Introducing the HD2 by HTC
Filed under: gadgets and gizmos, innovation, lifestyle, mobile internet, mobile phone
We have added another phone to our range of Next G™ mobiles: the HD2 by HTC.
Two things really impress me about this phone.
The first is its size. The HD2 boasts a massive 4.3 inch (10.9 cm) high resolution touch screen. It is definitely the largest screen mobile we have in our range. The phone itself is also quite thin which is impressive when you consider the processing power it holds inside.
The screen also has what is known as capacitive touch technology (a first for a phone with Windows Mobile). Simply put, you can use your fingers to flick through different screens, you can enlarge and shrink the size of a screen by pinching it and you can select various icons at the touch of your finger.
Secondly, the phone has a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. That’s really tech-speak for fast. The HD2 has a processor that is almost twice as powerful as smartphones released a year ago. Having this processing power means you are able to load applications quicker and have more running simultaneously. Importantly, it provides improved performance for watching video – which is impressive to see on the large screen of this phone.
With Windows Mobile 6.5, the HD2 has all the popular Windows applications like Exchange email and Internet Explorer but it also has a link to Microsoft’s Windows Marketplace for Mobile. This is the Windows Mobile app store where you can browse and download lots of handy applications for your compatible Windows Mobile phone, some at no cost like the Facebook app, standard usage charges apply.
You’ll notice we’ve put some links on the main screen to BigPond, Mobile FOXTEL and Sensis to make it simpler for you to link to the unmetered content you get from us, like BigPond News and Sport and Yellow Search. You also have the option to customise 6 of the 9 links to services you use most often, like your favourite contact, application or web-site.
Using the phone, I have to say our Mobile FOXTEL service works extremely well on the large screen. With the HD2, you get to view the higher-quality Mobile FOXTEL video stream on the massive 4.3 inch screen.
These are some of the features the HD2 boasts. There’s of course many more, like the 5 megapixel camera with auto focus and LED flash, GPS functionality and even a built-in WiFi router.
Considering the size of the screen and the fact the phone is quite thin, it is a smartphone with a lot of impressive features. Combined with the processing power, I believe the phone unleashes a richer video and mobile gaming experience. Similarly, the applications offered by Windows Mobile 6.5 means the phone also lends itself as a business smartphone with Exchange push-email, Word and Excel just some of the many apps that can improve productivity on the go.
Key Specifications
Processor: Snapdragon™ processor, 1GHz
Platform: Windows Mobile® 6.5 Professional with HTC Sense
Memory: 16GB microSD™ memory card (Australia only) ROM: 512 MB, RAM: 448 MB
Dimensions: 120.5 x 67 x 11mm (4.74 x 2.64 x 0.43 inches)
Weight: 157 grams (5.54 ounces) with battery
Display: Capacitive touch screen with 480 X 800 WVGA resolution
Battery: Rechargeable 1230 mAh Lithium-ion battery
Audio Supported Formats: AAC, AMR, M4A, MID, MP3, MP4, QCP, WAV, WMA
Camera: 5.0 megapixel colour camera with auto focus and dual LED flashlight
GPS: Internal GPS antenna
Network
HSPA/WCDMA:
- 850/2100 MHz
- 7.2 Mbps peak down-link and 2 Mbps peak up-link speed ratings from manufacturer on HSPA. Actual speeds are less. Typical customer speeds are 550 kbps to 3 Mbps download and 330kbps to 1Mbps upload on the Next G™ network.^
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
- 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Operating Times
Talk time:
- Up to 320 minutes for WCDMA
- Up to 380 minutes for GSM
Standby time:
- Up to 390 hours for WCDMA
- Up to 490 hours for GSM
(The above are subject to network and phone usage.)
