British gadget magazine Stuff named the HTC Hero which runs the Android operating system as their gadget of the year at their annual awards show this week. Surprising, perhaps, since the shortlist also contained the iPhone 3G S but it sounds like the Hero got the nod as much as for its innovation as anything else – and as a reward for being the first true rival to the iPhone.

It’s worth noting that the Palm Pre isn’t yet available in the UK so couldn’t figure in the results.

Here’s what the judging panel said about their decision:

No smartphone floored us in the way the Hero did this year. It transformed Google’s Android 
OS from also-ran into genuine contender, and proved its mettle by squaring up to the iPhone 3GS without the slightest whimper.

Sure, the iPhone may have sold by the tankerload and wowed us with its apps, but it was an evolution of an already excellent gadget. Conversely, 
our Hero came from nowhere with its social networking integration, its multi-touch interface and superior multimedia skills. It’s the only mobile we’d consider getting over an iPhone 
– and that’s really saying something.

Slightly bizarrely the iPhone did pick up phone of the year – work that one out… Slightly less surprisingly, it also won readers’ gadget of the year.

Here’s a link to the Stuff magazine awards mini site.

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