What exciting tech will you be playing with this weekend? New phones? Laptops? Tell us about it in comments…

Both phones only work on the 900/2100MHz HSPA networks, which means you’re on Voda or Optus (and not Telstra like we heard), unless you’re happy sitting on 2G speeds. The Tattoo will also let you buy custom body cases for $30 from Garskin.

The lack of a carrier partner means that there won’t be any over-the-air software updates, which probably won’t phase too many Optus Dream owners. And while that price is a bit more expensive than getting an unlocked version from overseas, HTC were quick to point out that you won’t get a proper Australian warranty if you grey import.

For everyone who has been waiting for the Hero to launch in Australia, what do you think about this launch strategy? Is selling it unlocked a good or bad move on HTC’s part?

[HTC Taiwan – Thanks Unimaginative]

I said the original version of the Hero was “daring” and “ambitious, but tragically flawed”. (Read that review first.) If it was Batman, the Sprint Hero is Superman: Nearly perfect, but goddamn boring. HTC has taken the striking, aggressive angles of Hero v1 and flattened them out into a rounded, far more generic looking phone. It’s not hideous, but it’s lost its power to captivate as a geek fetish object.

Everything else about this version of the phone is better: The software, which is exactly the same content-wise as the first Hero (read about in-depth here), has been seriously optimised, so it doesn’t suffer show-stopping slowdowns anymore, even with a full set of HTC’s widgets running. Speedwise overall, it’s about the same as a G1 running the stock Android OS—bearable, but not exactly a blitzkrieg. (The iPhone 3GS is way faster, to compare.)

Interestingly, while HTC says the hardware is exactly the same—except for the CDMA chips to get it on Sprint’s network, obviously—there are some differences we noticed. The screen, while the same size, actually seems to look a little bit better on the Sprint model. Not worlds better, but if you look close, the difference is there. The colours are a bit more saturated, the viewing angle a little wider. Also, it’s got a bigger battery: 1500mAh, compared to 1350 before. The bigger trackball is a plus, since it takes less thumb movement to get around, meaning less carpal tunnel

And, while it’s very possible firmware at play, the 5MP camera shoots, on average, about twice as fast as the first Hero, and the metering in low light seems to be way better, too. Both of the shots above were taken using the same settings on each phone, with the old Hero running the original firmware it shipped with. (Still not great, but better.)

The only new bits, software-wise, are a handful of pretty standard Sprint apps: Sprint Navigation, NFL Mobile Live, Nascar, SprintTV and Device Self-Service. Everything else, from the keyboard to the multitouch browser is the same, just faster (and in the case of Flash in the browser, more reliable, since we could actually watch videos this time around). Which is dandy, since HTC’s Sense UI, with its multiple desktops, social networking integration, widgets and other enhancements, made Android great.

The real power of this Hero is that the best Android phone you can buy—it’s everything good we said about the first Hero, but with our biggest complaint speed fixed—is on Sprint and its solid 3G network—making it the first US Android phone outside of T-Mobile—and it’s $US180. Plus, the required Sprint Everything now has free calling to any mobile number, not a bad perk.

The princess might not kiss this Hero because it’s kinda ugly, but at least it’ll actually get the job done now. If you’ve been waiting for an Android phone not on T-Mobile, or simply just about ready for primetime, this is it.

HTC’s Sense UI makes Android way more usable and adds useful features like social networking integration

Almost all of original Hero’s problems are fixed

Android kinks, like no easy way to update all apps, meh store interface aren’t polished over

Jumbo trackball and more logical front placement marred by cheap front plate

Hardware blobbified into something boring and dull, not daring and awesome

Still not as polished as iPhone or Palm Pre

[Sprint]

Would-be Hero buyers, look at the bright side: HTC will have ironed out most of the problems with the original. Like the slowness! Which you can now murder, to death, with an update.

News of this magical speed salve got Hero users, current and prospective, a wee bit excited last week, but the lack of a firm release date beyond “soon” kept us all on edge. Well, the update is making its way out as we speak across HTC’s international sites. A direct link isn’t yet live on HTC’s British site, but rest assured: Someone over at XDA has already cobbled together a custom, English language ROM based on the new update, available now.

