(Update 2010-04-26 23:10 CET)

Villain 5.3 functionality results so far. Google navigation was broken due to patch package for Live Wallpapers. After a re-flash NOT applying the Rosie patch Navigation works. The ROM is real fast and seems great so far!

I’m now staying on 5.3 on my phone and will test more.

Link to the Villain 5.2 description and download

Link to the Villain 5.3 description and download

Fantastic work by @nprussell and others in the community!

(updated 2010-04-19, 18:30 CET)

Villain 5.2 functionality results so far. I got keyboard localization and MMS working now -so I’ll stay on Villain 5.2 to try it now.

Link to the Villain 5.2 description and download

Link to the Villain 4.0 Beta 2 description and download

Fantastic work by @nprussell and others in the community!

After some waiting for the HTC branded and managed firmware update I decided to go for one of the community versions. It seems the official version gets constantly pushed forward in time.

The current official firmware of HTC Hero is based on Android 1.5 which was released in April-May 2009 timeframe -meaning its almost 1 year old. In this business that is a long time.

The Android 2.1 firmware was released somewhere around January 2010. It enables you to install Google search by voice, Google Goggles and other apps.

I don’t really think you’re supposed to do this from the HTC perspective. A simplified description of what it means to flash custom firmware is;

• Update the core bootloader of the phone to enable some more start-up features
• Root, or “unlock” the phone
• Nandroid backups, a custom, very efficient way of backing up your complete phone.
• Flashing new firmware or operating system versions (or radio firmware)

Worth noting is that according to “Internet information” when you go back to flash a real HTC rom through the HTC sync toolset you reset both bootloader, root and firmware to the original state.

How to flash guide in swedish (really simple, clear and easy)
How to flash guide in english (not as easy, but good -I skipped the first formatting steps)

Firmware – BeHero
Based on the HTC Legend Firmware and Android 2.1 (Sense; which is the HTC flavour)

Firmware – VillainROM
Based on the Droid Eris 2.1 (I don’t really know where this is coming from) which is Android 2.1.

Radio firmware I’ve updated to (63.18.55.06JU_6.35.09.26)
Updates to the core radio features of the phone; GSM, GPS, wireless network etc. Making mistakes while flashing radio firmware can break (Brick) your phone permanently.

Following up on my earlier post about innovation in console gaming and online communities.

Fifa 10 is really stepping it up now. They have a world EA Sports Fifa community in Beta and it looks really promising.

Through the web you can check out the real time popularity of teams in the console game. Logging in also connects your own contribution in the contest.

Through the console you get real time updates to your favorite teams and league tables. As I understand you can also play the RL league games on your console. I got to check this out..

What kind of possibilities does this open up? It will be exciting to follow the evolving features..

Read more about Live Season on producer Marcel Kuhn’s new blog at Off The Bench.