Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney said, “The Droid Eris currently using Android 1.5, can and will be upgraded to newer a Android operating system software in first quarter 2010.

The Android OS update will bring Google Maps Navigation to HTC Droid Eris along with other benefits of Android 2.1. The combination of Sense UI and Android 2.1 will make Eris a highly capable device.

The HTC Droid Eris uses a 3.2-inch screen and a trackball, as well as a 5-megapixel camera, GPS and Wi-Fi.

[Source: Area cellphone]

The revision would ship for “select devices” sometime after December 11th and could come to the Motorola Droid and HTC Droid Eris in an over-the-air update. The HTC Hero may also skip directly to 2.1 from its older Android 1.5 revision

[Source: Electronista ]

the Hero’s design: Telus, Sprint, Verizon

Discussing the ergonomics of the Hero is difficult than for most smartphones simply because of the liberties HTC has taken with customizing the design for different regions. While our review unit is the world version that ships to Telus, the Sprint model and the Droid Eris at Verizon have both undergone major cosmetic overhauls.

wrapping up

The Hero has a knack for creating an oddly emotional attachment with its owner. While we’ve had gripes with the strictly average performance or the lackluster camera, the subtle but unique design and the customizations to Android make it feel like a constant companion. Its design always seems tailored specifically to help you, especially in terms of long term wear and tear. The Sense UI additions also provide just that much extra help, saving the trouble of going one layer deeper or having to resort to an outside app. Combined with a very Internet-aware OS with a robust app market, the net effect made us eager to hold on to the phone for as long as possible — something we can’t often say for the phones that pass by our desk.

Our only true disappointment is that the Hero at times feels more like a bug fix for the Magic than the follow up you’d expect. Besides expanding carrier choices, there doesn’t appear to be any real reason for the Hero to exist without the Magic being phased out. A truer upgrade should be available soon with a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and other possible improvements, so if you’re willing to spend the premium those are likely to command, consider that option first.

Sprint’s Hero or Verizon’s Droid Eris won’t have the design advantage, but they’re still well-shaped. Whether or not the handset is a good deal depends entirely on which of the three networks you use, even so. Arguably, those worst off are Sprint customers: the phone there costs $180 on contract and comes only with a 2GB microSD card, which will be enough for photos and apps’ content storage but far from adequate for serious media playback. In the States, the Droid Eris is the better bargain as it not only costs $100 but packs a much more reasonable 8GB card. The international version we tried with Telus sits somewhere in between: it has the anemic 2GB card and requires a three- year plan, but it too costs $100 and has the best call quality and design traits of the three.

Sprint customers may have the option of levelling the playing field by shopping through a third-party or simply waiting for a sale; we should also add that Cellular South has the Sprint version of the phone for $100 if you happen to live inside its coverage area.

Regardless of how your geography dictates your purchase, the Hero is arguably the best touchscreen-only Android phone in North America for 2009, even when pitted against the technically more advanced Samsung Behold II at T-Mobile. HTC’s ability to balance hardware and software design makes it a tough phone to defeat, and if it weren’t for the existence of the Motorola Droid, we’d consider it the go-to phone for Android, full stop. We don’t think it will unseat the iPhone from its throne as the iPhone 3GS’ speed, browser and media features still give it an edge, but anyone disillusioned with Apple’s policies in the App Store, who craves multitasking, or who simply wants to be different will be satisfied with a Hero.

Its price is tagged at USD 99.00 that means, as a gesture of goodwill of the manufacturer the kind of cell phone is offered, is entirely budget friendly and never discriminates with less privileged class.

HTC Droid Eris (Verizon Wireless) is offering the dimensional specs like width 2.2in, depth 0.5in, and height 4.4in, whilst its weight is 4.2oz. Its service provider is Verizon Wireless.

HTC’s this latest series is the second lineup in Droid series. HTC Droid Eris is employing the Verizon Wireless Google Android 1.5 platform that has ensued after Motorola Droid. Basically the past series is quite showy and attaching classy features relatively to this latest series, yet the latest string is offering an austere approach and giving a natural look.

HTC Droid Eris can be considered a low profile branded version comparatively to HTC Hero, as the touchphone framework of this latest series is entirely worthy to use and attractive to carry along everywhere.

HTC Droid Eris (Verizon Wireless) is offering Call timer, Conference call capability, Voice recorder, Caller identification and Speakerphone functionality either. This series is additionally lending multifaceted messaging and data management recourses like, Mobile Email, and HTML Browser either.

HTC Droid Eris (Verizon Wireless) is additionally lending other services like Android Market, and having EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized). This cell phone is offering the multimedia features such as different Playback Digital Video recourses like H264, MPEG-4, H263 video and AMR audio, WMV (Windows Media Video).

This cell phone’s screen is a smart touchscreen, having the resolution of 320 by 480 pixels, giving an intuitive and fine Visio, offering remarkably transparent and clear colors of snaps.

[Source: ReviewBuzz]

On the other desktop screens, you can easily drop in launchers for any application, additional widgets such as the one for Google search, and shortcuts to common tasks such as turning Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on or off. Once you grok the concept of having multiple configurable screens rather than, say, the iPhone’s launcher-only screens, you’ll appreciate the wealth of possibilities.

Read the full review at Infoworld

With so much hype going to the Motorola Droid, it’s almost easy to overlook the second Droid phone, HTC’s Droid Eris, which also launched this week. It’s like a younger sibling standing in the shadow, but with the price tag of only $99.99 (after $100 mail-in rebate), it’s bound to catch the attention of many price-conscious buyers. Using Android 1.5, the Droid Eris might not have the same oomph as its older sibling (Motorola operates on Android 2.0). However, it’s still packed with many solid Android features.

