Do You Desire? – HTC Desire Social Review program
Filed under: Android, gadgets and gizmos, HTC, HTC Desire social review, innovation, lifestyle, social media
We recently gave technology media a chance to test our new Android smartphone the HTC Desire. They liked it.
But we recognise technology writers often have a different perspective to everyday people.
So I’m pleased to let you know that now we’re giving 25 Aussie mobile users a chance to live with the HTC Desire day-to-day and to share their thoughts. You’ll also get the phone to keep as a thank you.
This is a consumer review for consumers.
We’re calling it a ‘social review’ program and it will run for 2 weeks. Basically, we’d like our social reviewers to share their experiences using the features available on the HTC Desire running on our Next G network.
The program offers a little bit of everything to current and prospective HTC Desire owners.
- People considering making an investment in the HTC Desire can read about the Social Reviewer’s user experience and ask questions.
- Current owners will be able to learn more about the HTC Desire’s capabilities and share their insights how they’ve customising their handset to met their needs.
We’re looking for a mix of perspectives, including people from metro and regional Australia, current Telstra mobile customers as well as people who currently subscribe to competitor services.
Reviewers also need to be active participants in social media conversations (be it YouTube, blogs, forums, Twitter etc) and share an active interest in mobiles and how they can help us find new ways to stay connected.
Once we have selected our reviewers they will be asked to regularly participate in discussions on Telstra Exchange about their HTC Desire experience on the Next G network for a two week period. We will be encouraging our reviewers to share their thoughts on other social media channels too. We are not looking for “yes people” – you don’t have to say nice things about the handset or Telstra to be selected. We are looking for honest reviewers who are happy to participate in robust discussions about their HTC Desire Telstra Next G network experience.
Unfortunately the only group of people we’re excluding from becoming social reviewers are current Telstra employees and their family members. But that doesn’t exclude employees from sharing their thoughts on the device. Just keep the 3Rs policy in mind.
Social reviewers will be able to keep their handsets after the program and will receive a pre-paid Next G SIM card to use during the program. And of course, reviewers will need to disclose their participation in the program when blogging or Tweeting etc.
Register your interest – no later than 5pm AEST pm on 10 May 2010
Registrations close 5:00 pm AEST on 10 May 2010. So if you’re interested in participating in the program you need to complete the HTC Desire Reviewer application form no later than 5 pm on 10 May 2010.
- View the Telstra HTC Desire Social Reviewer terms and conditions here.
- Update 1 May: HTC Desire GPS software released, Voice Search added
I registered, filled in all the questions, and it said I was ineligible
Hi David W,
Yep, sorry about that little glitch. You shouldn’t have received the “ineligible” message. Rest assured, your entry has been faithfully recorded (despite the kooky error message) and you’re in the running – as is everyone else who suffered the same fate. Apologies again to all. Brendan
This is great initative guys. Many people are trying to get their hand son this phone to see how it compares to the iPhone and the other smartphones now on the market. From all reports this is the slickest of the Android 2.1 range. I have never been a fan of Apple so for me this presents the first viable step up from my current MotoRAZR and my old Palm Tungsten T3.
Reporting in; Ready willing & able.
Darn it, I’d love to apply to try one out but not quite 18 yet. Grrrr.
You have to be 18? damn
Wohoo looks like Telstra is really comming out there! good to see a very reserved company head into this direction! Kudos!
Great initiative here, I was more than happy to sign up. Thats for the opp!
A great initiative from Telstra – this makes two in a row. First, releasing the Desire on the Next G network, and second, getting some users involved in reviewing it to help spread the word. Love it.
Just completed the survey and the ineligible message didn’t show up.
have signed up… will be very interested to get my hands on to trial another mobile OS. Now I’ve just got to find a way to convince a mobile operator to bring the Palm Pre to australia so I can sample the big 4 OS’s
Great idea!
It is good to see a company as big as telstra giving the people the freedom to write an honest feedback. So customers can make the right choice with something that has become so important in our everyday life.
Wow, I applaud your effort Telstra in spreading the word of what I keep hearing is an incredible device. Can’t wait to see if I’m chosen!
I am optimistic that those who owns smart phones will definitely benefit from this excersise. Good job Telstra !!
I submitted my application. I hope they pick me! I love iPhones but my 3G is showing its age in terms of performance on today’s apps. I’m right on the verge of defecting to Android but I need a good reason to (like knowing after 2wks it’s better than iPhone
)
I’ve submitted my application. I was a fairly early Android adopter, and I am/have been a writer by trade.