Additional Specifications
Connectivity: Bluetooth® 2.1 with Enhanced Data Rate Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g, Standard Micro-USB (5-pin micro-USB 2.0), 3.5 mm audio jack, Internet Sharing through USB or Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Router
Video Supported Formats: WMV, ASF, MP4, 3GP, 3G2, M4V, AVI
Expansion Slot: microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
Special Features: G-sensor, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Digital Compass
For more information:
^ Speeds vary due to factors such as distance from the cell, local conditions, user numbers, hardware, software and download source.
Prices: $829 outright, or $0 up front on $80 pm plan (24 mths)
(on above link)
I am the proud owner of one of these and am more than impressed with how capable this smartphone is, exceeding my expectations in just about every way. Once you do away with the Telstra ROM (Bepe & Cotulla’s HardSPL did the trick), you can load Dutty’s custom ROM and have a non-restricted computer in your pocket. Don’t bother with the excessive charges for Telstra’s service(s) as there’s plenty of apps available that don’t require the Telstra NextG data network (e.g., WiFi at free Internode hotspots).
Hi Wizzi,
Craig Ruhan here at Telstra Device Management has passed on this comment for you:
We respect your right to pass on Telstra’s content and services (including Mobile Foxtel, unmetered news and sports reports and Whereis maps).
However, we strongly recommend that customers avoid replacing Telstra’s extensively tested ROMs with home-made ROMs. It’s likely to affect the stability and performance of the device on the Next G network.
The Telstra ROM for the HD2, for example, includes enhancements to the network access component of the device. Telstra’s ROM ensures the best possible data throughput, best possible coverage performance and that the device performs in a reliable and stable manner
The Telstra ROM also includes enhancements for other areas of the device including USIM access, browser stability, streaming media performance.
Craig Ruhan
Device Management, Telstra
Those icons wreck the whole feel of the HTC HD2 home page. I believe this is false advertising given that the “make it mine” concept is a selling point for HTC. Why do Telstra purposely try to annoy customers? This does not encourage customer loyalty.
I wish i was as smart as wizzi. I can’t stand Telstra’s apps on this phone. I don’t want bigpond, foxtel or sensis on my home screen as i’ll never use them. i accidently click foxtel and up comes all that rubbish. whereis maps don’t work. now we don’t get the updated roms when htc release them because we have to wait for telstra to fiddle with it first. telstra should just let people decide how they use their phones, we pay enough for the service just leave us to do what we want with them.
Well in that case, can you atleast tell us when there will be a rom update so we can have full access to our hd2 phones? ive paid an arm and leg to telstra for this device already, and i dont need all this crap on which takes up ram and slows it down. Ive contacted htc about this, and have been told that telstra is exclusively responsible for rom issues with this handset. please tell me that in near future we will get an update!!!!!
I agree with Wizzi, flash a new rom and be rid of the locked Telstra icons and the Telstra stamped everything including email signatures. Fair call from Craig Ruhan that it’s been tested as stable etc, but you can flash a rom, test if you lose coverage or find glitches, & try another rom, there’s plenty out there. I flashed a genuine HTC rom which gets rid of all the Telstra rubbish, played around with others and am using duttys at the moment. Aswell as changing the rom to duttys, it unlocked more ram which is hidden & useless otherwise, played around with different radio versions and on most radios and roms have had minimal issues and notice no difference in terms of coverage, speed on HSDPA etc.
In response to Rome, Telstra will never give full access to the phone, this is their way of stamping it with their own touch.
if i buy the phone outright on the telstra service is it unlocked??? and also isnt it possible of getting rid of the telstra icons??
Just got my HD2 today from Telstra.Moving from N95,WoW..Anyway,not thinking screwing its ROM,quiet happy with its content.Obviously its tricked up and/or enhanced for the network.Everything worked straight out of the box,pretty fast too.Thanks to its large screen, have no issue with viewing SMH and other difficult pages in landscape mode.Once its been fully charged,i’ll assigne few different call and message/alarm tones.All in all very nice gadget,couldnt be happier.Actually i was going to wait for Desire,but,hey what the hell,it’ll be the same one with few diff options(if any).
