Stefanie Hahn

By Stefanie Hahn

I just upgraded.  After pouring over the research… visiting the phones (four times, but who’s counting?), working to get the best deal, and waiting until the price dropped to where I wanted;  I did it!  Friends and co-workers cheered that I finally moved out of research-mode and into go-mode.

I love my new HTC Hero and all of the Google-fantastic-ness that comes with it.  The transition from my Palm OS phone to Google was fairly simple.  My Gmail, contacts, and calendar were a no-brainer.  After a few days, I had my bookmarks stored, a few essential apps loaded, my music, photos, and social media all set and I was off!

I knew I would love this phone, but a few things pleasantly surprised me:

1. Screens – HTC is big on personalization.  The Hero has a screen for each part of your life — work, weekend, travel, music, etc. and with the ability to add a different “scene” to each screen.  Not a necessity, but I think it’s organizational with a fun twist.
2. Facebook integration – I love that my Facebook friend’s information will connect automatically with my Google contacts.  Bliss!  Plus I get their profile photo, status updates, and whatever contact info they have on Facebook.  This rocks for friends that change their e-mail and numbers often.
3. Hands free – The Hero also offers a few hands-free options — voice dialing, voice Google search and apps for translating speech-to-text.  The voice-dial is pretty accurate and makes finding contacts a snap.  As someone who is on the road a few hours each day, the hands-free options are wonderful.   Safety first!
4. Notifications – Now that I know how to move around my android phone, I love the notifications bar that pulls down from the top of any screen.  I get call, voicemail, e-mail, text, twitter mentions and direct messages, download info and more — all of the latest and greatest information in one little touch.  The notifications bar keeps me up to speed.
5. Keyboard – The lack of a physical keyboard was my biggest concern with choosing the Hero.  I played with it endlessly in the stores.  I figured if I had to return the phone, the lack of keyboard would be the reason.  Turns out… the touchscreen keyboard rocks too.  I misspell everything; the Hero corrects me as I type and offers suggestions along the way.  I can add a word to the phone’s dictionary with a simple tap.  Using the calibration tool helped tremendously too… now it’s basically effortless.

So consider an android phone at your next upgrade!  A tad less sexy than an iPhone, but still a hot date next to a BlackBerry or Palm, get the best of both worlds with great productivity tools and plenty of fun too.

Stefanie Hahn is the education director for Coldwell Banker Hearthside, REALTORS® in Willow Grove, Pa. Visit her Web site: www.StefanieHahn.com.