Anyone here a proud owner of HTC’s DROID Eris? Unfortunately, we have some bad news for you today.  Verizon has come forward to say that the DROID Eris will not be getting the Android 2.2 update.  HTC has already stated that most their phones that launched last year would be stuck on their current firmware version, so we’re a bit surprised at Verizon’s announcement since they are not even selling the phone any more.  We’re pretty sure a few people are going to be disappointed with the news, but keep in mind that the Eris is running on 1^st gen Android hardware. 

Source: Computerworld

The HTC Hero is nothing new, but Cellular South has just introduced a new color option for those looking to pick up an Android phone on the cheap.  The new black version of the HTC Hero 6250 will be identical to the original CDMA handset in every way besides its black exterior shell. 

The HTC Hero may not be as powerful at the upcoming HTC Desire which should be landing on Cellular South’s network within the next month or so, but at $79.99 with a buy one get one free offer, it’s pretty hard for anyone not to think twice about jumping on to the Android bandwagon. 

Source: Cellular South

The HTC Hero is nothing new, but Cellular South has just introduced a new color option for those looking to pick up an Android phone on the cheap.  The new black version of the HTC Hero 6250 will be identical to the original CDMA handset in every way besides its black exterior shell. 

The HTC Hero may not be as powerful at the upcoming HTC Desire which should be landing on Cellular South’s network within the next month or so, but at $79.99 with a buy one get one free offer, it’s pretty hard for anyone not to think twice about jumping on to the Android bandwagon. 

Source: Cellular South

The latest report from NPD has just unveiled that Android has reached the number one spot as the best selling smartphone OS in America.  RIM’s Blackberry phones have been at the top since late 2007, but it looks like Android will be holing the top honor for quite some time.  Android finished off the quarter with 33% while RIM dropped to 28% and Apple gained a little, moving up to 22%. 

While the numbers are pretty impressive, we’re a little more excited to announce that the top five list of best selling Android phones for Q2 in the U.S. market included the HTC DROID Incredible, HTC EVO 4G, HTC Hero, and HTC DROID Eris.  HTC was not able to bump the Motorola DROID from the number one spot, but I’m pretty sure they are happy to have secured the other four. 

We are pretty confident that HTC will continue to lead the way on the Android front over the next few quarters.  The HTC Hero will most likely be faded out over the next few months just as the DROID Eris recently pulled off a silent disappearing act a few weeks back.  With 3-4 new Android phones from HTC expected to hit between now and the end of the year, HTC should have no problem staying at the top of the list, helping Android increase its market share lead over the competition.

The latest report from NPD has just unveiled that Android has reached the number one spot as the best selling smartphone OS in America.  RIM’s Blackberry phones have been at the top since late 2007, but it looks like Android will be holing the top honor for quite some time.  Android finished off the quarter with 33% while RIM dropped to 28% and Apple gained a little, moving up to 22%. 

While the numbers are pretty impressive, we’re a little more excited to announce that the top five list of best selling Android phones for Q2 in the U.S. market included the HTC DROID Incredible, HTC EVO 4G, HTC Hero, and HTC DROID Eris.  HTC was not able to bump the Motorola DROID from the number one spot, but I’m pretty sure they are happy to have secured the other four. 

We are pretty confident that HTC will continue to lead the way on the Android front over the next few quarters.  The HTC Hero will most likely be faded out over the next few months just as the DROID Eris recently pulled off a silent disappearing act a few weeks back.  With 3-4 new Android phones from HTC expected to hit between now and the end of the year, HTC should have no problem staying at the top of the list, helping Android increase its market share lead over the competition.

For those who have been paying attention to Apple’s so called “antenagate” fiasco with the new iPhone 4, you may have heard that Steve jobs came out pointing fingers at everyone else during last Friday’s press conference.  Steve made the claim that all smartphones suffer from reception issues based on how you hold them.  Apple went the extra mile to prove their point by demonstration the “grip of death” on a few competing smartphones, one being the discontinued HTC DROID Eris. 

