Ah, here's an interesting thread about it:
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread...&highlight=iso
"I did some looking around and
I followed the steps using the 800 ISO along with some brightness modifications and so forth. It seems however when I take pictures, I notice this static rain effect."
Another user responded "I have it too in low light."
I think that's where all the "static rain" can be traced to - ISO 800, whether it's in auto mode in relatively low light or the user manually set the camera to ISO 800.
The lesson here is not to force your camera into ISO 800 unless you're OK with excessive noise, and excessive noise is a by-product of taking pictures in low light.
I should also note that of the four forums I visit, this is the only one where I have seen anyone complain about noise in images, and it's only about 3 people, one of which explicitly said he forced the camera to ISO 800, another of which initially said he gets it in low light and now says it's all the time.
Of course, that same user also said that every Hero has the problem and that he hasn't heard a single Hero owner say that his camera is unaffected by the "static" that happens even "in bright light," despite the fact that in the above-linked thread another user says right there that his works great in good lighting.
My entire reason for posting this is to combat misinformation. This is how rumors and urban legends start, and I hate that sort of stuff. I appreciate truth and reality. If there's an actual issue with the camera always generating noise, I'd honestly love to hear about it - but everything I'm seeing on this "issue" points to the fact that, yes, the camera is noisy at ISO 800. But that's completely to be expected. There are enough real issues with this phone that we don't need to spend time complaining about non-issues.
Even the iPhone has this exact same "issue".