My “old” HTC Magic is looking pretty stale next to these new slick things that are arriving on our shores, and I’d love to see how they stack up next to each other – heck, next to my friend’s iPhone.
Good luck everyone, and good luck me
Hey everyone,
great to seen so many keen comments.
Wishing you all good luck in getting your mits on an HTC desire.
Also hyped about seeing the select 25′s comments on our review topics.
If you have a Desire you can post your thoughts on the Telstra Facebook page too.
Any Android questions then pop them down in virtual ink
GOOOOOD LUCK AGAIN
PS Check out the new, official Twitter app for The HTC Desire and Android 2.1. It is the best app I have played with yet.
Ben
Got my Desire today and love it already. Prefer it compare to the iphone. I sure those who get to review it will enjoy the experience.
This is one of the best initiatives Telstra has ever employed with getting a handset out there and supported by the public. With 6month exclusive rights to the handset, this is an extremely smart move. My colleagues are impressed with the phone so having social reviews will only boost sales in my opinion as there is very little wrong with this phone.
There are already an abundance of reviews on the HTC Desire, but there are hardly any reviews on the Telstra HTC Desire partnership. Good on you Telstra.
It would be great to get a range of responses from a variety of users. Sometimes a new perspective can be a real help. Real world experiences from people trying to use these new devices to their potential. I want to know how this will increase what I can do, and make it easier for me to connect/communicate with others.
I got my Desire, so will leave the reviewing for the others
Saying that, I spend hours upon hours looking at vids, user reviews, software, mods, the whole lot and found nothing really useful online. Even visiting Telstra store gave nothing since they have limited playability and knowledge in store. I hope that this sort of activity will give a clearer picture (good & bad) to what the phones can do and how they are used. Such as my two cents worth:
Good- Smooth, intuitive, customisable (to a point), solid feel and design, super geeky
, expandable, fast connection on pcs etc
Bad- No EQ in music player, short battery life & slow charge, no music controls outside of touchscreen (unless u want to use the default headphones .. eek), limited options in accessories, poor HTC cust service support etc
Hope practical things discussed are things like data backup, using gmail to sync, what are good apps and other how tos perhaps to get the most out of the device.
Great idea!! Hope its not another sales pitch tho…
I have submitted the application but I accidentally clicked disagree on T&C and submitted. Can I change it?
Thanks
aw i have a nexus one and friend has a desire i could write a good review on this phone if only it was not over 18 (stupid birthday is in December )
Telstra, please keep this level of fun, commitment and involvement in your customers.
Keep it up and it’s a great pointer to future success.
This is a great different step.
Excellent.
I am very interested in comparing the HTC Desire to my 3gs iPhone. I am hopeful that the comparision would be very favorable for the Desire.
have a nice day.
i also just submitted my application, but put in the wrong username for twitter……whoops…..its wesleyau not wesleyrpg! I’m new to twitter and find it a bit of a mess, find facebook 6 million times easier to use!
i own a hd2 so if i end up with a Desire it has a lot to live up to! The HD2 is by far the best phone i have ever used, and i have owned WAY too many phones to count….(average lifespan for a phone for me if about 4-6 months!)
While im here i’ll just wish everyone the best of luck…
take care
Woot! I just put my application through – I love my Magic, but find it a little slow and would love to have all the promise of the Magic with the power of Desire!! mmmmmm!
Great initiative and promotion from Telstra.
The Desire looks like a phone i’d give up using my netbook.
I am not much of an iPhone fan, and there’s got to be something better than Windows Mobile and Blackberry out there. Hope it is this HTC.
Many thanks, Brendan !
I have just registered without encountering any error messages. It sounds like a great initiative and I look forward to the opportunity, should it come my way.
I filled the form and i hope my entry is in because i did not receive a confirmation email but if i try accessing the form again, it redirects me to this page again so hopefully that means my application is in?
Hi Zainuddin, Your application will have been received as auto redirect means you’ve already applied. Good luck!
Brendan
Cannot wait to review this bad boy. The Future is finally here
(Currently running a 2G Nokia from 2004, which i think is FAR superior to both iPhone 2G and 3G in terms of better battery life.)
Awesome idea from Telstra, currently using a Nokia N958GB with Symbian based platform, so the opportunity to potentially to get my hands on a HTC and test, WOW !! PICK ME !!!
Put my application in and really have to suck up to ….erm thank Telstra for such a great opportunity.
Love that “little people” get to tell it like it is.
Good luck to all!
