I just got my HTC Desire here in Japan (hooray for pre-orders), and I noticed a few differences from the previews I've seen online... This is all by comparing to the videos I've seen posted online (which I watched while waiting for my pre-order).
First of all, and the most glaring, is the removal of HTC's keyboard. I was quite disappointed to see the HTC Sense keyboard replaced with one called "iWnn IME". This is required for input of Japanese characters (like あえいおう or 大丈夫. The downside is that I can't revert at all to HTC's keyboard... it seems like it has been completely removed. It looks very similar to the stock android keyboard (no numbers above the letters).
Another difference, based on some videos I've seen is the addition of Voice Search. On the google search bar widget, as well as the quick search box, there is the little microphone button that you can press, and it will record your voice and do a search using voice recognition. This button is NOT present on the default keyboard though, so you can't do it just anywhere.
I've heard tons of comments about apps not being available (copy protected apps, apps that use the camera, google earth). I saw that copy protected apps seem to be working for most people now, but I'd like to add that ALL apps seem to be working for me in Japan. Barcode scanner, copy protected apps, Layar, even Google Earth are showing up in the market for download, are installing fine and running fine.
That's what I noticed right away... It's hard to know what's different though, since I haven't used the original UK version... I'll keep looking though, and I'll check the posts/videos that show the differences to the Nexus One...
Firmware version: 2.1-update1
Baseband version 32.34.00.28U_4.05.00.30_2
Kernel version:2.6.29-f88b370f
Build number:1.18.762.5 CL159354 release-keys
EDIT: Here's a link to a page with a screenshot of the Japanese keyboard (which is usable, but not great) J. Maurice - Japanese IME (iWnnIME) on Android - T9 / qwerty
Ravlen
First of all, and the most glaring, is the removal of HTC's keyboard. I was quite disappointed to see the HTC Sense keyboard replaced with one called "iWnn IME". This is required for input of Japanese characters (like あえいおう or 大丈夫. The downside is that I can't revert at all to HTC's keyboard... it seems like it has been completely removed. It looks very similar to the stock android keyboard (no numbers above the letters).
Another difference, based on some videos I've seen is the addition of Voice Search. On the google search bar widget, as well as the quick search box, there is the little microphone button that you can press, and it will record your voice and do a search using voice recognition. This button is NOT present on the default keyboard though, so you can't do it just anywhere.
I've heard tons of comments about apps not being available (copy protected apps, apps that use the camera, google earth). I saw that copy protected apps seem to be working for most people now, but I'd like to add that ALL apps seem to be working for me in Japan. Barcode scanner, copy protected apps, Layar, even Google Earth are showing up in the market for download, are installing fine and running fine.
That's what I noticed right away... It's hard to know what's different though, since I haven't used the original UK version... I'll keep looking though, and I'll check the posts/videos that show the differences to the Nexus One...
Firmware version: 2.1-update1
Baseband version 32.34.00.28U_4.05.00.30_2
Kernel version:2.6.29-f88b370f
Build number:1.18.762.5 CL159354 release-keys
EDIT: Here's a link to a page with a screenshot of the Japanese keyboard (which is usable, but not great) J. Maurice - Japanese IME (iWnnIME) on Android - T9 / qwerty
Ravlen