The demonstration show the DROID Eris losing reception bars while being held in the left hand with the palm covering up the bottom left corner of the handset.  As Apple predicted, the reception hard slowly disappeared after nearly 25 seconds. 

While this test does indicate that the Eris does suffer from a similar reception issue as the iPhone 4, HTC has decided to speak up and let their customers know that the issue isn’t quite as bad as what the video shows.  HTC’s Eric Lin was in contact with Pocket-Lint over the weekend, stating that approximately 0.016% of DROID Eris customers have actually complained about reception or antenna problems with the DROID Eris.  To put that into perspective, that 0.016% is just over 34 times less than the 0.55% of iPhone 4 customers who have contacted Apple about reception issues. 

It’s clear that some smartphones have some reception issues to resolve, but we don’t really like it when Apple tries comparing their issues with HTC when in fact they are not even in the same league. 

Source: Pocket-lint
Videos: Engadget

The DROID Eris may no longer be available from Verizon, but that doesn’t mean that HTC or Verizon are no longer supporting the phone.  Verizon is expected to roll out an OTA update to the DROID Eris on July 16^th.  Before you get all excited, this is not Android 2.2, but a mere maintenance update which should fix some of the issues the phone has been having since Verizon pushed out the Android 2.1 update to the phone back in May.  The new 2.37.605.4 build for the HTC Eris will also include a few updates and enhancements to the contacts application which will allow better Facebook and Gmail syncing along with improved audio quality and Bluetooth accessory support. 

Check out the full list of new and improved features below. 

Enhancements:

• Improved audio – The audio controls on your Droid Eris have been updated.
• Enhanced speed dial – Save and add contacts to your speed-dial with ease.
• Improved text, video, and picture messaging functionality

Improvements:

• Your contacts now sync with Backup Assistant, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and Facebook
• The Weather app/widget has been enhanced and stabilized
• Your Droid Eris will now pair with a Jabra Bluetooth headset
• Your Gmail contacts will easily sync with your Droid Eris

Source: DROID-Life

As more and more consumers turn to Android as their smartphone OS of choice, Verizon has silently removed one option for consumers to choose from.  Verizon’s DROID Eris is no longer available on the company’s website.  The HTC made DROID Eris has only been on sale for about eight months and many thought it would stay around a bit longer due to its recent Android 2.1 firmware update.  We called a few local Verizon stores last night and they confirmed that they still have the DROID Eris in stock but were unaware that the phone had been removed from the website.  If you were really fond of the HTC Hero variant, you better head on over to your local Verizon store before their supplies run out.  It’s no surprise that Verizon is looking to clean up their Android selection before the launch of the DROID X and DROID 2 next month, but no one thought that the Eris would be leaving the Android scene before T-Mobile’s G1. 

It looks as if Éclair will finally be making its way to all HTC Hero handsets by the end of the month.  Nearly two weeks ago, we reported that HTC had started the Android 2.1 rollout for the Hero in Taiwan.  Now, we have gotten a few reports from our readers and from HTC, stating that the OTA update has initiated.   Hero owners in Europe will be getting a two phased Android 2.1 update.  The first update will be hitting all the Hero handsets the next time the phone checks for an update (HINT: try restarting your phone pushing the date one year forward).  Once the first update is installed, the device will have to wait a little longer to get the full Android 2.1 installation which should ping the HTC Hero before the end of June. 

Android Éclair update for HTC Hero will be released by the end of June. The upgrade will come in two parts, the first of which will roll out from this week and will be detected when the Hero next automatically checks for software updates. The second part of the update will follow towards the end of the month. As the second part of the upgrade will wipe all data on the handset, Hero users should ensure any important data has been backed up before proceeding with the installation. Due to the size of the update, wherever possible, we would advise using a WiFi connection for this download to avoid additional data charges.

