Hands-on with HTC's "Hero" Android phone

Wait—didn't T-Mobile just announce a new, HTC-built Android phone? Yep, it sure did, but here comes the HTC Hero, another new Android handset with a similar design, plus a slick, custom touch interface dubbed "Sense" that's sure to give future myTouch 3G owners pangs of envy. Oh, and did I mention Flash?

HTC officially unveiled the Hero (the existence of which has been widely known for weeks now) this morning in London, and a select group of tech journalists (including me) got a brief hands-on look in Manhattan a few hours later.

So first, the basics: Like the just-unwrapped T-Mobile myTouch 3G and the G1 before it, the Hero is built around Google's touch-enabled Android OS—in fact, the Hero marks HTC's third Android phone to date.

Like both the myTouch and the G1, the Hero (set for release in Europe and Asia this summer, and in North America before the end of the year; no carrier or pricing details yet) boasts a 3.2-inch touchscreen (glass, with an "oleophobic" anti-fingerprint film), speedy 3G support, GPS, Wi-Fi, and a built-in digital compass and accelerometers (perfect for Google Street View).

And like the myTouch, the Hero lacks a physical, slide-out QWERTY keypad—instead, you tap out messages on a virtual keypad (custom-built by HTC in this case, complete with error correction). That said, there's still a trackball for precisely positioning the cursor.

So far, so much the same—but here's whether things get interesting. Remember older HTC phones like the Diamond and the Touch Diamond, which both came with HTC's slick "TouchFlo" interface built on top of Windows Mobile? Well, HTC says it's taken TouchFlo to the next level with its new UI, dubbed "Sense."

Sense boasts many of the same features we've seen before on, say, the HTC Diamond—for example, the gorgeous animated e-mail interface that lets you take a peek at incoming messages, or the eye-catching Weather widget with shining sun, billowing clouds, and splashing rain animations (complete with animated windshield wipers).

But "Sense" takes things a bit further with new personalization options that (HTC reps promise) will make your Hero home-page experience difference from that of any other user.

That's nice, but another new Sense feature is even better: the ability to view all the email, text, and picture messages of a given contact right from their contact card. Even cooler: You can view Facebook status updates directly from a contact page, as well. That's a level of messaging integration we haven't even seen in the Palm Pre, much less the iPhone and its walled-off apps.

From what I've seen, you can't check out your pals' Twitter updates from the contact book, but don't worry—Sense includes a live Twitter widget alongside the constantly updating Weather and Stocks widgets, which you can access with a few flicks from the Hero home page.

Underneath it all, of course, is the latest version of Google's Android OS, which now includes support for video recording and stereo Bluetooth, not to mention integrated Google search, services, and the thousands of apps in the Android Market.

Last but not least: HTC and Adobe have announced that the Hero will be the first Android handset to support Flash—meaning that you'll be able to view Flash-embedded Web pages in all their glory. Meanwhile, still no Flash support for the iPhone, the Pre, or BlackBerry phones.

All in all, the Hero looks like one of HTC's hottest handsets yet, and it certainly makes for the most exciting Android phone so far.

Unfortunately, while HTC says that its new "Sense" interface will appear on a "wide range" of its products (including Windows Mobile phones) moving forward, you won't be able to load Sense onto the Android-powered T-Mobile G1 or myTouch 3G—well, not officially, anyway.

Again, no specific word on when we'll get the Hero—or a version of it—here in the U.S., or on which carrier(s) or for how much. We should see it arrive stateside this year, however.

So, what do you think—how does the Hero look compared to the iPhone, the Pre, or the upcoming T-Mobile myTouch 3G? Anyone out there thinking of holding off on the myTouch until the Hero arrives?

Additional Hero specs: 5-megapixel auto-focus camera, 3.5mm headset jack, microSD memory expernsion.