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?

We’ve heard rumours like this before, but this time there are a few distinct elements that seem credible, maybe even enough to make us rethink our previous position. The rumblings are a bit vague, but point to an outsider-made but Google-dictated device, sort of like how Microsoft’s first Zune was actually made by Toshiba — and in the case of the Google Phone, there are a couple options for the possible manufacturer. The obvious choice is HTC, who’s been the major hardware manufacturer of Android devices, but TechCrunch hears that the source of the hardware will be Korean, not Taiwanese, which likely points to either Samsung or LG.

Samsung has a long-standing relationship with Apple, supplying tons of parts for the iPhone, so maybe LG would step up to the plate and develop this phantom device. LG’s no stranger to Android, but has been a minor player up to this point — maybe they’ve been working on this mysterious Google Phone in the meantime, which is supposedly aiming for an early 2010 release.

[TechCrunch]

It’s basically a ritual now: Fresh feature debuts on new Android phone; hack-happy HTC Dream owners see new feature, develop seething jealousy; said owners work tirelessly to steal new feature. Last week, Google Maps Navigation hit the Droid. Today, the G1.

AU: The G1 is called HTC Dream in Australia, but I wouldn’t bother trying this as Google Maps Navigation is only available in the US at the moment. _-EH

Google Maps Navigation will be part of Android 2.0, and Android 2.0 is expected to come to most — if not all — Android handsets on the market eventually, so given how complicated this hack is (fairly!), and that it requires a rooted phone, it’d be prudent for most folks to just wait this out. That said, there’s no saying on how long it’ll be until Eclair seeds out to older handsets, and there’s no guarantee that the G1 — an old fart in its little corner of the universe — will ever get it. Anyhow, here’s what you need to do, from XDA:

Download here

Make sure you have CyanogenMod 4.2.3.1, by the way.

1) Unzip zip to desktop
2) Run Part 1.bat
3) When prompted to press any key, do so; the phone will reboot
4) When your phone is running again, run Part 2.bat
5) When prompted to press any key, the installation process is done.
6) Make sure GPS is enabled
7) Open Maps and press OK
8) Press Menu
9) Press Directions
10) Enter an end point
11) Click Go
12) Just under “Show on map”, click Navigate.
13) When prompted to install the voice codec, do so.

And there you have it: Free, not terrible turn-by-turn navigation for your G1 without Android 2.0. [XDA via Engadget Mobile via IntoMobile]

Eris is Verizon’s other Droid phone. It really is a remodelled Hero, running Android 1.5 and HTC’s vaunted Sense candy coating — documented CSI style here — a $US200 phone stuffed inside a thinner $US100 body, like a Corvette engine shoved inside a Saturn. It’s admittedly less exciting than the titular Droid, an industrial beast running Android 2.0. But I have the feeling Verizon is gonna sell a lot more of these things because, again, it’s $US100.

Designing for the Middle of the Road

The Eris is rubbery blob, a narrow oval that’s as subdued as a phone could possibly be, but there is admittedly something comforting about the Eris’s utter lack of personality — it’s completely non-threatening, like a middle manager. It’s so generic it’s almost artful, actually, a design that is nearly perfect for a cheap phone.

The four main Android buttons are touch sensitive, bleeding into the black bezel, hovering over the dead-centre trackball and hard chrome buttons for phone and end. I’d like a dedicated camera button, but a volume rocker is all we get. The camera lens stares out the back, disturbingly more reminiscent of an eye than most cameras sticking out the backs of phones, probably because of how stark the rest of the phone is.

Hardware and Camera

The actual guts and screen are the same as past Hero phones — which is to say, nearly the same as all of HTC’s other Android phones so far. The 480×320 screen’s still nice, even if it feels dated now that the Droid’s massive screen, beckoning the next generation, looms large over it. Oh yeah, HTC? Can you get rid of your stupid, pointlessly different version of the mini USB port? Let’s go to micro USB now, yeah?

