Why does Hero lack a proximity sensor?

[hakujin]

Funny enough, it was the Moment's bug where proximity sensor doesn't always work as it should when you are too quick (but now I've mastered it and like it), which made me realize the Hero required pushing a button or using a hackneyed light sensor program to get the same effect. Seems strange it's lacking... almost as strange as a sub 640x480 record a/v resolution; that one I will never understand in a Fall 2009 phone.

 

[tatonka_Hero]

Perhaps because the screen shuts off after a little bit while you're on a call? No real need for a proximity sensor if you don't rub the phone against your face lol

 

[hakujin]

Perhaps because the screen shuts off after a little bit while you're on a call? No real need for a proximity sensor if you don't rub the phone against your face lol

Your brash singular application of a proximity sensor is quite amusing. Ever try those fancy new 20th century inventions called automated telephone systems? It would be a heck of a lot easier to move the phone away from one's head and it come on w/ the keypad right there, instead of fumbling for the menu button, then for the keypad button which is precariously close to the cancel button. Another example would be those like me that have their Google Voice set to screening on; can't tell you how many phone calls I've missed because by the time I answer the phone, I wasn't quick enough to dial 1 before the other party hung up. A proximity sensor would help mitigate that.

 

[treborcj]

There are different phones out there because there are different people. If you had researched the phone better, you could have picked one you liked.

 

[hakujin]

cripes! why do these things always devolve into nonsense. i'm happy and quite content w/ the Hero. my other posts here substantiate that... the questions was why does it lack a proximity sensor (what is the logic), as it seems the de facto thing to put in smartphones these days. the question wasn't, "why is HTC so unfair to me, boo hoo poor me". there may be different people, but afaict, they all have noggins, and we all invariably call phone automated systems where proximity is handy. I can't really think of a con for it so i seriously doubt the board meeting went something like, "let's make a phone for people who don't like proximity sensors", no more than they would say, "let's make a camera-less phone for people who hate pictures".

 

[KitsapAndroid]

I tried the proximity sensor app and found that it sucked. I also found that my Hero is easy enough to use without one. Personally, I'm OK with not having it. As to why they chose to leave it out, perhaps the head honchos realized as well that it is truly not very necessary.

 

[tatonka_Hero]

I tried the proximity sensor app and found that it sucked. I also found that my Hero is easy enough to use without one. Personally, I'm OK with not having it. As to why they chose to leave it out, perhaps the head honchos realized as well that it is truly not very necessary.

It's also entirely possible that there wasn't enough room in the Hero's case for one...or does HTC just not bother with proximity sensors? Is there one in the Eris, the N1, the Incredible, or the Evo? I really have no idea if there is or not, as I haven't looked it up lol

 

[revtime]

In the 8 months or so I have my Hero I have never once thought "Man, I could really use a proximity sensor" Its a non issue, at least for me anyway.

 

[A_Guy]

Yeah, my old "feature phone" the EnvTouch on Verizon had a proximity sensor even...

 

[hakujin]

I tried the proximity sensor app and found that it sucked. I also found that my Hero is easy enough to use without one. Personally, I'm OK with not having it. As to why they chose to leave it out, perhaps the head honchos realized as well that it is truly not very necessary.

That's not a proximity sensor, it's a hackneyed light sensor app that emulates proximity, sort of. Anyway, I'm OK with not having it too, but seems nonsensical to leave it out.

It's also entirely possible that there wasn't enough room in the Hero's case for one...or does HTC just not bother with proximity sensors? Is there one in the Eris, the N1, the Incredible, or the Evo? I really have no idea if there is or not, as I haven't looked it up lol

Hmmm... that sounds like a legitimate reason, and maybe HTC does have an aversion to proximity sensors... will have to investigate, thanks!

In the 8 months or so I have my Hero I have never once thought "Man, I could really use a proximity sensor" Its a non issue, at least for me anyway.

Glad to hear that.

 

[mysticmead]

well... it doesn't have one because it wasn't added at build time. yes the Eris has one.. as far as why they left it out... no idea.. just like why would they leave a LED flash off a phone as well.. it seems like that would be a standard feature for a camera but even certain versions of the Samsung Galaxy S won't have a flash, but some will.

now for me personally, I don't hold my phone smashed next to my face, so I haven't had any issues with not having a sensor

 

[hakujin]

what does phone|face|smashed have to do w/ the phone backlight automatically turning on when you lower the phone to 'press 1 for customer service'? More so, how does smashing a phone against one's face make a proximity sensor more desirable? If anything the Moment has shown that it's more prone to incorrect proximity detection & key presses when close to the face. However, when you know how to work around it, it's great. I just like less key presses and not occasionally missing GV calls because the dialpad shortcut is precariously close to the cancel button. Proximity provides advantages to both scenarios. Further, I found it strange that the Hero didn't have it, more so now as I did not realize the Eris has this feature.

