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HTC Looks To Its Android-Powered And Flash-Toting Hero To Save The World

At an event in London today, HTC unveiled its latest Android-based handset, the Hero. On top of an impressive set of specs, the Hero boasts a brand new user interface from HTC called Sense. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot, Flash 10 is on board, too.

HTC's Android-based Hero has Flash 10 on board.

OK, maybe the HTC Hero isn't going to save the world, but it sure is going to give sales of Android phones a kick in the pants.

As far as the hardware goes, the Hero falls right in line with the HTC Magic and myTouch. It is a slab-style phone with that lovable Android chin, trackball for navigation, and the regular set of keys required by Android. It has a 3.2-inch HVGA display that is touch sensitive, and other features such as GPS, digital compass, accelerometer, 3.5mm stereo headset jack, a 5-megapixel autofocus camera and expandable microSD memory.

It runs Android system software 1.5, and comes with the requisite integration with Google's many services.

What's most interesting about the handset is the new user interface that HTC has bestowed upon it. HTC makes the TouchFLO 3D user interface overlay for Windows Mobile smartphones, and now it has brought something similar to Android with the Sense UI.

Sense offers the Hero a new set fo controls on the screen through which to access the different systems of the phone, but it is also highly user configurable. This includes the ability to add widgets such as Twitter or weather feeds to the home screen.

It also has a new integrated inbox that lets users see all the communications they've had with a single person -- calls, email, SMS, IM, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook -- in one stream.

Last up, the Hero will be the first Android phone to have Flash 10 on board. Adobe and HTC worked together to make that happen, meaning the Hero can stream video and audio content directly from the browser.

Good stuff, HTC, keep it coming!

The Hero goes on sale in Europe and Asia later this summer, and should be available in North American markets by the end of 2009.

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