HTC Desire HD Blog

Problems and fix for htcsense.com

2010-11-15T21:00:00.004+04:00

Since the launch of the htcsense.com website, which was discussed in a previous article, several problems seem to have arisen. XDA forum user "apprentice" claimed to have the following issues with the website portal:

"I can't remotely call the phone
It fails to load contacts
Does not correctly report my location (or sometimes incorrectly states Phone Finder not enabled)
Lock phone does not work
Have had problems deleting my account to start all over again.
It won't send text messages"

In other words many of the functions available to Desire HD and Desire Z users through the website fail to work.
Others XDA users claimed to have the same issues regarding the web portal. Many of them also contacted HTC, but the responses they received did nothing in the way of solving the problems.
However, XDA user "007K" claims he has a solution to get it working:

" Yes, HTC Sense.com is now fully working on both pc and DHD.
This is what worked for me:

1. Reinstall locations completely on DHD
2. Then remove HTC sense.com account from PC first the DHD
3. Register for a new HTCsense account. Use a new email provider.
4. Log in + sync DHD"

The reason for why the website is having problems is probably because of the relative short time since the launch. However, this is not a valid excuse, because if there are bugs or glitches with something it should not be launched until it has been sorted out. If there is something I have learned by following the smart phone industry it is just this: that phones and software are repeatedly released before they are ready, causing problems and frustration to the consumers.

Nonetheless, I hope it is just a matter of time before HTC gets around to solve these issues, letting users take advantage of the htcsense.com website to the fullest.

A scam free way of getting a free Desire HD?

2010-10-30T17:35:00.000+04:00

Last night when I was looking for cheap prices for the DHD I found this website. What it claims is that the company running it is willing to give the user a free Desire HD (or any other gadget). Like anyone would be, I was of course very skeptical to this at first. After some research however, I found that their claim is actually valid: They give away free HTC Desire HDs!

Basically, this is how it works:

After signing up on the website, you first type in what free gift you want to receive (for our purposes this would be "HTC Desire HD"). Then, when the picture of the phone pops up, you simply press the "Add to basket" button. At this point the basket value shows up, and it says "24 referrals". What this means is that you have to invite 24 people to the website which gives you 24 referrals, and enough for a Desire HD (obviously, the number of referrals differs depending on what item you want). In order for the people on the website to send you the phone, however, you first have to complete an offer. Now, the different offers that you can do differs depending on what country you live in, but in most countries you can do offers which are completely free. They range from signing up to free website hosting spaces to renting free online movies, and it is by doing this that the website receives advertisement money which they use to buy the items which they give to you for free. Therefore it is a win-win situation: The website gets money from various other websites who receive online traffic and users, and most importantly, you get a free Desire HD.

This is of course something very neat, because it allows for people with tight budgets to get things that they otherwise wouldn't be able to buy. Also, when it comes to the smartphone business, I know from first hand experience that it is always tempting to have the latest technology. The problem with this is that it can get quite expensive. By using this method, however, this may just be possible without even having to dig into your wallet.

Desire HD source code released

2010-10-28T19:38:00.000+04:00

HTC has now released the source code for the Desire HD. This is significant for two reasons:

Firstly, developers can use and manipulate this code to be able to use the Desire HD software on other phones. "Well, I thought this was already accomplished?" you might ask, if you remember the previous article on just this subject: Desire HD rom ported to Desire. The difference is that the "rom porting" can be done much more succesfully using the source code. For example, in previous ports there were problems with the camera, which can be avoided if the port is done using the source code.
Secondly, and more importantly to the users of Desire HD (us), this will allow developers to start cooking custom roms for the Desire HD. For example, if you for some reason dislike the new Sense UI, you could replace it with the stock Android UI (which can be seen on for example stock Nexus One devices). Developers could also improve various things with the original interface, or create new roms altogether or using parts of other roms. In other words, the possibilities for the Desire HD are now limitless! Well almost anyway ;P

Something to note is that HTC has previously taken quite some time to release source codes for their phones (HTC Hero for example). This almost immediate release of the source code is a nice initiative by HTC that will be appreciated, and is hopefully setting an example for other Android phone manufacturers worldwide.

If you are a developers or just plain curious you can check out the source code here:
http://developer.htc.com/

Desire HD unboxing

2010-10-25T22:21:00.000+04:00

Here is an unboxing video of the Desire HD. Keep in mind that the final boxing found in stores will probably be a bit different.
Enjoy:)

Desire HD appears on European market

2010-10-19T19:25:00.001+04:00

As some of you may have noticed, the countdown to the release of the DHD has disappeared. This could only mean one thing, and now news are spreading in support of this. According to tweakers.net it appears that the first Desire HD phones have finally been shipped off, and Holland is the lucky country to get them first. The phone is showing up in different stores across the european country and people who pre-ordered it are now getting it sent to them.

Contradictory to this, eariler rumors said that the release of the DHD would be delayed until the end of October. But with the phone showing up as early as yesterday, I think it's safe to say that we can expect to see the phone popping up in shops all over the world in a very short period of time.

