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HTC Hero Pictures Leak (T-Mobile G3?)

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htc-hero-androidRemember when the HTC Hero was first rumored from our 2009 HTC Roadmap article? We first got a glimpse of the bright pink Hero (pictured left)  in January and since then have heard rumors it will land on Orange UK and Sprint USA around October 11th.

New, less pink pictures of the HTC Hero have surfaced by way of CodeAndroid and they provide some hints/details about the rumored Android phone. First the pictures, then the observations:

g3_htc_hero_1

g3_htc_hero_2

g3_htc_hero_3

g3_htc_hero_4

One thing you can CLEARLY see if you look at the 2nd picture from the bottom is the existence of a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top right of the HTC Hero. This is going to make a LOT of people happy since HTC’s proprietary USB headset has bothered many who want/have the G1/Magic.

You can also see that there is no directional pad and no trackball, so the touchscreen appears to be the ONLY way of navigating through selections. How does everyone feel about this? Not my cup of tea… and I don’t think it is the best looking Android Phone to date – the Magic wins that battle in my mind – so what Dragons here will gladly let the HTC Hero slay them?

Rob Jackson
I'm an Android and Tech lover, but first and foremost I consider myself a creative thinker and entrepreneurial spirit with a passion for ideas of all sizes. I'm a sports lover who cheers for the Orange (College), Ravens (NFL), (Orioles), and Yankees (long story). I live in Baltimore and wear it on my sleeve, with an Under Armour logo. I also love traveling... where do you want to go?

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30 Comments

  1. This still might be better than the G1, but that me. im just sick of the crap quality of the G1.

  2. it looks like it got a bigger screen that the current g1. let me know if i was wrong.

  3. I love that it has a standard headphone jack. But don’t know how to feel about it not having a trackball. I do like the design tho, but the pink was better. :P

  4. @N3TWORK – crap quality? I rather like my G1!

  5. Hideous

  6. Looks ugly.

  7. It looks okay, but the magic looks better. No trackball=sucky. If there was a better zoom(multitouch), you wouldn’t need a trackball. Looks like apple screwed that up for us.

    @ n3twork…. I’ve had a lot of phones and g1 IS the best quality of them all. Never have or will have an iphone. Maybe you would like that better. Bottom line…. I love my g1.

  8. The bend at the bottom seems weird to me. I keep my current phone (a treo) in my pocket with the screen against my leg. This phone looks like it would be uncomfortable in that position.

    I’m dying for a sprint android phone. I hope they offer more than just this one.

  9. What’s with HTC and the kinks they put at the bottom of the phone. It really makes the phone look ugly as well as making the phone less pocketable. HTC can clearly design some nice phones (e.g. Diamond, Touch Pro 2 etc) but they seem to be using toddlers to design the Android ones lol. Bring on the Samsung I7500!!

  10. No doubt to it…. its an Ugly lo UGLY loooking phone!

    Come on HTC… you need to spend somewhere… at least on Phone Designing…

  11. they definitely need to kill the kink! its pointless!

  12. @Frank – The chin is supposed to be a distinctive feature for the Android Phones on HTC and also its supposed to protect the track ball on the G1 as well as the screen from damage when resting face down.

  13. Have to agree with Ben, Frank and Jeremy.

    I certainly hope that HTC get over their Jimmy Hill period soon

  14. To those that don’t like the chin, I would guess none have a G1. I too didn’t like that “feature” of the G1, but wanted the OS more than anything else so I got it. Let me say that even the first time putting it in my pocket I couldn’t even tell it had the chin (screen against my leg). I carried my previous phone on a belt clip so I wasn’t even used to carrying in the pocket. I completely understand it protecting the trackball and many times in pictures it looks worse than it does in person as far as the degree of the bend. I say it’s not an issue.

  15. This is really pissess me off.
    Is it just me or design pipl who work for major phone manufacturers just don’t have a clue on how to make a nice sexy looking phone. This is why iphone so popular – cuz it’s shiny and sexy and easy to use.
    It’s time for htc to learn a lesson and design pretty looking phones.
    HTC hero looks better than G1 – but it’s still Ugly!!! It has` big enough screen alright, but even on these pictures it looks thick as well as I hate this sticking out mic part on the bottom. Definately will be inconvinient to carry around.
    manufacturers – don’t be loosers – please – make a flat phone with at least 3.5 inch screen like Iphone!!!
    with the best OS on the market (Android) will attract huge chunk of appl crowd.
    Betetr for us – better for manufacturers.
    WIN the **cking Win situation.

  16. The lack of a trackball really puts me off on this phone. I still like my G1 as is and the Magic looks pretty nice too but I really have no desire when it comes to this phone to even want to check it out.