The still camera’s better than the Droid though, and about the same as the Sprint version of the Hero, performing pretty decently in low-light situations. Video, not so much:

Software and the Endgame

I’ve already covered HTC’s Sense UI in depth, and it is the exact same on the Eris. It runs just as fast as the Sprint Hero, if not a teeny bit quicker. I will say that after using Android 2.0, it does feel like a step backward in some ways, mostly because of the single Google account limitation. But HTC’s confirmed Android 2.0 is coming, so it won’t be an issue for every long.

And really, the fact that Android 2.0 — half the reason the Droid is excellent — is coming to the Droid Eris is why, in the end, it’s such a steal. It’s running on Verizon, it’s going to have Android 2.0, and it’s $US100. It’s a great phone now, and will be better still soon, making it kind of a perfect storm for people on Verizon looking to ditch their dumbphones — but not Verizon — for something more capable, but who are put off by the Droid, whether it’s the steroids or the higher sticker price.

It’s last month’s darling. But it’ll run this month’s software. For cheap. And that’s pretty spiffy, actually.

You’re getting last month’s killer Android phone for half price

We’ll say it again: This is the best Android deal around

Android 1.5 feels a little dated

Video recording’s not exactly amazing

The apparent internal bulletins were leaked to Android fan site, Phandroid, and total five pages for the Motorola, and seven for the HTC. They look legit, and if they are, the info is useful for a number of reasons. If you’re thinking about buying a Droid, it’s good to see some of the problems you may face.

But even better, the meticulous list seems to show that Verizon/Motorola/HTC actually care about supporting their devices post launch. [Phandroid: Motorola Droid | HTC Droid Eris]

From the outset, the HD2 is a tragic creature, built from the finest pieces imaginable and burdened with a categorically disappointing OS. HTC has done their best to hide the HD2’s shame, but it’s just not enough.

Meeting the HD2 : Hardware

HTC’s got a funny way of designing hardware, where they settle on a basic set of components then pump out virtually every iteration of this basic spec set they possibly can. (See also: HTC as Taco Bell.) It’s a rare occasion then, that we get something like the Touch HD2, a followup to the similarly impressive Touch HD.

Top to bottom, corner to corner — and it’s a long trip — the HD2 is a perfect specimen of glass, plastic and aluminium. The massive screen-to-bezel ratio means the HD2 is essentially just a 4.3-inch piece of glass, its 800×480 multitouch display bordered by just a few millimetres of ink-black trim and a subtle row of satisfyingly pressable little buttons. The handset’s minimalist hind-side, interrupted only by a slightly protruding lens for the HD2’s 5-megapixel camera and an ever-so-slightly grained aluminium battery door, is elegantly tapered, emphasising just how thin this thing is.

It’s got the same space-warping powers as a supermodel; it looks like a beautiful phone in pictures, but when you finally see it in person, it’s twice as tall as you thought it would be and far too thin for its expanded proportions. It’s almost not fair to other phones. And it will give them body image issues.

Behind this spectacularly huge screen is a 1GHz Snapdragon processor assisted by 448MB of RAM — specs that would have put a top-line desktop to shame less than 10 years ago — and 512MB of ROM, aided by expandable microSD storage. The whole battery of expected high-end smartphone amenities are here, from GPS to a facial proximity sensor to an internal compass to Bluetooth 2.1. There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack and charging comes by way of Micro USB through to an adequate 1230mAh battery (it’ll get you through the workday, which is par for the course nowadays). Unless you absolutely need to have a hardware keyboard, there is nothing — nothing — the HD2 leaves you wanting for.

Moving In With the HD2

One of the benefits of Windows Mobile not having changed much in the last few years is that it’s easy to compare new hardware to old. And let’s be clear about the HD2: It’s unbelievably fast. Applications open almost instantly and close without the slightest hesitation, and over Wi-Fi, web pages render in Opera Mobile as if you’re browsing on a laptop, not a mobile phone. (And hell, if you put your face close enough to this ridiculous screen, it’s easy to forget you’re not.)

