HTC Hero Gets 2.1 Too!
| by Anthony Perez on February 10th, 2010 |
It seems like we have been overcome with Android 2.1 update news, now it’s the HTC Hero’s turn. HTC is currently working on the new ROM for the Hero that will include the Android 2.1 update. HTC’s Benelux team reports that the Hero will get the update in March.
In addition to Android 2.1, the update will also include a new Friend Stream widget that enables you to keep up with social network, like Facebook or Twitter, and improve Microsoft Exchange support. Sounds like another great improvement for Android and another device to get the 2.1 update. Are our Hero friends out there excited?!?!?
[via Engagdet]

1. Jonathan wrote on February 10, 2010
I am definitely excited! I’m just hoping they’ve optimized Sense so it won’t be laggy on the new version.
2. Elden wrote on February 10, 2010
sweet! (i assume this is comming to droid eris 2) not at the same time obviously but i’ll get the same stuff rite?
3. Nath wrote on February 10, 2010
Does this include the t-mobile G2?
4. Matt wrote on February 10, 2010
Awesome! I’m now not worried that i own a hero and not a nexus one :) Great news!
5. Bob wrote on February 10, 2010
I picked up a Hero for my wife this weekend as I love mine and the Sprint guy said that they’ve told them 2.1 will be out at the end of the month. I’d love it if so, but I’m still trying to swallow this HUGE grain of salt that suddenly appeared……
6. PVK wrote on February 10, 2010
I’ve been trying to find out an ETA for the Sprint Hero. All of these dates, etc, are specific to the Euro version. Sprint will ultimately decide if/when/how it comes to the States.
7. milos wrote on February 10, 2010
What about update for HTC Tattoo?
8. Jouten wrote on February 10, 2010
I have the Hero that is pictured. I hope they’re not just talking about the US (Sprint) Hero…
But yeah, I’m all amped for this update! :)
9. caleb wrote on February 10, 2010
Yes, sounds good. It will be interesting to see how the Htc Hero will perform compared to the Nexus one when it has 2.1 aswell.
10. Alex wrote on February 10, 2010
how they are taking about the sprint htc hero but cant wait
11. Dean wrote on February 10, 2010
I’ve been waiting for this since I bought my phone. Hopefully it will speed up my phone. I’m also looking forward to Google Navigation.
12. Dreal05 wrote on February 10, 2010
I have been waiting for this news for quite a while….. Nice!
13. Alan wrote on February 10, 2010
ANYTHING TO STOP THE LAG! HATE THE LAG! BAD HERO…BAD LAGGY HERO.
14. Ectomorph wrote on February 10, 2010
I so regret buying Samsung Galaxy now being stuck in 1.5 world. Damn you Samsung!
15. G8D wrote on February 10, 2010
@milos
Tattoo will not get 2.1, it may get 2.0 eventually but it is not powerful enough to run 2.1+
So excited about this :D
16. acp wrote on February 10, 2010
Repost
;)
17. porky101 wrote on February 10, 2010
What about my lovely Eris?
18. Chad wrote on February 10, 2010
If the GSM Hero gets it in March, you can be assured that the CDMA ones (Hero, Eris) will be behind that. Knowing Sprint, quite a bit behind that…
I hope I’m wrong!
19. pie-eater wrote on February 10, 2010
Praise the Lord Almighty, my deepest wish is coming true! Although very secretly, I was hoping for a good excuse to buy myself the Next Best Thing as soon as they start rolling new devices in the Netherlands (no Droids here, no Nexi/Nexuses). Couldn’t resist an HTC Bravo with a good ole keyboard I guess.
20. Furret wrote on February 10, 2010
At last! I hope that this date is the right one. They’re kicking the date of releasing the update before themselves like a ball. I seriously hope, that they don’t say in march, that they’ve changed their minds and update hero on 3.x version in 2011 instead xD
21. Leo wrote on February 10, 2010
*dances*
22. Björn wrote on February 10, 2010
I really hope the update for the Magic will be released at the same time.
23. grimdeath wrote on February 10, 2010
So everyones getting 2.x besides the G1 eh?
24. Micah wrote on February 10, 2010
can’t wait!!!!
25. Brandi wrote on February 10, 2010
What about the G1? Or should I buy the motorola cliq?
26. Pope Innocent II wrote on February 10, 2010
This is good news. I’m glad it’s in March instead of the vague “1st half of 2010″.
27. Eshaan wrote on February 10, 2010
cant wait for the update….any one knows if the update will be globally available or not
28. Jim R wrote on February 10, 2010
But does this apply to
1) the Sprint Hero?
2) the Euro Hero?
3) the Telus Hero?
I can’t tell. I have the Telus Hero (looks like the Euro Hero, works on ATT/Telus HSPA bands), and would like to know.