To be clear, the update will most likely only be hitting unlocked HTC Hero phones.  If you have a T-Mobile of Vodafone branded handset, your Android 2.1 update may be a little further out.  We would suggest bugging your carrier’s customer service lines to see if they have any news on when they plan to roll the Android 2.1 update out to their customers.  If you have already downloaded and installed the first part of the update from HTC, let us know if there are any changes to your device.  HTC is being pretty vague about what the first installation actually does to the HTC Hero.

Source: Androinica

As promised, we have an update for you in regards to the HTC Hero Android 2.1 OTA update.  For now, it looks like the HTC Hero Android 2.1 update is making its initial roll-out to handsets in Taiwan.  Early this morning, HTC posted up details on the about the OTA on their HTC Taiwan support page.  The software update to Android 2.1 will make its initial debut on GSM HTC Hero phone with the 2.73.751.13 software build.  Once the update is complete, handset owners will be updated to 3.31.751.1 which is HTC’s Android 2.1 build with HTC Sense. 

We haven’t heard of anyone getting the OTA update quite yet, but MoDaCo and XDA-Developers seem to have gotten their greasy fingers on the official build already.  Those of you looking to use the official Android 2.1 build for the Hero but still want root access will be happy to know that developers on both site have already hacked the Rom to give you exactly what you want.   

For the past hour or so, I have been browsing through HTC’s support pages for the Hero on their dedicated site for countries across Europe.  Currently there is no sign that the Android 2.1 update will be rolling today in any other markets besides Taiwan.  But do not despair.  A few weeks ago, we heard that from HTC UK PR guys that the Éclair update for the UK Hero was on deck for June.  Now that it’s rolling out in Taiwan definitely gives us hope that the rest of Europe will be seeing the update within the next few weeks.   For now, just sit back, relax, and keep checking your phone for software updates (menu > settings > about phone > system updates), your Android 2.1 update should before you know it.

As promised, we have an update for you in regards to the HTC Hero Android 2.1 OTA update.  For now, it looks like the HTC Hero Android 2.1 update is making its initial roll-out to handsets in Taiwan.  Early this morning, HTC posted up details on the about the OTA on their HTC Taiwan support page.  The software update to Android 2.1 will make its initial debut on GSM HTC Hero phone with the 2.73.751.13 software build.  Once the update is complete, handset owners will be updated to 3.31.751.1 which is HTC’s Android 2.1 build with HTC Sense. 

We haven’t heard of anyone getting the OTA update quite yet, but MoDaCo and XDA-Developers seem to have gotten their greasy fingers on the official build already.  Those of you looking to use the official Android 2.1 build for the Hero but still want root access will be happy to know that developers on both site have already hacked the Rom to give you exactly what you want.   

For the past hour or so, I have been browsing through HTC’s support pages for the Hero on their dedicated site for countries across Europe.  Currently there is no sign that the Android 2.1 update will be rolling today in any other markets besides Taiwan.  But do not despair.  A few weeks ago, we heard that from HTC UK PR guys that the Éclair update for the UK Hero was on deck for June.  Now that it’s rolling out in Taiwan definitely gives us hope that the rest of Europe will be seeing the update within the next few weeks.   For now, just sit back, relax, and keep checking your phone for software updates (menu > settings > about phone > system updates), your Android 2.1 update should before you know it.

HTC has announced that the Android 2.1 roll-out for the GSM HTC Hero will start tomorrow, June 4^th. Owners of the HTC Hero have been waiting quite a long time for their Android 2.1 update. Customers in the U.S. who own the CDMA variants of the Hero have been enjoying Android 2.1 for a few weeks already. The announcement comes to us via HTC’s Taiwanese/Chinese Plurk account.

On June 4, 2010 to open up the wireless software update, the main update function as follows: Android 2.1 operating system upgrade!