This near-magical experience is spread throughout the HD2: Calls answer and end without the expected delay, the camera — a decent 5-megapixel number with a blinding flash and VGA video capabilities — wakes up as fast as you can point its lens, and tapping the home button, no matter how many apps you’ve got toiling in the background, always results in a satisfyingly clean and snappy return to HTC’s ostentatious homescreen. Speaking of which!

This is one of the first Windows Mobile phones to have HTC Sense, which combines bits and pieces of their overhauled Android interface and kneads them together with years of TouchFLO 3D development. Practically, this means that using the HD2 is just like using any other HTC Windows phone from the last three years — a tabbed slider at the bottom of the screen moves you from homescreen panel to homescreen panel, where HTC has condensed almost all the information you look to your phone for. It’s faster and more complete that you’ve seen before, with added colour, a Twitter client and visual browser bookmarks. But it’s essentially the same HTC dashboard, just gussied up a little bit. And to the extent that such a thing can work, it works.

Falling Out of Lust With the HD2

HTC’s software ethos has always been to hide the unseemly parts of Windows Mobile. And it’s got plenty! But with the HD2, they’ve taken this philosophy all the way to its logical conclusion: They’ve tried to replace Windows Mobile’s UI entirely. The HD2 is HTC: Reductio ad Absurdum Edition.

And don’t get me wrong, this whole Sense thing is surprisingly usable — it’s a fairly rare occasion that you fall out of HTC’s safe, smooth, grey-and-black arms, and into the Windows 3.1-esque hell that has been, and somehow still is, a Windows Mobile hallmark. Sense HTC has made a sort of meta OS which uses Windows Mobile 6.5 as a behind-the-scenes stage hand, only showing its face when it absolutely needs to. HTC has even added multitouch to the browser, maps and photo applications, which works surprisingly well for what almost certainly qualifies as an after-the-fact hack.

In fact, that could describe the whole Sense experience. It’s good considering what it is. It’s just that that’s a huge qualification. As pretty as HTC’s replacement apps are, they’re not the same as having good core apps in the first place. Want to add music to HTC’s fancy new media player? You’ve got to find Windows Mobile’s old media player, add a directory and switch back. Want some new apps? Trundle on over to Windows Mobile’s sorely lacking app Marketplace. Press Start, and you’ll be greeted with Windows’ unsortable mess of a Start Menu. Need to modify a setting that HTC didn’t deem important enough to put in their own control panel? Good luck. And god forbid you don’t like Sense and want to stick with vanilla 6.5 because you basically can’t: It’s not quite ready for stylus-free use, and the HD2’s screen doesn’t come with — or support—those forsaken almost-pens of yore. As much good work as HTC has done here, it’s an uneven experience.

Every time you notice the absurd lengths to which HTC has gone to deny this phone is running Windows — they’ve even replaced the calendar and text messaging apps, for god’s sake — you find yourself asking the same question: Why even bother?

It’s a question for consumers as much as it is for HTC. For HTC, why spend so much time and effort desperately — and only marginally effectively — hiding an OS when you know you can just replace it entirely? I understand they’ve got a legacy with Windows Mobile, but right now that legacy is starting to seem toxic. And for anyone thinking about buying this thing, why not wait a little while? We’ve seen how fantastic this hardware combo is, so why not wait until someone loads it up with software that HTC doesn’t have to hide away like some kind of dark secret? Sony’s about to outspec the HD2 with the Android-powered Xperia X10 anyway, and HTC would have to be stupid not to be working on the same right now.

If you’ve got some undying loyalty to Windows Mobile, be it personal or work-enforced, life won’t get any better than with the HD2 — it’s shipping on multiple carriers in the US sometime in early 2010, though I don’t suspect it’ll be cheap. If you don’t, then just wait this one out. Trust me: The payoff will be worth it. [HTC]

The 4.3-inch glass display is pure bliss.

Actually, no, this whole handset is bliss. If they were sitting right here, right now, I would kiss the hardware designers on the mouth. With tongue.

