I like reviewing old, obsolete products, so here’s another.  The USB port on my Nexus S died recently, and I got this loaner HTC with the Nexus is in for repair.

While the HTC is a fairly recent phone, it still runs Gingerbread (2.3.3), and feels very dated when coming from my Nexus S running Jelly Bean (4.0).  HTC sense is also not much fun.

The HTCs most obvious feature is it’s fold-out physical keyboard.  I’ve heard that some people prefer ‘real’ keyboards, but I have no idea why.  Even the clunky stock-Gingerbread keyboard is better.   The keys on the HTC are too small, require too much force, and the layout is all wrong.  On the positive side, the ‘z-hinge’ is clever.  Maybe next time HTC can use it to conceal something useful.

Aside from the awfulness of the keyboard, it makes the phone awkward and heavy.  The weight, when combined with the sharp, cold metal edges, gives me the uncanny feeling that when I’m talking on the HTC, I’m actually holding a wrench to the side of my head.

I’m not done complaining.  Like the rest of the phone, the speaker is disappointing.  I’m not asking a lot of it, but I like to  listen to podcasts on my phone, and the HTC isn’t up to the task.

What’s good about the HTC?  The battery seems to last a long time, at least longer than my Nexus S.  Also, I like the notification LED.  Other than that, I’m looking forward to getting my Nexus S back.

Twice I’ve encountered Google’s attempts to keep me from accessing some apps for my phone. In both cases, the apps I wanted were restricted to the U.S. market. In both cases, I had to look up how to fix the problem. So, here’s the simplest solution I found:

1. Disable all location services on the device
2. Turn off the device and swap a compatible SIM for one from correct region
3. Turn on the device, connect to the store via WiFi and download the app
4. Turn off the device, swap original SIM back in
5. Turn on the device, reenable location services

There are some limitations when using this method.  First, you obviously need a SIM from the correct region/market.  Second, the restricted app won’t update unless you swap a compatible SIM back into the device.

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