HTC headlines the Eris’ customizable features and touts it as the “perfect weekend, travel or pure play phone.” Since I was taking a weekend roadtrip, I decided to put my phone to the test. What I found is that Eris does offer a lot of customizable fun. For example, the seven screens that you can easily scroll through are easily modified to your liking. I was able to organize my social networks, favorite people, and favorite apps all in groupings on different screens.
Listening to and organizing music on Eris is also easy. I browsed music through the Amazon mp3 app and since I already had an Amazon account, purchasing was just a one step process. Once on your phone you can take a song and crop it however you like and make it your main (or specific contact) ringtone.
Another thing I might mention, for those who like to mix business with pleasure, Eris comes preinstalled with Quickoffice, a PDF viewer, the ability to sync with POP3 email accounts, and it will let you keep current with corporate mail and such with Microsoft Exchange Active Sync.
Despite the Droid Eris’ many playful features and business tools, there are a few minor idiosyncrasies that might have me returning my purchase and shelling out the extra money for the sexy sibling (who I’m supposed to be ignoring right now).
The first obvious frustration for me is the lack of a physical keyboard. My previous phone, the LG enV Touch, spoiled me with its keyboard, making texting something I could almost do with my eyes closed. The Droid Eris offers a touch screen with a virtual keyboard. Though I’ve never been accused of having pudgy fingers, the sensitive and cramped keys make me feel like my fingers have been retaining water.
It could also be said that dialing on the Eris is a little too easy. Just ask my boyfriend who received four accidental phone calls in a row while he was in a meeting! Since it only requires one touch to set a phone call into motion, a steady hand and small fingers would be needed to select and dial the correct person on the first try.
Another disappointment is the lack of Google Maps Navigation, which only runs on Android 2.0. True, I was able to find a cheap GPS app for my Droid Eris, but it is primitive in comparison to Google’s app. In order to install an app almost comparable to Google’s, I would have been required to spend between $30 and $85, and doing that would have rendered my original frugality pointless.
In the end, because of the simultaneous launch date, it is impossible not to compare the two phones. During the purchase process of my phone the salesperson indicated that the Eris would be upgradeable to 2.0, but he couldn’t say when. If this proves to be the case, then perhaps at some future date the upgrade might close the gap of difference between the phones. Until then, those who expect the Eris to be a Mini-me of the Motorola Droid are going to be disappointed. However, those who keep in mind that these phones are brothers from another mother or sisters from a different mister, will understand that they’ve inherited different traits.

…because the form factor is so compelling. It is wrapped in black soft touch material, it is narrow so it feels like a phone, it is thin, it is dense, and it has curves that make a supermodel envious…HTC was able to pack in their awesome Sense UI into the ERIS at this low $100 price point

Compared to the Motorola DROID, we see this device with a sleeker form factor, better performing camera, and the Sense UI (with all the great HTC widgets and customizations) while the DROID has the a slightly faster processor, larger higher resolution display, hardware QWERTY keyboard, and vanilla Googla Android experience with support for the new Google Maps Navigation beta. The Motorola DROID runs Android 2.0 while the HTC DROID ERIS runs Android 1.5. Which Google Android device do you find more compelling on Verizon?

There’s also a microSD slot – Verizon are popping in an 8GB card as standard – and both GPS and a digital compass. The browser gets Flash Lite for in-page video streaming and there’s all the usual Gmail, Google Maps and other standard Android applications. No Google Maps Navigation, however, as the DROID Eris – unlike the Motorola DROID – doesn’t come with Android 2.0.

As we’ve already heard, it’s the pricing that makes the HTC DROID Eris something of a bargain. Verizon have priced at it at $99.99 (after a $100 mail-in rebate) and presuming a new, two-year agreement.

[source: Slash Gear]

From Phone Arena:
Comparison between the leading Android phones:

Conclusion:

It’s almost unfathomable to see Verizon tie the knot with Android – especially seeing how the carrier passed up the iPhone and usually packs on its applications on smartphones. The obvious comparisons will be made between the DROID and other premier handsets available on the market, including ones that are already part of the Android lineup. Verizon has definitely got itself a jewel in the form of the Motorola DROID and will most likely provide some much needed attention to the open platform. In doing so, it shows Verizon’s commitment in lessening their control on how a phone should be retrofitted with software out of the box. As for Motorola, the hype and talk around this phone lives up to the expectations. Being the creators of such a quality product, it clearly places Motorola in the correct direction to becoming the dominant figure it once was. We’ve slowly seen in the last year how they’ve changed their focus on the design of their handsets, for example the Motorola Krave ZN4 and Karma QA1 – all culminating to the eventual creation of the Motorola DROID.

With a lot of attention in both ads featured online and television, the DROID is fast becoming a household name. We found very few faults with the device – specifically the minor choppy movements when you navigate through the three home screen pages. Its improvements in the hardware department make it a worthy addition to the Android lineup that’s becoming more robust. It’s too early to tell whether the DROID will have a profound impact on how the Android platform is received by consumers, but we’re sure that its presence on Verizon will attract a whole new audience, not to mention that the HTC DROID Eris will also make its Verizon debut. For Google, this is a win-win position for them thanks partly to Android 2.0 – we’re going to expect to see a shift in the mind share of Google’s playing field in various software industries. Pack all of these things in a sleek body that’s constructed and put together with the finest of materials, you’ll have yourself a winner that’s sure to stand top among the best of the best. It may not be completely perfect, but it does place the emphasis of DROID in Android.

From The Gadgeteer:
The Droid’s home screen:

and Facebook widget: