14 DAY TRIAL // The HTC Hero is the third mobile phone Taiwanese company HTC Corporation launched on the market with Google's Android operating system on board and, until not too long ago, the handset was seen as the nicest Android-based device available. The Hero can be purchased in the US too, via wireless carrier Sprint, which has an exclusive variant of the device and is now reportedly planning to launch a new software update for the device in the near future.
A recent post on the Sprint Community forum shows that the update is expected to land within the following few weeks. It also unveiled the fact that it would be a maintenance release, meaning exactly that, although already announced by HTC, the Hero won't see an upgrade to the latest flavor of Android just yet. The said version of the OS, namely 2.0, known as Eclair, is only present on the Motorola DROID, which was launched about a week ago on Verizon Wireless' airwaves.
“A maintenance release is being developed for the Hero to address key items such as SMS and DST issues. The target launch is in the next few weeks, but I do not have the exact date or a list of everything that will be included yet. I will post updates as they are made available to me,” is what the post on the Sprint Community forum states. The greatest news is that the SMS issues that caused battery drains will soon be dealt with.
At the same time, we should further mention that some of the rumors around the Internet suggest that Sprint's Hero might soon enjoy a price drop. According to BGR, some sources stated recently that Best Buy would soon have the device available for $99 on a two-year contract. While there are no details on whether Sprint will operate the price cut or not, info on when it will be put in place lack as well for the time being. Stay tuned to learn more on this.