Or, you know, you could also wait a little while—probably just a few hours—for the official English update to go live on HTC’s site. [XDA Developers]

RyeBrye has pieced together an Android app that does all the rooting legwork, a process that used to range from mildly intimidating to headache-inducing. In either case, the prospect was always daunting for the mainstream, which kept the joys of an unbound Android from most HTC Magic owners. With this app, here’s the new, streamlined procedure:

• Download “Recovery Flasher” From the Android Market
• Run it
• Tap “Back up recovery image”
• Tap “Flash Cyanogen Recovery 1.4″

Seriously, that’s it. Now your Android phone is splayed wide open, and ready for you to have your way with it. But, uh, what does that mean, exactly?

Plenty of things! The biggest draw to rooting is the ability to install a new ROM—in other words, replace the operating system on your phone. There are two ways to go with this, both equally awesome. The first is to go with a super-customised community ROM. These are tweaked and enhanced versions of the phone’s default software, often grafted with pieces of Google’s forthcoming updates to Android, some near, some far, and all dessert-themed. Practically, this means multitouch—since the HTC Magic already supports this on the hardware side—app storage on SD cards, tethering, more home screens, new system keyboards, and perhaps most importantly, vastly improved performance. A lot of users say using one of these is a night-and-day difference, and given the kinds of things the HTC ROM community has done with Windows Mobile phones, I’m inclined to believe them.

Your second path is to go full Hero—in other words, to install the HTC Hero’s heavily customised OS, which is nothing short of fantastic, and about to get even better. This is a full phone conversion and even in its current, slightly precarious state, well worth it.

In either case, you’re going to need to choose a ROM, download it, and put it on your phone’s SD card. You can select from an expansive list here—for reference, the HTC Magic is also known as the myTouch—but as far as non-Hero ROMs go, your best bet is the near-legendary, well-supported CyanogenMod. The newest release, out just two days ago, is fully compatible with the HTC Magic. But don’t stress too much over which ROM to choose, since changing them over is a breeze now that you’re fully unlocked. An overview from Android and Me:

• Power off your phone.
• Boot into recovery mode. Press and hold the Home key, then hit the power button.
• Before you flash a rom file, perform a wipe. Press Alt+W to wipe the data and cache folders. You must wipe when going form different builds of Android.
• Wait for the wipe to finish and the recovery image to display again, then select “apply any zip from sd”. Flash the zip file of your choice.
• After flashing any zip you should be able to reboot your system and watch it load to the home screen.

You’ll want to read their full rooting and flashing guide for caveats, but that easy little list there is about the size of it.

A few more reasons to root that don’t involve totally flashing your phone:

• Full backups to SD cards
• Wi-Fi tethering!
• Autorotation for all apps
• Install apps to an SD card

This alongside a treasure trove of smaller tweaks and tricks you can find at the every-active XDA forums. And of course, it should go without saying: this is potentially risky, and could brick your phone. The rooting process is almost foolproof, but before you jump in, make sure you’ve got the right hardware (American MyTouch 3Gs and G1s only) and have backed up any important data. Happy hacking! [RyeBrye, AndroidAndMe]

Well, this changes things. Right after it came out, Matt called the HTC Hero “tragically flawed.” Why? Because the otherwise fantastic Sense UI was slooooow. HTC, presumably run by competent, rational human beings, has fixed this.

From the review in July:

The Hero is flawed, though, in ways that are truly depressing in light of its potential and how much it does get truly right: It’s often sluggish, which absolutely destroys the user experience. It’s a particularly unfortunate affliction as the iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre emphasise speed, making the Hero feel that much slower.

This was all but a dealbreaker, this frustrating slowness. But! Paul at MoDaCo has a preview of HTC’s forthcoming update, which was vaguely announced yesterday, without much mention of what it would actually do. Now we know: It’s about speed. And as someone who’s been using a Hero for a few weeks now, this video makes my fingers tingle, ever so slightly.

Now, excuse me while I go remove the asterisk from that “Best Android Phone Ever” title. [MoDaCo via Slashgear]

The tutorial gets a little technical in parts, so if you have an unnatural fear of the command line you should probably stay away. But if you’re prepared to take a risk, then it’s definitely worth checking out. I had a play with the Hero the other week, and I have to say that it was the nicest Android device I’ve played with yet, purely because of the UI enhancements.

[Gadget Monkeys]