Android 2.1, the latest flavor of Google's mobile operating system, was launched on the market at the beginning of last week, on the new Nexus One by HTC smartphone; yet, a series of mobile phone makers already committed to delivering the update to some of their older phones, and HTC is one of them, most of you might know that by now. The Taiwanese handset vendor is expected to provide its HTC Hero users with a software update to the new OS flavor in the first half of the ongoing year, yet it seems that the company is set to make them happy sooner rather than later.

A recent post on android.com.pl (via Android Guys)notes that the highly-expected Android 2.1 update for the HTC Hero is set to arrive as soon as February, at least when it comes to the European version of the device. The mobile phone maker already announced that it would not upgrade Hero to Android 1.6, and said that Android 2.1 would come to some of its older phones, so this handset is expected to be at the top of the list. With HTC Poland now being reported to have confirmed the move, it is only a matter of time before the updated ROMs will be made available for download, it seems.

The news site also goes on with listing a series of changes that Hero users will observe with their devices after the update, including:
Android 2.1 is much faster
One interesting option is a preview of desktops, you can zoom out with two fingers on pages in your browser. Effect. Effectively reduce the deskop, brilliant view.
Icons have clear coat (similar to Espresso, it seems)
At the bottom of the menu we have: phone, menu, contacts
HTC added a nice transition when you quit the application and move around the options.
Lock screen is not rounded.
Faster-running HTC keyboard.
New widgets from HTC (News and Weather, YouTube)
Improved flash player. Operates smoothly.
Graphic change in the gallery and video player (Cosmetic procedures)
And the rest of the news, which introduces a new android. (Market etc.)
About 130-140mb or RAM freed after killing the process.

For the time being, we'll take this rumor with a grain of salt; however, we must admit that, based on the previous reports on the Android 2.1 update for various other handsets, there are great chances that Hero will taste the new OS flavor in the near future. Stay tuned to learn more details on this as soon as they become available.