Battery life isn’t as atrocious as you’d expect it to be.

HTC Sense does extensive damage control on Windows Mobile, making this the best WinMo experience out there right now.

Not to beat a dead horse, but it’s still Windows Mobile.

The Droid Eris is very closely related to the Hero, which currently costs $US180 at Sprint, sharing mostly the same internals and a slightly redesigned shell. So it’s got the same decent 5-megapixel camera, the same 528MHz Qualcomm processor and the same 3.2-inch capacitive multitouch screen. However, the Hero’s 1500mAh battery has been replaced with a 1300mAh battery, presumably for thinness’s sake — we don’t know if it’ll reduce battery life noticeably, since HTC says they’ve made helpful optimisations, but it might.

It’ll be Verizon’s first phone with HTC’s Sense UI, but underneath that pretty interface it’s still running Android 1.5, which means you won’t be getting any of Android 2.0’s sweet new features like turn-by-turn Google Maps. Yet. HTC told me they’ll upgrade to 2.0 once they’ve worked out all the bugs between 2.0 and Sense.

On the plus side, it’s thinner and lighter than the Hero, and the four key buttons have been rearranged into a straight line of touch buttons rather than the Hero’s square layout. The Hero’s blobby design has been changed to a, well, different-looking blobby design. It’s even more understated than the Hero, with textured plastic replacing the Hero’s brushed aluminium front, and while it isn’t an ugly phone, it’s also not very eye-catching. However: It feels good in the hand, it’s still quite snappy and Sense UI is as slick as ever. At $US99 (with two-year contract, after $US100 rebate that comes back as a debit card, like the Droid), with an 8GB microSDHC card included, it’s an enticing deal. Press release below. [Verizon]

DROID ERIS by HTC Debuts with Verizon Wireless with HTC Sense Experience and an Ultra-Attractive $US99.99 Price

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and BELLEVUE, Wash. – Beginning Nov. 6, DROID ERIS™ by HTC will invade Verizon Wireless Communications Stores across the United States, bringing the power of the Android™ platform and the Verizon Wireless network together. DROID ERIS by HTC combines the popular Android platform with HTC Sense™, a user experience from HTC that makes it easy for customers to stay close to one another and create an individualized mobile experience tailored specifically to their needs.

DROID ERIS by HTC offers customers the opportunity to customise a seven-panel wide home screen with a wide variety of widgets designed to bring the most important information to the surface. DROID ERIS by HTC also includes the innovative “Scenes” feature, which allows customers to create multiple home screens, each with different widgets and shortcuts, to transform DROID ERIS by HTC from a “work” phone to a “play” phone with just a touch of a finger.

DROID ERIS by HTC also organizes interactions by person, which makes it possible to access text messages, e-mails, phone calls and even Flickr streams and Facebook updates from a single contact card.

The unique HTC Sense experience found on DROID ERIS by HTC is supported by an array of the latest mobile features, including:

o 3.2 inch capacitive touch screen and trackball interface

o 5.0 megapixel auto focus camera

o Expandable memory with pre-installed 8 GB microSD™ card (up to 16 GB supported)

o Supports USB mass storage

o Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi and 3.5 mm headset connectivity

o Integrated GPS and a digital compass with a sensor that enables the phone to know what direction it is facing

o Smart dialer for simplified dialing by name, number or initials

o Full HTML browser with Flash Lite capabilities

o Seamless compatibility with Google services like Google Maps, Gmail, Google Search and more

DROID ERIS by HTC will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com on Friday, Nov. 6, for $US99.99 after a $US100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement on a voice plan with an e-mail feature or e-mail plan. Customers will receive the mail-in rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.

For more information about Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

The HD2 arrives on T-Mobile in Europe on November 9, and Asia is also getting it this week. So question: HTC HD2, Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 (1GHz Snapdragon, 4-inch display and Rachael UI on top of Android) or the Motorola Droid (3.7-inch display and Android) — which gets your vote? Or has something else caught your eye? [HTC]