29. Joe wrote on February 10, 2010
This date almost certainly does not apply to the Sprint (or any other CDMA) Hero, only the GSM Hero, which should be more or less universal for all the Euro/etc GSM Heros. There should be no “if” involved with Sprint, since they’ve already announced that it will happen before July. But hopefully it’s not long after the GSM Hero. Maybe late March/mid-April? I’d be okay with that. Though earlier reports said that the GSM Hero update was coming mid-Feb, and looks like that got pushed back.
30. Chris wrote on February 11, 2010
So that means end of march early April for the carrier specific versions then, unless they have been sensible and done them already. The Orange one is the settings and an additional splash screen so shouldn’t take long.
31. Bandroid wrote on February 11, 2010
I hope that same person makes the final decision about the GUI, who does it at v1.5. The v1.5 GUI is beautiful.
32. Madgicdroid wrote on February 11, 2010
Old news.. HTC mentioned in January that Eris,Droid,Hero,Tattoo would get 2.1 by March.
HTC Magic’s are also getting 2.1, this was communicated much later by HTC.
33. Magicdroid wrote on February 11, 2010
@Jim R
This HTC announcement is for the Euro Hero.
HTC already communicated that following phones were getting 2.1:
Hero,
Sprint Hero,
Eris,
Droid,
Tattoo,
Magic (HTC, non-Google)
34. milos wrote on February 11, 2010
@G8D
Tattoo is not powerful enough for Android 2.1?
It has the same CPU and ROM as Hero only 256MB of RAM instead of Hero’s 288 ( but that can’t be any problem ).
Android 1.6 even runs better on Tattoo then 1.5 does on Hero. That is confirmed by many users.
35. Yamthief wrote on February 11, 2010
This will be released for HTC’s own handsets only initially. It is down to the carriers (Tmobile/Orange etc) to support their own branded handsets and release their own ROMS.
Droid Eris is a different Handset and as such will have it’s own release date, but there is a 2.x ROM in the works.
36. Yugoslavian Cavemench wrote on February 11, 2010
If they cancel on me like they did to the droid owners. I am grabbing my axes and pitchforks with a small hero crowd and will raise a situation for Sprint 2.1 now!
37. hero lover wrote on February 11, 2010
Yes, definitely excited. I hope that we see some Sense UI Lag go away too. I mean, it’s a great phone over all but could definitely improve on some features – especially when receiving a call and that sort of thing. My phone seems to lag before it’s able to pull up the notification that I am receiving a call….
38. Bruno wrote on February 11, 2010
Yes! Finally! Can’t wait here… although i’m loving my Hero as it is, Google nav would be really neat and Bluetooth should be finally fixed!
39. Mike S. wrote on February 11, 2010
Finally! But I’m still going to get the Nexus One… The hero’s processor is too slow and the fact that the youtube app doesn’t work proper is really frustrating on the Hero. But hey upgrades never hurt.
40. Jer wrote on February 11, 2010
@G8D and @milos Darn skippy that the Tattoo would be fine with 2.1. If my rooted G1 is faster with 2.1 than it was with 1.6 at only 192MB RAM I think the Tattoo would just do fine. As said by others, 2.1 is likely coming to all Sense UI phones. I still don’t know what the holdup is on getting it out as I already have run it on my G1, which does get a little laggy with it, but perhaps that is why. Vanilla 2.1 runs very nicely on the G1.
Those that ask about the G1, there was an article not too long ago about a rumor that G1’s will be updated to 2.0, at least. If it’s just a rumor I encourage you to root your device. I look at 1.6 G1’s and they seem very outdated to what I’m used to.
41. Biffy wrote on February 12, 2010
The Hero is great but I don’t people who haven’t rooted it. The MoDaCo custom ROM, especially the 3.x series make the phone fly! With the addition of Auto Task Killer and Advanced Task Manager my Hero usually has 50MB free RAM at any one time (with the exception of when Browser/Dolphin is running).
I reflashed my G2 back to the stock HTC ROM and man it sucked, immediately reverted back to MoDaCo.
Anyone with a rooted handset should remember that they shouldn’t apply the stock 2.1 update otherwise there’s a chance they won’t be able to root their phone anymore. Stick around and wait for the MoDaCo update for the best 2.1 experience!
42. Matthew Hutchinson wrote on February 15, 2010
BORED NOW……. Hurry up MARCH!
43. amster wrote on February 15, 2010
When we upgrade.. (wishful thinking!) does this mean we lose all our apps and have to reinstall them all again?
Cheers.
44. eric wrote on February 19, 2010
Will the 2.1 update for htc hero be free?
45. Alessandro wrote on February 22, 2010
well…I hope that beside some new frills the version 2.1 will fix some annoying problems like one-direction syncronization with Outlook, difficulties in watching YouTube videos…
46. Joe wrote on February 24, 2010
Hopefully this takes care of the problem receiving picture and video messages. I’m disgusted with it.
47. lol wrote on March 2, 2010
I hate waiting man!! I so freaken hate It