10/10/2009 by www.mountainviewcellphones.com

We’ve been playing with out pre-release HERO and it’s a great product.  The ability to customize and the App store are the true differentiating factors for the device.

Between this and the PRE, there are plenty of things going for Sprint here.

First impressions:

1.  The app store is a phenomenal.  There are widgets and apps for so many things.  As Google has been at this for 2+ years, the range of apps for the platform is rather rich out the gate.  12,000+ apps by some counts.

2. The scene and layer capability is beyond any phone.  You can have 49  screens to customize…again phenomenal.  It’s the phone with the most multiple personalities.  For example, imagine you were preparing for an outdoor trip.  You could create a scene for this and then populate the 7 layers of the scene with all the apps or stuff you might need.  Compass app, maps app, footprints app, metal detector app, medical/first aid app, weather app, emergency numbers notes, notes for equipment purchases, check list of items to pack, Facebook sharing app, clock app, etc…

Then when you start your journey, you have everything you need separated from your other professional or family life.  The phone is now your appliance for outdoor adventure with the most relevant information at your finger tips.  Unlike it’s other smart phone competitors, it has the most capability to customize this range as of yet.

3.  Very stable OS.  I’m certain it will crash if we really push it.

4.  Great camera 5.0MP.  I was able to take a picture of a business card and be able to read it.  I could probably attach that picture to a contacts profile if I had the time to figure it out.  For people with children, this camera is a great step forward in getting better shots.  Not as good a camera as the new Samsung HD, also releasing, but much more well rounded device for other functions.

5.  Expandable SD Micro Memory ~32GB Max.

6.  Google integration superb with Android.

Other reviews…

The downside:

1.  The app store is great, but as Google is much more of an open market place for apps, it is much less regulated or “secure.”   There are no guarantees (outside of user reviews) that the apps will do something strange or unwanted to your phone.  We managed to download apps that were a bit malicious.  Not great…so user beware and just use some common sense before downloading things.

2.  Despite a larger battery, it’s still falls into the smartphone battery dilemma.  The better the phone…the more you use it…the more the battery drains…the faster the phone becomes a useless paper weight or annoys you to charge it.

Cool App Recommendation:

1.  Shazam…the music listening and tell you the artist and stuff about the song.

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