Head to head: iPhone 3GS vs HTC Hero

Features

The iPhone 3GS features the (at the time at least) latest version of the iPhone operating system, 3.0, which brought with it the ability to send and receive MMS and copy and paste among other things. Both are considered almost basic human rights in the mobile space these days so their arrival was a welcome relief for die-hard iPhone fans considering their options. It also likely swayed many users who had previously ruled out the iPhone for those very reasons.

The HTC Hero, on the other hand, boasts the 1.5 version of the Android OS, otherwise known as Cupcake. It's also the first HTC handset to feature the company's new Sense UI, which serves up colourful, context-sensitive menus aplenty.

The Hero boasts a context sensitive search function too, which adapts depending on what application you have open at the time. The iPhone 3GS doesn't ignore the power of search either, but its Spotlight search functionality is across the board rather than specific to each app. Both options have their merits.

Whether you're a business user or a consumer, the ability to personalise your device - beyond buying a different coloured case to your friends/colleagues is key. Both handsets offer this option, with the iPhone 3GS letting you move the position of icons around so what's dear to you is also nearer to you. The Hero goes one step further with customisable widgets and home screens that bring a little bit of the desktop to the handset.

Maggie Holland

Maggie has been a journalist since 1999, starting her career as an editorial assistant on then-weekly magazine Computing, before working her way up to senior reporter level. In 2006, just weeks before ITPro was launched, Maggie joined Dennis Publishing as a reporter. Having worked her way up to editor of ITPro, she was appointed group editor of CloudPro and ITPro in April 2012. She became the editorial director and took responsibility for ChannelPro, in 2016.

Her areas of particular interest, aside from cloud, include management and C-level issues, the business value of technology, green and environmental issues and careers to name but a few.