System will continue to send updates prompt, when you receive a system prompt as long as you can by clicking Download or wireless network connection 3G/GPRS way to complete your phone system updates. Note: We recommend you to choose to have free Wi-Fi environment, download the update. If you are currently using 3G network, the download may have to pay the additional cost carriers, please make sure to have unlimited Internet access rates apply for rentals before use.

We appologize for the poor translation, the that’s the best Google could give us. Simply put, HTC will start rolling out Android 2.1 via an OTA. They recommend you download the update over Wi-Fi just to make sure you do not incur any additional 3G data charges. We would like to stress that this update is coming from HTC Taiwan, so there is no guarantee that the Android 2.1 update will be coming to HTC Hero owners in European markets. We’ll be sure to keep you updated tomorrow and let you know if the update actually starts pinging handsets across the globe.

Source: udn.com, thanks to @meLIanTheQuee for the tip.

As fans of HTC products and the different operating systems that they use, it’s sometimes hard to get a good read on how satisfied out readers are with their phones.  Yes, we all know that there are gripes about getting the latest version of Android on our phones, but does that keep you from enjoying your handset on a day-to –day basis?  Fortunately, companies like ChangeWave have enough money to go out and talk to handset owners from across the country to get a feel for customer satisfaction.  Their most recent survey covered 1009 smartphone users in the U.S. and Canada.  HTC came in strong at third place, with only Apple and Motorola finishing with better scores.  Overall, 51 percent of HTC customers were very satisfied with their handsets.  Digging a little further, ChangeWave found that the Sprint HTC Hero scored the highest for HTC with 68% of customers giving it a rating of “very satisfied” compared to 50% for the HTC DROID Eris and 38% for the HTC Touch. 

Seeing these numbers we were a bit surprised to see such a huge gap between Hero and DROID Eris owners considering that they are essentially the same handset.  Honestly, having used both handsets extensively, I would give the DROID Eris a higher satisfaction rating over the Hero due to build quality and a smoother ROM.   I would also like to know why in the world the HTC Touch was included in the survey.  The Windows Mobile powered HTC Touch is three years old and should have been retired to everyone’s bottom desk drawer some time ago.  I’m sure most of us would give a 38% “very satisfied” rating to the Nexus One after three years of use. 

On a positive note for Android, 67% of customers said that they were very satisfied with Google’s OS.  Android didn’t grab the number one spot in the ratings, but it was only trailing by 4 percentage points behind the iPhone OS’ 71% satisfaction rating.    

ChangeWave is planning on doing a follow-up survey sometime soon so that they include the new owners of the HTC DROID Incredible.  We’re hoping they wait long enough to include those who plan on picking up the HTC EVO 4G and myTouch 3G Slide once they launch next week. 

So our question for you is: how satisfied are you with your HTC smartphone?

Source: Changewave Research

I always enjoy waking up to find my inbox filled with tips from our readers. Some time early this morning, Sprint put up the official Android 2.1 ROM details up on their site with the release date market for today. After reading through the instructions on how to download and install the ROM, Sprint gives you the download link. Except, the Android 2.1 ROM is actually not located on the download page or any other page on Sprint’s site.

I’ve sent a few emails out to some of my Sprint contacts, hoping they can get the issue resolved. The ROM update should be live today. We’ll keep an eye on the links throughout the day and let you know when the files are posted.

UPDATE: The link has gone live on the Sprint Software Download page or at this direct link: Sprint HTC Hero 2.1 update.  Let us know what you think and how the update goes.

Source: Sprint Hero Support Page, Sprint Hero Software Dowload

Over the weekend, a leaked ROM made its way to the internet. We’ve seen out fair share of ROM leaks, but this time it looks as if we have the official Android 2.1 ROM update for the Sprint HTC Hero. One of our Twitter followers, @Pro_Media_FL took the risk and devided to flash the update to his Sprint Hero.

