14 DAY TRIAL // Wireless carrier Sprint has already put on sale its first mobile phone that runs under Google's Android operating system, the HTC Hero. The new handset can be acquired from the operator for $179 upon the signing of a two-year contract agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate, but it can also be purchased free of contract for $479.
As many of you might already know, the Hero for Sprint is different from the original HTC Hero that came to the market a few months ago. The major difference is that the Sprint Hero does not come with the “HTC Android chin” present with all previous handsets from the phone maker that came with Android pre-loaded on them.
What the handset is set to deliver to users includes a 3.2" HVGA TFT display that boasts a 320 x 480 pixel resolution and support for 65K colors, a 5-megapixel photo snapper with video recording capabilities, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, built-in Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, 3.5 mm stereo headset jack, media player, full HTML Web browser, and microSD memory card slot with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space.
The device also comes with support for a series of services, either powered by Google, such as Google Search, Google Maps, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Gmail and YouTube with Google mobile services, or coming from Sprint, including Sprint Navigation, NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile, as well as with support for email from popular providers like AOL, Windows Live, Yahoo! and more.
The HTC Hero is also available for purchase via Best Buy, where Sprint's customers can get it without the $100 mail-in rebate the carrier asks for. However, the two-year service agreement is still required. Those of you who haven't pre-ordered the device will find it available on Sprint's website here. You can either give this Android phone a try, or you can wait for the Samsung Moment (InstinctQ) to come to the carrier's offering.