By After the dance-around with HTC and some of their US-bred Sense devices – namely the Sprint HTC Hero and the HTC Droid Eris – users finally got their hands on the Android 2.1 update that was driving everyone mad. Everyone rejoiced except for one very big, loud crowd that still has not gotten the pleasure of being updated to Eclair: the European HTC Hero owners.
One of our members over at Androidforums.com – StevenChap – finally got fed up with HTC and opted to send an angry (but somewhat clean) letter of concern and complaints to the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer. Here’s the text – word for word – in its entirety:
For the past 3months now, your supposed self proclaimed, ‘simply brilliant’ company has riddled us, the customers, who buy your phones with lies and filth. I bought this phone under the presumption it would get regular upgrades and compete with the iPhone. Well, clearly not since you keep pushing back and delaying the god damn update. How can you smug sad excuses for a company sit there, while paying customers wait for a upgrade thats probably never going to come. And for the 234543 time, when is the HTC hero getting the god damn 2.1 update…
Apparently, HTC must’ve gotten fed up with all of the angry letters they’ve been getting because Steven (assuming that’s not his real name since he elected to blank it out in his screenshot) was successful in drawing a response out of them.
Hi [redacted] thanks for your email. Regarding the Hero 2.1 update: This was delayed back in March, and is currently awaiting OTA release next month. There will be two updates that you will receive. The first will be a small update early in June that prepares the Hero to be able to receive the larger, 2.1 update a couple of weeks later. When you receive the prompt for the second update, which is the actual 2.1 update, i would suggest you do it over wifi as it is over 100MB in size. best regards, [redacted]. HTC
There you have it. There’s absolutely no way that this couldn’t be fake, so do not take any of this with 100% certainty that you guys will be getting your update this June. Still, it’s always good to have a little bit of hope to hold onto, and if 2.1 rollouts on similar Sense-enabled devices are anything to go by, then there’s a good chance that your Eclair comes out of the oven and dipped into a vat of chocolate this June.
About bloody time too. But then, I’ll believe it when I see it.
This isn’t new I emailed them a while ago and got a similar response:
“Dear Gary, Thank you for contacting us. In regards to the 2.1 update, Htc will be providing a free update to Éclair for European HTC Hero variants.’ starting in June’, anyone owning an HTC Hero will receive an initial preparatory update, shortly followed by the full Éclair update. For the full update, we would recommend using a free wi-fi hotspot or an unlimited data plan, otherwise standard data charges may apply.” I trust that this resolves your query, please do not hesitate to contact us again if required. Thank you for contacting HTC. Kind regards, Federico F. HTC”
They’ve been saying “Next Month” since November…
Fxck a European HTC Hero I still didn’t get an update for my Motorola Cliq!!! Im still waitin to get Android 2.1!!!! Im startin to feel like fxck Android 2.1, Im startin to want Android 2.2. Motorola down bad for this HTC up on their game better then Motorola. At least some HTC phones gettin 2.1, there hasn’t been any updates for Motorola phones.
I’m rather pessimistic and read that as “update may be rolled out in July”: First, there’s the preparatory update “next month”, which is June. Then “a couple of weeks later” (assuming it’s not the first week of June) certainly means early July.
If you ask me, Android > 1.5 for HTC Hero is starting to become vaporware and this is really getting ridiculous. HTC rolled out how many different phones after the Hero release? And they all run more current Android versions plus Sense UI – this seems like a rebuy & throw-away policy to me and is the exact opposite of why I bought an Android phone! A few days ago, Sprint started updating their customized US Heros to 2.1 – why does it take so long for HTC to lag behind their resellers?!
BTW: Anyone tried to get Cyanogen & Co. to run on the Hero? Would be the best time to try that (really, I would abandon Sense UI to get a newer OS; too bad the Droid/Milestone wasn’t available when I bought my Hero).