When I first found the leaked version on the web I thought it was going to be hard but in fact it was really easy. No rooting was required and it seemed like it was an official Sprint/HTC version. Only thing that annoyed me a little was that it was for PC only (I have a mac) but I assume the official release will be as well. It took about 10 minutes and had no problems, and it also erased everything off the phone. There also was a new bootscreen for HTC, android, and Sprint. I have yet to find anything wrong or have any problems so this is probably close to or is the final copy which most likely will be released soon. Definitely better battery life, however I found it a little strange that instead of the low battery notification showing 15 and 10 percent it showed 14 and 9 which was a little weird. Integration with Facebook is much easier and it looks a lot better with updated Icons and how smooth it runs. I noticed it has a tethering feature built in however it was blocked assuming by sprint, PDAnet still works though. I noticed while flipping through the settings, HTC added their own update button in addition to the “check for updates” by Google, it says “check for htc updates”. Again, no problems so far and it seems its actually running better so I’ll update you if I find any problems.

A few hours later, @Pro_Media_FL send me a second note with a few additional details

I did find something, though I’m not sure its a problem or not, but it is a little weird. I have to press the end button twice to end a call,. This may be a bug or might be apart of 2.1 (maybe something to prevent accidentally ending calls?). So far today it has lasted about 4-5 hours longer than it did before, and its not dead yet

From the sound of it, the leaked ROM is moat likely the final version which they are expected to release within the next few weeks. If you’re willing to give it a try, we have posted the link below. Be warned though, that HTC Source takes no responsibility is the ROM does not work property on your Sprint HTC Hero. This is a PC based update, so make sure you have the latest version of HTC Sync installed on your computer as well.

Leaked Sprint HCT Hero ROM

Verizon DROID Eris owners, your Android 2.1 update is here. Two days ago, we reported that Verizon was going to start releasing the OTA update for the handset on May 11th. The date has passed and a lot of Eris owners have been able to download and successfully update their phones to the latest firmware. Verizon’s support Twitter account has been keeping users up to date on how the OTA rollout will take place.

“The roll out will begin 5/11 and can take up to 2 weeks to receive for all phones.”
“No way to force it the release is random and once you receive it you will receive a notification.”
“No it can only be installed through the ota.”

It’s clear that Android 2.1 for the Eris has finally arrived! If the update has not hit your handset yet, be patient. From what we know, Verizon has over 500,000 DROID Eris customers so don’t be surprised if it takes them a week to push the update to your phone.

Sprint Hero owners… you’re update is coming… we hope.

Source: @VZWSupport

Here at HTC Source, we have given up on reporting any of the latest news regarding Android 2.1 updates for the HTC Hero and the DROID Eris.  All the dates we have heard have come and gone and there really has not been any credible or reliable news for a long time (or ever).  But that could all change within the next 24 hours.  MobileCrunch has posted up a screen shot from Verizon which indicated that DROID Eris owners could see their Android 2.1 update starting May 11th.   If you own an Eris, be sure to make a complete backup of  any important information on your handset since the required update will completely wipe your handset.  Since we’ve seen a lot of promised dates come and go over the past few months, we’re trying out best not to get too excited.  Just be sure to leave us a note in the comments once the update.

Source: MobileCrunch

So for any of our readers that have a European/GSM Hero, it looks like you will have to wait until June to receive your 2.1 update. This was announced at a Google event marking the launch of Google Maps in the UK. There was no reason given for this delay, and the only details given were that users will receive a patch to prepare the device for the update, followed by the actual update shortly after.

The only questions I have are these: Why such a long wait, if the CDMA/Sprint Hero is supposedly getting the update within a few weeks? And why will the phone require two updates? I’m not sure, but most of the comments I’ve seen shows users that haven’t already resorted to other versions of Android or gotten different phones aren’t very happy about this. Even the bloggers’ negative attitudes can be found in their posts. Do any of our readers want to provide their opinions?

Sources: Phandroid, IntoMobile