This is ofcourse very exciting news for all you followers eagerly awaiting the Desire HD. Have any of you readers seen/bought the phone already? If so, post a comment stating your first impressions!

HTC hardware defect to decide the future of the Desire HD?

2010-10-16T15:32:00.000+04:00

More and more owners of the HTC Desire and other HTC phones are reporting cases where their phones seemingly randomly reboots, resulting in a hard reset of the phone (meaning all the users data is removed). The problem seems to arise when simple apps like the browser or the navigator is used. These apps use the internet to function, and many speculate that the problem is 3G related as it occurs mainly when 3G connection is used. Something interesting is that people living in cold conditions have been less likely to experience this, and cooling the phone down has also seemed to temporarily solve the problem. This means it's caused by overheating, and many speculate it is therefore processor related. The Desire is equipped with a 1 GHz ARMv7 "Snapdragon processor.

Now, more importantly, how will this affect the HTC Desire HD? The DHD uses a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdgragon 8255 processor, which is similar to the processor found in the HTC Desire. Will the Desire HD therefore suffer from the same problem? This is something that ofcourse cannot be answered at this moment, but that will be found out later as the phone is released to the general public later this month. Many HTC Desire users who are stuck with this issue are reporting it as making their phones "completely useless", destroying an otherwise very nice user experience. They are also warning others NOT to buy any future HTC devices, as they will only regret it in the future. For all you readers awaiting the new Desire HD and for HTC itself I'm hoping that DHD wont be affected by this, as it would surely affect the future of the phone and how successful it will ultimately be.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and state how you think the Desire HD will be affected.

Desire HD Camera quality - Is the Desire HD not that HD?

2010-10-13T20:38:00.000+04:00

The HTC Desire HD has been fitted with an 8 Megapixel camera with dual LED flash. Even though image quality usually increases as the number of megapixels increases, it is not always the case, and this is a bit misleading. For example, most 5 MP cameras take much nicer images than the 8.1 MP camera that my current phone has. HTC phones have in the passed also been quite lacking when it comes to camera performance, and it wouldn't surprise me if the Desire HD followed suit. In fact, the images taken with the Desire HD will probably be very similar in terms of quality as the ones of HTC Desire. This is a bit disappointing, keeping in mind the rather large price tag.

Some sample pictures, taken from mobile-review.com, can be seen here. Keep in mind that these were taken with an engineering sample and changes can be made prior to release. Although, this is not too likely.

htcsense.com is now online!

2010-10-09T13:19:00.000+04:00

When the HTC Desire HD was announced back in mid-september, the htcsense.com website was announced with it, and it is now open for registration. The website serves as tool for controlling and connecting with your phone though the internet. Services on the website include online texting and SMS management, a phonebook manager which allows you to edit, sync and backup contacts with your computer, and access to Google Maps along with the Navigation and Footsteps apps (as seen in the picture and as expained in one of the previous articles). You can also browse for apps on HTC's own app store, with the possibility of marking apps that you wants to later download on his phone. More importantly, htcsense.com serves as security measure for your phone. In case you lose it you can force it to ring loudly, locate it on a worldwide map with great precision, or forward calls made to the phone to another number. If you don't find your phone you can lock it and place a message for the finder, or in worst case completely erase the information stored on the phone. This is however only available to owners of phones suppported by htcsense.com, which means only HTC Desire HD and HTC Desire Z. If you sign up with another phone, the website's functions are limited to:
Something to keep in mind regarding the htcsense.com website, however, is that it requires the phone to constantly be connected to the internet in order to fully work, costing you both extra money (depending on your data plan) and battery life. It is a great initiative by HTC nontheless.

HTC Desire available in new color just in time for Desire HD Launch

2010-10-05T21:13:00.001+04:00

Even though this dosen't have much to do with the HTC Desire HD, I still thought it was worth posting.
According to Gizmodo, both the HTC phones Desire and Legend will be available in one new color each starting in Octover (now). The Desire will get "Brilliant White", as shown above,and the Legend will get "Phantom Black". My immediate impression was that the new Desire color is incredibly beautiful (making it even more desirable !), and now I hope that we will maybe see the Desire HD being available in the same color.

If you look at the top of blog under the title, you can see that the timer for the launch of the Desire HD is running out (14 hours, 54 minutes, 6 seconds left in the moment of writing). Now, when I added the countdown I based it on the supposed delivery date many websites stated for pre-orders, which was the 6th of October (tomorrow!). All we can do now is hope and see how valid that date is, and then tomorrow, with some luck, maybe some of us will get a brand new phone showing up in their mail boxes!

Please leave a comment to this post if your phone arrives, stating your first impression :)

EDIT: Because of the postponed release, the countdown has now been set to the new release date, the 19th of October. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Could the Desire HD save your life?