This is disgusting. I have been waiting for the update for months and now the Americans get it first?! What’s all that about. Its not fair and should have been done to all networks and carries worldwide not to the Americans. Why are British and Europeans treated so differently? What is done for one should be done for all and I for one am not happy that I still don’t have the frigging update. Why 2 updates? the first update is for what exactly? each update wipes and reflashes the frigging phone thus making the earlier update pointless. Get off your F***** A***** HTC give me my god damn update and stop with all the bull s***.
Rant over :D
StevenChap is staing my own and i guess alot of other Euoropean owners of the Hero, i too am very annoyed at HTC having purchased in good fiath on the basis of their sales hype that this phone will be updated as and when they are available.
In the U.K. we use a legal term “In A Timely Manner” i would suggest HTC get to grips on the meaning of this, i love my Hero but feel as if we have been treated like second class customers.
HTC you Suck.
Steve.
Tell me something I do not know. This answer, which is prepared and simply sent to everyone, who asks, is simply identical to what I got from HTC support a. month ago. But its even more annoying, because while Sprint hero and Verizon droid eris do have the update, we have to wait another fucking month. What’s taking HTC so long? The software is done and distributed in the states, so what the fuck is the problem?
And one more thing. We’re gonna get the update around the same fucking time Nexus one will be gettin’ froyo. Simply awesome. I really was this close to throw my hero out of the window.
I dont understand how it can take so long for an update though. Even with updates- a few weeks later I’m sure they’ll be a smaller patch to fix ‘minor’ bugs.
These people who design the updates have spent 9 hours a day 5 days a week since say November 2009 to come up with an update. Surely it can’t be ‘that’ challenging to write code or whatever they do. Like you see people on the net changing code within days to create custom roms etc.
I’m quite content with 1.5 even though it can be a bit laggy but it would be nice for this update. I seriously just can’t get my head around what these developers do all day for soo many months!
Anyone agree?
@Furret: I would be grateful if it would be around at that time, but I fear not. And better we get 2.1 on that phone than being locked into 1.5 for another 4-5 months because HTC suddenly decides: “Oh, let’s skip 2.1, we go straight to 2.2” (as they did with 1.6 and 2.0). In the end we will never get that update anyway but simply buy another phone NOT manufactured by HTC (I get the feeling that was a mistake I won’t make twice).
I don’t know what’s wrong with HTC: Why build a myriad of different phones released over rougly one year if you are completely unable to keep up with maintenance?! HTC, get your product line organized and your UI customizations modular so you don’t need to tinker for months on 20 completely different hardware configurations! And stop feeding us false release dates! If you need until Q4 or are unable to release something then just say it!
Guys at the XDA forum will have a fully working 2.1 ROM within the next week or so by the look of things. Silly HTC, allowing their files to be uploaded by accident. :rolleyes:
Also, HTC have changed the way they distribute the ROM to different countries and providers, so the long delay seen on the Hero update should not happen again. We’ll see if that holds true when Froyo hits the Legend and Desire eh?
Apologies for the double post, just thought you should know.
my htc hero is still on 1.5. haven’t found a need to update yet. phone still works. have a ton of great software for it. great device. why should i be in a rush to upgrade?
We the HTC buyers were the one of the first group to support the new Android OS HTC should make sure we are the happiest with updates we the consumers are part of there success and arn’t being treated as such this may make us think secondly about HTC next time. Do we really need a new HTC phone every month HTC should concentrat there focus.. :)
After seeing this:
http://phandroid.com/2010/05/21/android-2-2-headed-to-the-nexus-one-and-oems-in-the-coming-weeks/
I am seriously considering finding the money for a Nexus One. I should be able to get a good £100 for my hero so it’s not as bad as it could be. That said the N1 is a few months old now, maybe I should wait for news of a “n2”.
Oh really? Did they? I wonder if they are gonna start to actually communicate with their customers. It’s not only customer service, but also PR which failed here completely. No explanations, no apology, nothing. At least not in the channels they should have used, like facebook, Twitter, or highly read technical servers. Only some minor server said something, that HTC apologize, which may be truth, and may easily be fake.
