Last week I got the news that I was eligible for an upgrade, at first I wanted to port to Vodacom to get the iPhone as I have played around with a few of them and love it, but after some consideration and a hefty price tag my attention turned toward the HTC Hero or iPhone killer as some say.

It was a mission to get hold of one, as everybody is either out of stock and only expects new stock in the next year or does not get the phone until next year. Lucky for me the guys at Durbanville MTN shop got hold of an HTC Hero in only one day, great service from them, and I picked up my Hero yesterday.

The phone is absolutely superb, I’m loving every aspect of it and can see why people are saying that it’s the iPhone killer. The HTC hero is lightning fast with applications and menus opening instant without any sign of hesitation. A nice feature is the Accelerometer, one example I tested was with Google Maps in street view. Enabling the digital compass feature and physically moving around with the phone in your hand made the street-view move around as if you where standing in the street and looking up, down, left or right.

Out of the box the Android operating system asks you for login details to social networking sites like Facebook, twitter and Flicker and integrates it into your home screens if you would like to. Importing contacts was a breeze specially since I had all my contacts in Gmail, Android just asked me to sync with my GMail account and voila there all my contacts was imported.

The Android market place is also a breeze to operate with all the apps you can think of, 99% of the kind of apps I searched for where free.

The 5 mega-pixel camera of the HTC Hero is also very nice, it takes very high quality images that is sharp and crisp. One downside of the camera is I would have liked a flash, but its not the end of the world.

I’m definitely a Android fan now, and won’t turn back anytime soon. The Hero is sure to give Apple iPhone a run for its money.

If you are due for an upgrade have a look at the Hero, I’m sure you’d like it. I’ll be writing more about Android and Tips and Tricks for the HTC Hero and Android marketplace from now on here.

Google organises the world’s information and makes it accessible to all. Information also comes in the shape of geographical data, local business listings and user generated maps, and for this reason Google would like to invite you to the Google Maps South Africa launch.

Google is now giving Capetonians the oppertunity to take part in the launch of Google Maps in South Africa, on Friday the 30th of October at UCT in Cape Town.

Speakers will include Jarda Bengl, Business Product Manager, Google.

The talk will cover Introduction to development with the Google Maps API.
They’ll show some examples of great implementations, then cover the basics of how to add a map to your site including Javascript techniques to create maps, place markers, handle clicks, geocode addresses, add driving directions and how to work with Street View.

Just note that basic knowledge of XHTML, CSS, XML and Javascript is required.

Everybody is welcome from Developers and Web Masters who are new to Google Maps API, Computer Science Students.

To ensure you place is booked for the Google Maps South Africa, Cape Town launch just leave a comment and I’ll send through the rsvp email address.