I wish I had known that the $800.00+ phone I brought from Telstra was going to remain locked in to telstra by why of updates and icons, I would have gone for the Iphone otherwise, I am sure they will not refund me now, bloody rude I reckon. Oh that explains why I will not use them for the connection. Looks like I will need to learn how to remove all this Telstra bloatware.
I have purchased the HTC HD2 for use in NZ. The sim card and coverage is all good. How can I delete the Telstra settings as they complicate a nice phone. I am not able to connect to the internet as it seems locked to Telstra. The 3 Telstra icons on home page will not connect for me.
Great Phone, Great Hardware
The Telstra ROM uses 30% more battery than any other home made rom, has worse reception and is covered in foxtel and bigpond links… it’s complete garbage, upgrade the ROM to ANYTHING but the Telstra rom, and you will have a nice phone, leave it stock, and you might as well trade it for an iphone.
yeh but if u flash a non stock rom, wont you lose the 850 mhz compatibility? a few ppl who flashed different roms, have said the next g frequency and speed is unavailable once you flash.
its seems i was wrong, u can flash without losing 850 compatibility. see ya telstra.
Nope, it works GREAT without the telstra rubbish on it, just remember to flash it back to the stock rom before you return it as you may have warranty issues with a community modified rom.
“we’ve put some links on the main screen to BigPond, Mobile FOXTEL and Sensis to make it simpler for you to link to the unmetered content you get from us”
Don’t make me laugh, you and I both know why foxtel is locked on the front of the page, the sad thing is all you guys did to lock them there was a registry tweak, so you can get rid of them with a registry editor, you don’t even have to flash the rom
Hi,
Just purchased a HTC HD2 (Telstra) and my ISP is Iinet/Ozemail. I have tried to setup my email but at this point without success. Internet connection to Bigpond is fine. Have visited 2 Tlife shops, HTC help line and Iinet support. Tried Pop and IMAP4 with various mail servers.
Help !!!!!!
Seems everyone is overlooking the fact that the HD2 actually has 576 Mb of RAM, that a lot of the cooked ROMs will unlock, or you can just flash a newer radio version to unlock the hidden RAM. Either way I flashed a new ROM the day I picked up the HD2 and couldn’t be happier that all the Telstra junk is gone
my wife got me a telstra htc touch hd at christmas from a telstra retailer and paid 1499 with no plan(outright) I notice the new model is only about 800 with out plan have we been ripped off also not impressed with phone locked in with all telsra applications
Hi,
I just bought the phone and was keen to find out where the best rom which doesn’t have telstra apps installed is….
Can someone please provide a link…?
Thanks
Dear Craig Ruhan
How does Telstra justify the exorbitant price they charge for their infrastractures. It’s human nature to shop aroud and get the best deal. I agree with wizzi good on him.
I do live in the far north and still experience several black spotwith my HTC HD 2. By the way My mobile uses nextG purchased not through Telstra as usual but from a third party, and saved myself quite a bit. I presume someone as to pay for the like of Dustin Ofman advertising I wish I was in australia.
Rgds
luigi
Can anyone help
Where do I get the new rom to rid of Telstra??
I’ve NEVER seen such a disgusting hacked up butcher job on a phone as Telstra have done with this handset. It’s practically unusable it’s so polluted with Telstra advertising and inane useless telstra applications. It honestly makes me sick to even look at it. THIS is what happens when a telco is allowed unfettered access to a user interface, a disgusting unusable mess. How *DARE* they charge for this, they should be paying me to have to look at their advertising.
I bought this phone to assess it’s potential as a replacement for other handsets, I dont think thats likely.
How can I delete the Telstra settings as they complicate a nice phone. I am not able to connect to the internet as it seems locked to Telstra. The 3 Telstra icons on home page will not connect for me.
In regards to the HD2 with telstra software and icons, is it even legal that telstra can sell you a phone with icons you cannot remove/change? Microsoft can no longer do it – eg media player, ie explorer, so how can telstra do it?
I bought this phone from Telstra after being told by two of their lying staff that the foxtel, sensis etc quick link icons could be changed/removed. They cannot so the phone went back this morning. Given that up until very recently the hd2 was a telstra ‘exclusive’ phone why is it that do not sell any accessoires for it -none. not one o the shelf. telstra = filth
Hey guys, i bought this phone outright from Telstra. I am currently with Optus, is there anyway i can get the net working on the phone without going to telstra? thanks.
Hi guys, take a look at this
http://www.ozcarguide.com/technology/cellphone-pda/2627-htc-hd2-update-windows-7
I too purchased a Telstra HD2 outright for use in NZ. Once I discovered that the Telstra icons were locked in, I tried to return it but was told that only people with plans can do so and only then they have 24 hours to do so. What a waste of a good phone to fill it up with unchangeable crud. Pathetic if you ask me.
.
For those of you wanting to remove the icons, the only way is to reflash the ROMs. I tried getting the latest ROMs from HTC but you have to download from the area that you’re in and the official AU ROMs still have the Telstra crap loaded into them. I’m currently trying a site that looks promising: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=531
Hi, I’ve just got an htc hd2. Im wanting to get rid of all the telstra stuff. How can i go about this! Im with vodafone and the handset is useless because its full of telstra apps!
Please help:0(
call htc to get the optus 3G setting. if you want to get rid of the telstra stuff, just flash the rom
I hate this Telstra ROM with it’s massive locked Bigpong, Foxtel and Sensis icons. I “upgraded” from the previous HD and have found this to be a bigger phone with less screen space available on the Today screen. I want to see my appointments for today, not these horrible Bigpong, Foxtel and Sensis icons.
The GPS does not work in this phone I had to go back to my old HTC diamond
Ths is simply not good enough telstra as this is YOUR ROM software causing the problem
Hi Matt, Have you tried HTC for some support on your issue? Please go to http://www.htc.com/au/support.aspx Check out the support feed or contact Customer Service via email or Customer Service Enquiry: 1300-482-482 / +61280147475
1. Service Date: Monday – Saturday (Excluding Sunday & public holidays)
2. Service hour: 8:00 AM to 8:00PM (Australian EST)
Cheers, Brendan
@Brendan O’Keefe–ROFLMAO! I too had gps issues and contacted HTC. They asked if the Footprint app was working, which it was, so they told me it was a 3rd party app issue, and to contact the developer(ALK).
ALK said “there are no known issues with our software on the HD2″
Thank you very much, htc and alk!
I reinstalled copilot (to the main memory this time) and have had no problems since. It is copilot8, and is very much better than the copilot7 i had on my diamond.
The hd2 is fantastic, the best phone i have ever had!
You dont need to use a cooked ROM to get rid of the 3 telstra links. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=623162
Hi Sibron, glad you’ve managed to sort out the software issue and thanks for sharing your findings here on TEX. Brendan
I have been trying to find what the latest Telstra rom has changed.
Brendan, would you know? I have mine set up how i like it, and am not sure i want to go through all the pain of installs etc if the new rom has no great improvements.
I purchased Telstra HD2. I read all the comments here and was ready to install a new ROM to get rid of Telstra shit. I did that to my touch HD which had winmobile 6.1Pro and upgraded to 6.1Pro non telstra and to several 6.5 before settling down to a more stable 6.5 rom. It was fun and wanted to do same to my new HD2.
I decided against it. My advise to anyone having this Telstra phone is- if you use telstra NextG and use data bundles (I purchase $10 200mb per month now that Telstra has increased the data allowance due to competition I guess) then use telstra ROM. do not upgrade.
There are few things you could do to improve your experience
1) get rid of telstra icons you do not want including the fixed icons on home screen (if you do not like them). I think the links are in one of the discussion here. no dangers to you phone.