  17. @ Andrei – I think Apple’s ads say the iphone is sexy while the device resembles the most boring possible shape with a one button on it. It is a minimalist approach while HTC really put a different spin on cell phones.
    .
    The design may not be for everyone but its not like everyone else i.e. Blackberry Storm, Samsung Omnia, all of LG’s new line, and many other slate styled devices.
    .
    My freindly thoughts
    -Droid

  18. Once you’ve used a decent hardware keyboard you never want to go back to a non responsive touchscreem keyboard imo.

    Therefore they should make a Touch Pro2 running Android instead of crap like this!

  19. I wanna buy android phone. But I have several requirements like:
    1) screen at least as big as iphone’s (3.5 inch).
    2) Minimal amount of dead space dead space on the phone.
    3) It should be thin.
    4) no slide out keyboard

    this phone obviously fails

  20. Hero is a fail… The bottom pat is just disgusting… I can`t imagine to have something so curved in my pocket. No trackball sucks. I don`t like it. When compared to magic, this sucks with either the ergonomy and usability. I don`t care about hardware and software, when the phone lacks so many things that are cool about HTC android phones.

  21. 1. It looks like shit.
    2. I LOVE my G1!
    3. Andrei, just get an iphone and shut the f up already! We don’t need you’re dumb ass

  22. I love my G1. I love my hardware keyboard. I hope they make another like this, DON’T put the numbers on letter keys!!! KEEP TTHE 5 ROW KEYPAD!!! Give it a lot more internal memort, 8 GB min, 3.5″ screen, 3.5mm headphone jack, up to date processor, and what do you have? Pretty much perfect phone. The chin/bend doesn’t bother me at all. I thought it would. Nope. Nope. You don’t even notice it. It looks bad in pictures, true. That is the worst thing about it.

  23. Charles has the right idea. I want a G1.1. Add a 3.5mm jack, upgraded processor, and either more internal memory or a way to install apps to the SD. Battery life could be better too, but an aftermarket upgrade helps with that. Seriously, a few upgrades to the G1 and its nearly perfect. How long do you think it will be before we see an updated Android phone with a physical keyboard? How am I to play NES games on a touchscreen?

    And for people complaining about the chin, have you actually held/used the G1? Because I like the chin/trackball, its comfortable for using with one hand (unlike the iphone.)

  24. That phone looks like crap its bigger uglier but whatever its just a phone at the end of the day. I love my g1 as much as the next person but there’s a lot of stuff I would definetly change just for convience.

  25. photoshop picture

  26. This is not the real hero its a fake the hero has a trackball on it…it exactly like the g1 jus better that’s all it is…n I got a g1 n I’m gettin the hero when it come out……

  27. this phone is ugly and im upset they took away the trackball and whats with the big buttons on the bottom of it im happy there is a standard headphone jack but other then that i wouldnt consider getting this and i have the g1 and the htc magic

  28. Trackball was pointless – I never used it, what’s the point when you’ve got a touch-screen? It’s much faster just to touch what you want. Be honest, what do you actually use the trackball for? So I’m not fussed that it’s lost the trackball.
    The “chin” makes it easier and more comfortable to hold than a flat object – it’s easier/more comfortable to hold a ball than a brick.
    The bigger the screen gets sure the more you can see, but the more space it’ll take up in your pocket, big screen phones are always going to be bricks.
    I for one like the thickness of the phone, makes it easy to get your hands around, easier to hold and therefore less likely to drop it and break it.
    I also like the weight that comes from a thick phone, because then I know it’s in my pocket rather than worrying if it’s on someone elses. The whole obsession with lighter and thicker phones can go away now – it only came about because the old phones used to be the size of a small cat and weigh about as much as a dog – slight exaggeration but you get the picture.

    But I have to say it needs a slide-out keyboard, the on-screen keyboard is too fiddley as it’s easy to touch the wrong button unless you’ve got a stylus.
    The proof of how good it will be as ever though is in the applications. When the G1 first came out it was pretty bare until all the aplications came out after and then it really kicked off in its usefulness.
    Another addition that would be nice is larger memory, greater processing power and the like (I know it’s only a phone so wont match something like a laptop, but in the future who knows)
    Anyways, they might be bringing out a new form of memory that allows you to have 1000GB in the space of a thumbdrive so if (/hopefully when) that comes out you’ll be able to buy 8GB SD cards as if they were paper.

    If you want something that’s exactly the same as an iPhone get an iPhone. You’re not going to take any apple fanboys with something that’s exactly the same as the iPhone.

  29. I hate the design of this phone, especially the Jay Leno chin on the bottom. The leaked photos of the Samsung InstinctQ from today rock! Especially the slide out keyboard…

    http://phandroid.com/2009/08/19/samsung-instinctq-pictures-leak/

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