I a beginner with this android thing but I got so fed up of waiting for the OTA update I rooted my phone and installed a custom 2.1 rom (SenseHero 2.1, I think). I’m really impressed with it – it’s much faster than 1.5. I think it was based on a Sprint release but it works really well on the GSM Hero. All the pretty stuff aside (and I do like to show it off to iPhone users) the thing I’ve been most impressed with is being able to use a clocking widget to ensure the phone chip it clocked to the maximum while the screen is on. This requires root access but…believe me…it’s worth it. As soon as I can find a working 2.2 (without the Sense UI) I will be putting that on the phone as I’ve gotten over the fancy (processor intensive) looks of Sense UI. Also, with vanilla android (or custom sense UI) you’re unlikely to ever be pissed off like this again as updates are far more frequent!
hello
I need a persion software for installation in my HTC phone
could you send this software to my e-mail?
I will thanks if it possible
ghashghavi
[email protected]
HTC HERO 2.1
Could anyone please post step by step instruction on how to root and update my Simfree HERO 1.5 UK version.
thank you so much in advance.
[email protected]
You can use my HTC Hero root guide to root your Hero at http://www.roothtchero.co.uk . It is aimed at n00bs and tells you step-by-step what to do!
***WARNING – I’m a beginner at this too***
None of the instructions on the websites I looked at worked for me so I had to put together a process that did the job. It’s pretty awkward but you’ll need a apk to root the phone (you may have to roll back to the pre-update rom to get one that works; alternatively, some of the sites provide a command line method too), then install “radios” (I think these are settings that control the phone signal) and the actual custom rom. The The radios and rom can be installed together…these are put on the root of the sd and called something like update.zip (rom) and radios.zip (radios???) when you restart the phone holding down home+power until you see “black & green screen” then select the zip files – order doesn’t matter. Then restart and you’re on 2.1. Here is a good place to start…
*http://www.sizzledcore.com/2009/12/02/install-android-2-1-on-htc-hero/ (you’ll need to get updated files though; I didn’t use the rom on this site either)
You can break your phone doing this though so only do it if you can live with that and a voided warranty!!! Make sure you back up too or you’ll lose lots of things on your phone…text messages, chat, etc. Good luck!
This is why i never want a HTC or any other phones with custom UI’s
After the delay in march i was fed up, so i rooted and installed a custom rom.
I love my Hero, but HTC /and/or google needs to find a better solution in the way they handle upgrades to android phones. While the Legend is almost the Hero with Sense 2.1, i cant possible see why the Hero is beeing delay other than they want to analy screw us and make us buy newer phones.
My next phone is a Nexus 2, problem is, i want it NAO! :D
When I bough my Hero august last year I had just sold my 6 months old symbian phone because I wasn’t able to get the newest version of google maps with latitude. At the time I strongly believed that I never again would be stuck with an outdated phone os.
I now strongly believe that the only way to go is Google Experience phone ala the Nexus One. In a way I hope the next Nexus phone will not be manufactured by HTC so I can get that without putting money in HTC’s pocket.
The sad thing is believing that such a letter had any positive effect.. The line.. ’simply brilliant’ company has riddled us, the customers, who buy your phones with lies and filth … Filth ?.. really ?.. Working in the Customer service game myself, I can tell you that anger does not make me want to help you “even more”.. I and all of my co-workers always want to help customers when they call.. that is the best part of the job.. The worst part of the job, is some yo-yo who thinks that the more they yell, the more “free stuff” they can get out of you.. I am hip to the game.. your service has been out for an hour, and you tell me days, thinking you’ll get a month free.. but you think you won’t get that unless you make a scene.. The thing is, your ranting and raving takes up time that could be better spent helping other people.. So I listen to it, and eventually help you, and then you go off somewhere else after you’ve been helped and talk crap about horrible customer service.. and how you had to wait on hold for so long before someone could help you.. and I get 3 other people helped in the same time it took to deal with your tirade.. Customer service is a 2 way street.
Maybe HTC Are Going To Upgrade It To 2.2 And Thats Why There Taking The Piss (Lets Hope!)