2010-10-05T17:25:00.000+04:00

Many of all the car crashes that happen are caused by various distractions caused to the driver. A common distraction, as you probably already know, is the use of mobile phones for texting or calling. The developers working for HTC thought of this, however, and have delivered a solution called Car Panel, which was made to reduce the distraction caused by using your phone while driving. Car Panel is an application that is a part of the Sense UX. Basically, what it does is allows you to access your phone in the simplest way possible. Your homescreen is exchanged for a page filled with big and clear shortcuts for the neccesities (like calling). Colorful icons are also included to make the different features more recognisable and more easily accesible . The aim is to make things simple in order to reduce time used on the phone when driving, ultimately making it a safer experience.

The app is also closely linked to the map app, which was previously discussed. What this means is that you also have easy acccess to navigation and other map feautures. This includes a feature called "Nearby", which lets you see nearby things like restaurants, gas stations, or parking spaces. "Foot prints" can also be used, which lets the user see where he has previously been in his driving journeys. Essentially, the Car Panel app allows for the Desire HD to become an intelligent GPS system that combines maps and the normal phone features, and at the same time making them easily accesible to reduce the risk of using a phone while driving.

As a side note, a car holder is probably required for the app to do any good.

Here is a video showing some features of "Car Panel": (0:40-3:55)

Comparison: DLNA vs HDMI out

2010-10-02T01:24:00.001+04:00

The HTC Evo 4G, which was another smartphone very similar to the upcoming Desire HD, is equiped with the HDMI-out feature. This allows for connecting the phone to an HD tv through an HDMI cable, and then viewing media stored on the phone, such as videos or pictures, on the hd tv. It allows for a maximum of 720p. With a little bit of modding, if I'm not mistaken, it's also possible to use the tv as an external monitor for the phone, meaning you could play games on the big screen. One of the downsides of the HDMI out is that you have to purchase a special and quite pricey Micro-D sized hdmi cable to be able to start streaming.

The new HTC Desire HD (which, by the way, could be said to be the European version of the Evo 4G), however, has been equipped with DLNA support. This means that the HDMI out was removed in this model. But what is the difference between the two solutions? The purpose of both is to stream HD material to an external TV, making the phones perfect for media lovers. A difference is that DLNA is wireless, which saves the user money because he dosen't have to buy a cable. Only certain high-end TVs have DLNA support, however. But HTC have thought of this and have developed a DLNA adapter, which one can connect to any tv giving it DLNA support. Another DLNA device, like a PS3, could alternative be used. So in the end, both HDMI and DLNA requires the user to pay in one way or the other. Both methods allow for streaming in 720p, but a final quality comparison can only be made once the Desire HD has been released (check the countdown on the top!).

Personally, I think that DLNA is a change for the better, because it allows for wireless streaming. I mean one less cable coming out of my TV is always welcome!. In the future we will probably see more cases like this, where cables are replaced by wireless alternatives, bringing us closer to a wireless world.

Desire HD free map app

2010-10-01T01:45:00.000+04:00

One of the neat things about the new sense UX that will be implemented in the Desire HD is its new map application that has been built in. The difference between this map and the ones of other smart phones is that this one allows for offline use. This, ofcourse, can be extremely useful, with regard to those times when you need directions or a map the most, but it is not avaliable to you (i.e. out of service range, no wifi, etc). With the new app that will be built in (and free) on the Desire HD, this will however no longer be a problem, since offline viewing has been added. In my honest opinion, this is one of the deal breakers that make the Desire HD just that much better than other alternatives at the moment (for example IPhone 4).

Here is a short overview of the map application. Keep in mind that it is in the beta stage and is still in development, so it does not run perfectly. The Desire HD rom has been ported to an older HD2 in this video, and that phone is used for the demonstration:

Desire HD rom ported to Desire

2010-09-28T19:05:00.000+04:00

The rom (software) of the Desire HD has already been ported to the older sibling the HTC Desire. I must say, the performance is incredible! This means that you could potentially buy a regular Desire for cheaper with similar results, if you are low on money that is. A reason for why the HD rom is better than the old Desire rom is that the HD has the newest version of sense (HTC's user interface), which has been packed with new apps and other tweaks. One cool thing is that you can now change the theme of the phone. The map app has also been upgraded to allow for offline browsing, which is in my opinion one of the best changes.
Here is a video of a Desire running the new HD rom:

Welcome to HTC Desire HD Blog!

2010-09-27T18:45:00.000+04:00

This blog has been made to track the upcoming HTC Desire HD. News and other developments will be posted here so that you, the reader, can stay updated. Things like reviews may also be posted later on when he phone has been released. Here is some info on the phone:

The HTC Desire HD was officialy announced on the 15th of september 2010 during HTC's annual launch event (link to engadget coverage). It was announced together with the Desire Z. The Desire HD have been geared with a state of the art 1 GHZ processor, a massive 4.3 Inch screen (great for watching movies, playing games, browsing the internet, or reading e-books), and 768 MB of ram. It is also packed with the latest in social networking and an 8 MP camera that is able to film in HD (hence the name?). HTC has also included their popular signature user experience called Sense, which basically makes using the phone a more personal experience. At launch the phone will run the operating system Android 2.2.

Here is a link to the HTC website which gives a more detailed overview of the phone: http://www.htc.com/www/product/desirehd/overview.html