Orange today announced they’ve bagged HTC’s Hero for the UK market, the latest (and possibly greatest) Android equipped phone to be launched by the Taiwanese maunufacturer. We don’t have to wait long either -  launch date isn’t confirmed but ‘early July’ according to Orange’s own press release.

HTC-Hero-Front

Notable specs include a 5 Megapixel camera, 3.2″ HVGA display featuring an ‘anti-fingerprint screen coating for improved smudge resistance’ and a 3.5mm headphone jack (Yes!). It’s also has a useful increase in onboard memory compared to the G1. There’s unlikely to be a huge jump in performance though since the processor is rated at the same 528MHz.

Perhaps the most interesting feature though is the HTC customised UI with a bunch of features collectively known as ‘Sense’ which if you haven’t seen it is *very* nice. Check out the video below and you’ll see what we mean.

HVGA display features anti-fingerprint screen coating for improved smudge resistance and a longer lastingHVGA display features anti-fingerprint screen coating for improved smudge resistance and a longer lasting

The phone will be available free for those taking out a 24 month contract costing just short of £40/month and including 1200 any network minutes and unlimited texts. Sounds like a bargain.

With this and a plethora of other new handsets due to hit the shops this year, it looks like Android might be about to grab some serious market share. Watch this space…

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