There was not really any need for “Steven” or whatever his name is to be quite so rude. I emailed HTC last month about the update since like Steven and every other Hero owner, we are getting rather fed up with HTC’s complete silence over the issue. I got a reply within 48 hours but based on comments from users mainly on Facebook, I wasn’t the only one. Here’s what they told me:
“Thank you for contacting us.
In regards to the 2.1 update, Htc will be providing a free update to Éclair for European HTC Hero variants.’ starting in June’, anyone owning an HTC Hero will receive an initial preparatory update, shortly followed by the full Éclair update. For the full update, we would recommend using a free wi-fi hotspot or an unlimited data plan, otherwise standard data charges may apply.”
I trust that this resolves your query, please do not hesitate to contact us again if required.
Thank you for contacting HTC. ”
I tried to follow up with:
“Hi,
Thanks for your reply. This is pretty much word for word what has been appearing in the tech press yesterday regarding HTC’s position on the 2.1 update. What I wonder is:
a) Why can’t HTC be more precise than “June”?
b) Why do we need a “preparatory update” before getting the full update? What’s the reasoning behind this?
c) Why it’s taken HTC so long to come up with an upgrade and why we have to wait a further 2 months?
I think I speak for many of Hero owners by saying that we’ve been very disappointed with just how long we’re having to wait to receive our update, and also with the lack of official communication from HTC regarding the matter. ” (Dated 22 April)
Their response was:
“We take all our customer comments and complaints always on board and I have forwarded your comments to our escalation team.
Thank you for contacting HTC. ”
Since then, zit, nada, no word.
can someone explain more about the ‘clocking widget’ mentioned above please… what exaclty is it?
Sign the petition to tell HTC to stop lying to us: http://www.petitiononline.com/a6262/petition.html
It would be interesting to see when the Legend gets the 2.2 update (since its not as powerful and widely sold as Desire), I’m guessing June 2011 by then Gingerbread will be out. HTC will always stay a step behind when it comes to existing customers, all they want is to get new customers.
Yeah right………… June…. No. July? no…. and so on. I’ve lost my faith in HTC because of this.
As usual, not a word about the other GSM/HSPA Hero – the Telus Hero. Sigh.
I just got a response to the complaint I just mailed HTC. For European users, we will receive it the 1st of June…
The update will start with a small update and then ‘very soon’ we will receive the big update.
I’ll believe it when I see it, since we have been waiting for way too long.
Luckily, I managed to root my Hero, but this is definitely the last HTC I’ll buy!
if i were to die on 31 may 2010, i would never get to see what android 2.1 will look and feel like on my hero…
I am from Portugal, and when I bought the phone I was amazed, because I bought it after the 1st rom update that corrected lag, and it was fast, the market with many nice app, and overall quality very good.
Since than android 1.6 got released on HTC Magic, along with Sense, so I made a email for HTC explaining, why a cheaper phone had a better upgrade and mine not? They said soon it would receive an update to 2.0.
Than came 2.0 and HTC said we will wait till 2.1.
Now 2.1 is out, and a series of new phones with it, including the brand new HTC Wildfire witch despite being entrance model as better overall specs (aside resolution) than the Hero (no problem as it is a new hardware), but is the specs are similiar (same proc,more ram) why can Hero use the same soft?
Plus America get’s 2.1 upgrade first from Sprint and in one round.
But Europe must wait a first download and then “after some weeks”?? WTF? is it revenge from something bad European people have done to the Chinese? or Twaian?
And to end everything for Hero the 2.2 aka Froyo wich is better in performance is nocking the door, I mean..Why should I want to update the Hero now? I guess I am tired waiting. One day I will change to Windows Mobile, if I will stick with HTC, how knows.
Oh look. It’s the 2nd of june and no update still! What a surprise!
HTC wants to sell phones with new versions of android OS.
Promises or not promises of upgrades doesn’t matter.
As usual, these upgrades only work when hardware and software come from the same place, like iPhone, of course.
I should have known.
Joao, HTC hero owner, Portugal