You could well argue that the HTC Hero was the Android smartphone of 2009. While Motorola’s DROID brought with it a larger display, newer version of the OS and arguably more functional hardware keyboard, HTC led the pack months in advance. Multitouch-capable, distinctly designed and outfitted with a genuinely compelling UI in the shape of HTC Sense, the Hero fast became the poster-child of Android. Now, the company are hoping to follow that success with the HTC Legend, a slick Hero update with a tactile unibody aluminum shell. Is it a worthy sequel or has the HTC Desire stolen the Legend’s flagship thunder; more importantly, is it sufficiently different from the smartphone it replaces?
It’s hard to argue with the aesthetics. HTC have taken a solid block of aluminum and carved out a soft-touch, MacBook Pro-like shell; into that they’ve squeezed a 3.2-inch HVGA AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display, dualband HSPA, quadband GSM, WiFi and Bluetooth, along with GPS, a digital compass and accelerometer. Like the Hero before it, the Legend supports multitouch gestures, but hardware controls have been pared down a little: the function keys are a minimal strip underneath the display, and the trackball has been replaced with an arguably more reliable optical joystick.
HTC Legend hands-on:
Inside, though, there’s not the significant chipset update many hoped for (especially bearing in mind that HTC have used Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon in the Desire); the Hero used Qualcomm’s 528MHz MSM7200A, while the Legend gets a slight speed boost in the shape of the 600MHz MSM7227. In a mobile device it’s true that every little helps, but in terms of what rivals are offering it does push the Legend more into the mid-range rather than the flagship position the Hero once occupied. We’ll have to wait until the first review units with production software arrive to see if 600MHz is enough for Android 2.1 and the newest Sense build; our hands-on time at MWC 2010 seemed to suggest it was all reasonably slick, but that’s a long way away from daily use when loaded up with apps.
Of course, we’ve also seen the inherent drawback involved when you start to modify your core platform. HTC Sense, though receiving of excellent reviews – and, arguably, doing more to drive Google’s own Android UI development than anyone else – has left the company on the back foot when it comes to rolling out OS updates to those devices equipped with it. Other company’s Android phones may be less compelling than HTC’s, but users have grown to be cautious of devices with the potential for long upgrade delays.
Ironically, then, it may be HTC’s own software update schedule that presents the biggest challenge to the Legend. At roughly the same time the new smartphone goes on sale, HTC Hero owners should receive the long-awaited Android 2.1 firmware complete with much of the latest Sense functionality. HTC haven’t exactly defined which Sense attributes will be present and which will be missing on the Hero – all they’ve told us is that Hero owners shouldn’t expect to get all of the new tweaks seen on the Legend – but with the devices so similarly specified once you get past the unibody style, it may be enough of a compromise to leave users content with their older phones.
It’s tough to create a compelling, well-received smartphone that balances a generally-available OS with distinctive, home-grown customizations. It’s perhaps equally tough to then create a follow-up that manages to be sufficiently reminiscent of its successful predecessor, but suitably distinct in its own right to encourage upgrades.
Tempted by the HTC Legend? Planning to upgrade your HTC Hero to the new unibody phone? Or is the promise of Android 2.1 and a Sense update enough? Let me know in the comments.
Welcome to the latest edition of the SlashGear Week in Review! On Monday we learned that NVIDIA would be launching the GTX 480 and 470 video cards in late March. These are the first of the Fermi-based video cards. Lenovo unveiled new notebooks including the X201, X201s, and C201t along with the W701 and W701ds machines this week. The W701ds is the most interesting with an extra screen grafted on the side of the 17-inch main screen.
Viewsonic pulled the wraps off its cool ViewBook Pro VNB131 ultraportable this week. The machine has an optical drive or an extra battery that can by slid into the module expansion bay. AT&T has been named tops in recent 3G performance tests by PC World. Often maligned AT&T beat out other competitors by a wide margin.
Three Windows Phone 7 chassis designs were detailed in a podcast with folks from Microsoft Australia. The new OS will go into chassis 1 with touchscreens and 1GHz CPUs, chassis 2 will have keyboards and touchscreens, Chassis 3 is an unknown.
The Apple iPad has been confirmed to have PowerVR SGX graphics hardware. This is the same hardware as the iPhone 3GS. Bloom energy is set to revolutionize renewable power with a new device dubbed the Energy Server. The big unit uses fuel cells to create electricity.
Mid-week we reviewed the Synology DS710+ NAS device. The biggest issue with the device for us was the price, without drives, the thing costs $560 and with a pair of 1TB drives it is $860. The cool Olympus PEN E-PL1 is now on sale for $600. The camera is a budget micro four-thirds camera with 12.3MP resolution.
Pentax revealed its latest superzoom camera called the X90. The point-and-shoot camera has a 26x optical zoom lens. The Nintendo DSi XL got an official launch date for the US this week and a price of $190. The new DSi will hit stores on March 28.
The ATI Radeon HD 5830 went official this week with performance that was disappointing to some coupled with a under $250 price point that may be too expensive. Pentax debuted the Optio W90 rugged camera this week. The cam can survive drops, cold weather, and is waterproof.
New Asus Eee netbooks were leaked later in the week including the 1018p, 1016p, and 1015p. The machines will be officially unveiled at CeBIT in early March. Acer is set to hit us with new Calpella Slim ultraportable notebooks in Q2. The machines will be offered in 13, 14, and 15-inch units.
Pricing on the active glasses for Samsung 3D TVs was unveiled this week. At $150 per set, the glasses will add lots of cost to entering the 3D TV realm with Samsung hardware. Friday an analysts unveiled that cheaper iPhones are believed to be coming in June. The handsets are also said to have new gesture tech inside. I will believe it when I see it. Thanks for reading! Have a good weekend!
