HTC Hero Getting Android OS 2.1 Upgrade Next Month

HTC has confirmed earlier rumors by promising to release and upgrade to Android OS 2.1 for the HTC Hero.

This smartphone is launched last year running version 1.5 of Google's operating system, and the upgrade will bring a wide array of enhancements.

What's New in Version 2.1?
Near the top of the list of improvements is support for Google's navigation service, which offers spoken turn-by-turn directions without a monthly service charge.

Android OS 2.1 also brings much greater support for speech-to-text, allowing users to enter text into any application with just their voice.

In addition, it offers an updated an updated version of the web browser, better camera software, and enhanced weather and news widgets..

More Sense, Too
One of the hallmarks of the HTC Hero is its alternate user interface, HTC Sense. This adds additional features to Google's standard one, rather than completely re-making it. For example, it brings support for the multi-touch gesture pinch-to-zoom to the web browser, and adds some additional homescreen widgets.

Along with the Android OS 2.1 upgrade for this smartphone will come an upgrade to the latest version  of Sense, which will add a new feature called FriendStream, designed to help users keep track of groups of their closest friends. It will bring together posts made to the most popular social networking services -- Facebook, Twitter, Flikr, etc.

The updated HTC Sense will also include some new widgets, including an agenda view for the calendar, and another that can display multiple e-mails.

Coming Next Month
HTC said this week that it will release the Android OS 2.1 upgrade for the HTC Hero at some point next month.

This promise includes all versions of the Hero, include the one offered by Verizon that has been re-branded the HTC Droid Eris.

More about the HTC Hero
The Hero is HTC's most widely-available phone running Google's Android OS -- its offered in Europe, and in the U.S. from Sprint. Plus, as mentioned earlier, Verizon also has its version, renamed the HTC Droid Eris.

It has a tablet shape with a 3.2-inch HVGA screen and trackball, but no hardware keyboard.

In addition, it offers mobile broadband, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 5 MPx camera, and a GPS receiver.

Source: HTC