I actually dreamt of getting an HTC Desire last night lol as geeky as it may sound.
Just put in the application. I really want to try moving away from Windows Mobile (HTC Touch Pro 2 user here) to an Android OS and HTC Desire is the best phone so far for it (from what I’ve been reading)
Where is the survey?
Lou, If you mean the registration to apply to be a reviewer, It’s right here
Brendan
looks to me like Telstra is after some free advertising by skewing the qustions towards Twitter and Facebook users.
Great phone thou
Definitely looking forward to reviewing HTC’s new handset. Being a current user of a HTC Magic with Android 1.6, I’d love the opportunity to see what the next release for both handset and operating system have in store.
Count me in!
I’ve thrown my hat into the ring.
I’m a certified iPhone lover – So I’m looking forward to testing the phone and the operating system.
As much as I live on my iPhone it does have limitations and any review I do will be open and honest – with a good deal of time in Western Queensland to really test it out.
Hi Brendan. Received a call from Telstra this morning but the lady said she could not hear me and would call me back. Still no call back!
I hope it was about my application and not some overdue bill lol
Hi Zainuddin, Not from our team :^) Geez hope it’s not about a bill. Best of luck.
Can you open the competition to 16-17 year old’s as well? I mean, 33% of all myspace users are under 17. Out of 19 social networking sites, under 17′s top 4 of them.*
If you want a new perspective, you’ll get it from us. We’ll tell you whether the size of the phone will be a factor in carrying the phone around. We’ll tell you how long battery will last if not used during class. We’ll tell you if fellow classmates are interested in smart phones by letting them have a play around with it and asking them to share their opinion. If they are, you can launch marketing campaign’s targeting them. (or the parents
) After all, teens are [I]very[/I] good at convincing their parents they [I]need[/](yes, I know HTML code doesn’t do anything) the phone. But we might find that the average teen just wants a simple ‘dumb phone’ that can text and play music? Who knows?
So please consider my request, and the request of others in my age group. We’re late teens and will use the phone differently to those in other age groups, but mature enough not too think of it as a toy.
*http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/02/16/study-ages-of-social-network-users/
Wow, this would be great, would love to see if this handset can convert me from windows mobile
Registered
I’ve signed up to this terrific initiative. It’s good to see positive news coming out of Telstra.
Wow… so many pple registered! i hope i’m one of the lucky ones!
It’s great to have the support of the largest, most advanced Australian telecommunications carrier. Such promotions help generate the well-needed buzz and excitement to get people to make the switch. Paired with the best Android phone, it’s certainly a killer combination. Many thanks for putting your best efforts forward Telstra, we Android developers appreciate it.
This will be exciting to see what feedback Telstra gets from the new Social Reviewers
Great Idea!
Too bad I work for Telstra. I would have loved to get a proper feel from the Desire, its looks very promising. I first thought the HD2 was good – it had its downfalls (mostly being a Windows based phone with little news of an upgrade path), but the Desire looks like a great unit and I personally like it over the Sony Xperia X10 mainly because of its speed and ease of use. It is a serious contender against the iPhone and I’d recommend anyone who is thinking about an iPhone (like me) to check the Desire out.
I completely agree with Christopher, this is the phone I’ve been waiting for (as a consumer that has become quite disillusioned with Apple and their iPhones.) I’ll probably acquire one anyway, if I’m not chosen to review it.
Desire is definately an equal when put against the iPhone – the first in my opinion. I thought the iPhone was extremely good, intuitive, more of a no fuss solution though, and choice could come more down to personal preference. The Desire though seems to take a slightly different approach on the same concept the iPhone pioneered, which I personally like such as the navigation and simplicity. It can mean if you like to play around with everything like me that it take a bit longer to get used to as you keep changing things around as you refine what you do on the phone. Right now my phone is a bit of a mess with all the apps installed but there is some cool stuff out there lol
I’ve applied too, as did 1000+ of people, I’d imagine. Fingers crossed!
I’m really not convinced the HTC Desire is an iphone killer! I love my iphone to marry it but there are a few little things that are a pain in the a** and it looks like the Desire might have an answer for these? I’m not convinced its UI is as easy to use and I’ll also be interested to see the Telstra UI and how much better/different it is.
Signed up on behalf of my brother Mohammed Morsi. Hope he gets one, he is a great reviewer, hope he wins, but still we probably will buy it and review ourselves if were not chosen to do it. After bout six months of research we have a fair understanding of the fundamentals of reviews and know a fair bit on them. Still fingers crossed.