates shortly.
Current date is March 22nd, and still no update. For those who is saying that us Hero users paid for an Androd 1.5 phone and that was what we got. I’ve paid for a phone which a huge amount a bugs, but I have not returned my phone to the dealer because a firmware update seemed just around the corner. I don’t care whether I get a firmware 1.5, 1.6, 2.0 or 2.1 – I just wanted the bugs fixed.
Yes i paid for the hero and andriod 1.5, today it is common for updates to be released, so people expect to get updates.. As android is free, it is also in the manufactors best intrest to keep customers happy, and asking for an update is not too much is it.
Apple roll out updates to all handsets at same time, so all hand sets are upto date.
I have ownded 3 HTC phone current being the Hero (G2) and i like it, however if updates are not released, i might as well get the NexusOne as google should update it as soon as new version is released.
I hope nokia get back in the game, N900 is a start but needs much improvements.
To the person going on about WinMO 6.5, i had 6.1 on diamond (HTC) and it was rubbish, needed a soft reset 2-3 times a day, my hero i normally turn it off/on once every week,
WinMO has TOMTOM which i like, but Android has Copilot which is very good and others too.
Yes i hope we get the 2.1 soon…
On another note I had to wait 6 Months to get 24p update for my canon 5D Mk2 Camera, which cost me £2600 with lens.
These companies are very slow at updating it seems.
i have the hero dont want it anymore since i’ve seen the htc evo effin amazing phone ever makes the iphone look like a kids toy
@swukjay
Sorry but linux doesn’t get regular updates?
DO some homework 🙂
@ swukjay
“Windows has found a solution to yet another annoying problem – click here to find out that no new solutions have been found”
face it people, htc are shit, we’re never gonna get this update, and if we do it’ll most likely be the end of the year, ive asked about it twice and the first time in feb they said itll be ready in 2-3 weeks and i asked again a few days ago and they said we dont have a date yet but please be assured it will be very soon, i sincerely doubt that, htc suck! lazy fuckers! i am moving to IPHONE!!!!!!!!!!
hey HTC, where is my 2.1?
HTC is not the (I) killer just playing marketing.
Lol like how this worked out….FUCK YOU HTC and SPRINT
When HTC Hero 2.1 Release Date At Singapore
Bump…..
Still waiting for UK version of Android 2.1 for unlocked..
Hi,
They have been promising this for monthes, and f’ed over every one that supported them with a buggy os on a devise with old hardware.
Way to go if they just did a propper jod atleast 3 people only on my office would have gotten htc but no they had to be a$$holes and rip everyone of.
O and here is a big F U for lying (or just not saying) about the Bluetooth.
First and last HTC, enough competition not to have to be stuck with a sh1t product.
It is now 06/27/2010 an no update for hero. what is going on!I went ahead an got the samsung moment instead so i could have 2.1. why all the date changes are happening i will never know but seems to me that htc has made some poor choises for there updates. also hero and moment are not going to get the new 2.2.realy disapointing when you get a new phone an its already outdated.
Hang problem
Rich problem
Tuch problem
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