After Intel prematurely pulled the trigger on their Atom N470 announcement yesterday, we’ve now got official confirmation about one of the first netbooks to use the new, 1.86GHz processor. The Gigabyte TouchNote T1000 is, as the image suggests, another of the company’s convertible netbook-tablets, with a 10.1-inch 1,366 x 768 touchscreen and a choice of the N450 or N470 CPUs.
Two versions of the T1000 will be offered, the T1000X with a 4-cell, 4,500mAh battery and the T1000P with a 6-cell, 7,650mAh battery. Both netbooks will have 1GB of RAM, a 250GB HDD and Intel GMA 3150 graphics, along with WiFi b/g/n, 10/100 ethernet and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR.
Ports include two USB 2.0, an eSATA/USB combo, audio in/out, VGA, ExpressCard and a multiformat memory card reader; there’s also a 1.3-megapixel webcam, microphone and 1.5W stereo speakers. No word on pricing, but we’re guessing this won’t be an especially cheap netbook – Gigabyte will probably tell us more at CeBIT 2010 this coming week.
Enchanted by Microsoft’s new Metro UI for Windows Phone 7, but can’t wait until the first handsets running the OS begin to show up later in the year? Over at XDA-Developers Jaxbot is working on a Metro UI theme for Windows Mobile 6.5 devices, and there’s a very early release available for testing on VGA or WVGA handsets.
Video demo after the cut
When we say “very early”, we mean it. By Jaxbot’s own admission the UI runs very slow; as you can see in the video demo below it’s not really usable on your everyday device at present. The promised beta should be far snappier, however.
As for functionality, already you can set phone, text, Outlook and people to certain apps, see previews of calendar entries on the homescreen and see certain amounts of live preview information. Future builds will have social networking integration and even “Hubs”, Microsoft’s new enclosures for similarly-themed tasks and other apps.
While Microsoft were using basic, unbranded ASUS devices to demonstrate their early build of Windows Phone 7 at MWC 2010, it’s actually LG who have become the first to show of the first device actually headed to retail. Unnamed, the LG Windows Phone 7 pre-production prototype starred in Engadget’s video podcast, plus you can see an up-close video demo after the cut.
As for specifications, there’s little public knowledge out there about the handset. A slide-out QWERTY keyboard and large touchscreen are obvious, as are the standard WP7 buttons – back, home and search – but LG have also added in camera, power and volume keys. The camera is a 5-megapixel unit with flash, and there’s a 3.5mm headphone socket too.
With regards what’s going on inside, we’re presuming Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon chipset is providing the grunt. According to recent rumors, LG are tipped to be commercially releasing their first Windows Phone 7 device in September 2010.
According to a little late night tweet from Palm -- and the update screen on our device -- the stacked new webOS 1.4 update is making its way out into the world for the company's Verizon-flavored devices. That's right, Plussers -- video recording (and editing) is just a small download away. So why are you still reading this?
I have no idea what this game is called since the page on Nintendo.co.jp is made up of images (hence Google translate is useless) but an upcoming Japanese DSiWare title features a clever system of motion-controlled 3D dioramas that allow you to change the view’s perspective by tilting the DSi. It’s actually kind of hard to explain, so I recommend watching the video above to really get the gist of the game’s mechanics.
But here’s the really slick part. The DSi doesn’t have motion controls or a built-in gyro, and since this game will be available for download via the DSiWare online store, that functionality won’t be added through a cartridge. So I have to assume the DSi’s camera is being used to track the person playing the game, and 3D motion is being extrapolated from that. Looking at the video it’s not as flawless as it would be with dedicated hardware, but it’s still pretty impressive. So here’s to hoping the game eventually becomes available in North America and the rest of the world.
Update: According to Kotaku the game is called Rittai Kakushi e Attakoreda and is actually available now for download.
Likely a direct counterstrike to Verizon's $79.99 Pixi Plus, Sprint has dropped the retail price of its original WiFi-less Pixi all the way down to $49.99 after $100 mail-in rebate on a new two-year contract. As you might recall, the Pixi debuted at $100, but now that the Pre's leaving it in the dust with both high-quality gaming and Flash support, a little more price separation between the two makes a lot of sense. Alright, Sprint, strong work -- now you've just got to drop the Pre a few bucks to distance it from Verizon's Pre Plus and you'll be good to go.
Microsoft's Aaron Woodman just pulled off a little surprise here at The Engadget Show: he brought out LG's Windows Phone 7 Series pre-production prototype! The QWERTY slider is the first branded Windows Phone 7 Series device the world's ever seen, and while the hardware and software are both obviously early, we can tell you a few things about it: it's just a hair thicker than an iPhone or Nexus One, there are dedicated hardware camera, volume, and power buttons in addition to the back, home, and search buttons dictated by Windows Phone 7 Series, and we noticed a five megapixel camera with a flash on the back, along with a headphone jack. Can't say much apart from that right now, since things are so early and everything is subject to change, but things are certainly moving along. It's all going down on the show right now -- see it on video after the break!
Speaking on The Engadget Show today, Microsoft's Aaron Woodman didn't commit to supporting Mac OS with Windows Phone 7 Series, but he certainly didn't close the door on the idea either. There are apparently "internal discussions" going on as to whether support will move beyond Windows proper, but one thing's for sure: seeing how WP7S uses the Zune client, there could be implications beyond phones alone if Redmond breaks down and loops Cupertino into the party. Saying that it partly comes down to a trade-off for time to market, Woodman concluded with a big, fat "maybe" -- but if they decide to make it happen, we're pretty sure they'd be pleasantly surprised at just how far and wide the love really goes.
Speaking on 