2) install soft reset software as you have to remove the cover otherwise. works great http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=585813
3) add task manager to you devise http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=580860&highlight=taskmanager&page=2
4) configure your home wifi so you do not use data bundle when you browse from home or at a net cafe. Do not get me wrong I have 2 laptops (3 with office one), one net book and a desktop at home but I am too tired sometime to sit next to them after working at office in front of a computer the whole day. so I use my phone to check mails, tweets, my stocks, read financial news and face book lying on my bed.
5) to use fring on hd2 (not perfect) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=599988
6) read more on telstra hd2 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=633404
The good things is that if you use telstra rom and data plan then you still get free access to your data usage meters, bigpond site which has good amount of free content. you do not have to read a lot about HSPLs and ROMS etc and worry about changing to stock Rom etc in case of warranty. There are lot of good Roms out there but you need to spend lot of time to get the perfect one.
hope this would help some people
can u advise me plz i m buying Htc HD2 from friend as he his plan got upgraded and its boxed packed but its unlocked so i can use any sim but i just want to know will i be getting 12 months htc company warranty.? plz advice me as
Not likely! Reason being; How do HTC know your handset has never been used?
Depending on what your friend wants for the handset, it might be worth buying a new one, if you are worried about warranty.
Just wondering, What sort of phone was he using, that he would leave a great phone like the HD2 un-used in the box?????
Hey guys, I have just got the HTC HD2 from telstra. I am new with the HTC world. I wanted to ask how can I customise the home screen? because it currently has the bigpond and foxtel icon there. i have seen some HTC HD2′s with different icons and if someone could help me. again I think I should remind everyone that im very new at this and if you could provide a simple explaination for me, it would be very much appreciated!!
Great choice Mark!
If you look up the page a bit, i put a link to the file that will get rid of the 3 icons on the home page, or you could go to http://www.xda-developers.com and search through for the thread on the HD2, there is a heap of stuff there. Enjoy!
sorry, missed out the detail.
download .cab file–save to phone/memory card–use file explorer to find cab file–tap the file, this will install the file.
that easy.
Thanks Sibron much appreciated. Just another question before I do install the file. When it does get rid of the file, is there a special way of putting different icons where the telstra icons use to be?
nothing special about it, there will be a + button at each of the spots the removed icons were, tap them and choose the program you want there.
I also sugest you iether read the instruction file that came on the memory card or look on the HTC site or youtube for ‘how to’ videos. That way you will get the most out of your handset, and will love it as much as most of us do.
Hey Sibron, I tried what you said but the 3 icons are still there. is there something I must have done wrong? I copied the cab file on my memory card then i found the cab file on my phone, installed it. then when I went to the home screen the icons are still there. help?
Mark
Actually disgregard that. I had to form a soft reset.
Sorry to bother you guys, but does anyone know if you get can google maps for the HTC HD2? If so, where can I get it?
you have to change them yourself, that file only unlocks them.
From the homepage, go menu/remove quick links/tap the ones you dont want/close/tap vacant link/pick program.
/read phone instruction manual
“After installing this cab and performing a soft reset, you will be able to remove these shortcuts from the menu just like any other link on the homepage.”
Taken from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=623162
Helps to read the threads on XDA too
Hey guys, does anyone have Google maps installed on their HD2? if so, where did you get it from?
Has anyone got SWYPE on their HD2? as US Tmobile has SWYPE on their HTC HD2 but I cannot find it on mine. If telstra took off SWYPE im extremely disappointed.
I too have an HTC HD2. I love the phone, but am saddened that it doesn’t have SWYPE on it too. As far as I know, the Aussie HTC HD2′s dont have SWYPE on them. Not even the newer stock of the phone. Yet, in the US, on the same phone, they have SWYPE. So, it obviously works on the HTC HD2. If that’s the case, why on earth cant Telstra give us customers the option to download and install SWYPE on our HTC HD2′s? I have searched the net and there are a few places that i have found that supply links to download SWYPE, BUT they are not from reputable places that I consider trustworthy. C’mon telstra! Make us HTC HD2 / SWYPE fans happy!