As an aside, isn't LED flash on a phone relatively new compared to proximity sensors?

 

[Sixxx]

In the 8 months or so I have my Hero I have never once thought "Man, I could really use a proximity sensor" Its a non issue, at least for me anyway.

I agree. I don't hold the phone all on my face when i'm talking to people, who does that? Unless you got some big chipmunk cheeks and can't help it.

 

[Sixxx]

what does phone|face|smashed have to do w/ the phone backlight automatically turning on when you lower the phone to 'press 1 for customer service'? More so, how does smashing a phone against one's face make a proximity sensor more desirable? If anything the Moment has shown that it's more prone to incorrect proximity detection & key presses when close to the face. However, when you know how to work around it, it's great. I just like less key presses and not occasionally missing GV calls because the dialpad shortcut is precariously close to the cancel button. Proximity provides advantages to both scenarios. Further, I found it strange that the Hero didn't have it, more so now as I did not realize the Eris has this feature.

As an aside, isn't LED flash on a phone relatively new compared to proximity sensors?

My sanyo MM8300 hundred had a flash on it and it was like 4 years ago. Actually I wanna say the 8200 i had before that had one too, and that was another year and a half. So....

 

[astrobill]

Guys....the bottom line is that MOST Hero users I've spoken to (myself included) actually DO have problems with accidentally hanging up on people or touching other buttons on the screen with this phone. It's a real oversight....

Apple, the pioneer of the touch screen smartphone, correctly realized from DAY ONE of their research that accidentally touching the screen with your cheek was going to be a major obstacle towards making the device usable for the great majority of people. They smartly developed a solution based on incorporating existing proximity sensor technology.

Stop arguing this point...99% of phone engineers would tell you that a proximity sensor is an absolute necessity for a phone like this. I was stunned when I discovered the Hero didn't have one. I misread a review or two before buying it and just didn't realize...oh well, waiting for the Samsung Galaxy now.

 

[Sixxx]

I guess I'm a 1 percenter then...

Not that I really care either way, but I thought the whole point of arguing was to express an opinion? So how could you tell people on here to stop arguing the point when they have different opinions?

Just sounds like an "I'm right, You're wrong, now Shut up!" type of reply...

 

[hakujin]

I agree. I don't hold the phone all on my face when i'm talking to people, who does that? Unless you got some big chipmunk cheeks and can't help it.

I still don't get how this correlates to my points in post 12. do you find it more intuitive to press a menu button to turn backlight on and aim for a relatively miniscule button on the corner of the screen (NEXT to the end call) button when calling voice automated systems, rather than the light simply turning on when removed from facial area and keypad showing w/o intervention (not sure if last is a proximity or SENSE issue, as Moment is vanilla and automatically shows the dialpad <-- perfect.

Anyway, I didn't start the thread to discuss the merits of proximity sensor or people who smash phones on their faces... thanks for the guess work anyway folks; maybe i was partially hoping that i was missing something as this seems a nonsensical omission. Anyway, not a deal breaker, I will cope!

 

[hakujin]

My sanyo MM8300 hundred had a flash on it and it was like 4 years ago. Actually I wanna say the 8200 i had before that had one too, and that was another year and a half. So....

Come to think of it, so did my SANYO PM-8200, and consequently, the last time I had Sprint Coverage, what a flashback! That flash was horrible though, as are most non Xenon flashes I've seen in mobiles.

Nevertheless, guess it has been around for longer, but a novelty in phones (US phones that is, keitais are a different story), and not even a big fan of flash photography in digicams.

 

[sdague]

People tend to forget just how early the Sprint HTC hero is in the Android revolution. If I remember correctly it was the 4th android phone out there (G1, MyTouch, EU Hero were the only ones before it), and the first android CDMA phone.

The proximity sensor wasn't added to the physical design until Hero Rev 3 (the HTC Eris that came out a month later on Verizon).

 

[hakujin]

What is the correlation between the 'android revolution' and hardware sensor? were there no preceding HTC phones which had a proximity sensor? If so, then that would make sense... HTC hadn't caught up yet.

 

[tatonka_Hero]

Or, HTC realized that proximity sensors are added cost that's pretty much unnecessary. Not to mention it's one more thing to program in, and one more thing to develop a bug.

 

[Sixxx]

Or, HTC realized that proximity sensors are added cost that's pretty much unnecessary. Not to mention it's one more thing to program in, and one more thing to develop a bug.

+1

 

[hakujin]

Or not.

HTC Evo 4G - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Have a cookie anyway though

 

[Sixxx]

Phone that big, they had to find stuff to put on it so it didn't look like an ipad.

 

[Joehunni]

while yes, a proximity sensor would be nice, it still wouldn't help those of us that don't faceroll our Heros