Sprint’s first Android phone, HTC Hero, now on sale

The HTC Hero offers up a stylish looking handset that sports a multitude of nice software, including apps for Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube. The capacitive multi-touch screen device also provides home screen widgets, threaded messaging, an MP3 player, voice activated dialing and (of course) Sprint TV.

The hardware supports 3G speeds (where available) and includes an accelerometer, light sensor, Bluetooth, GPS navigation, a MicrosSD slot capable of supporting 32GB memory cards and a mighty 5.0 megapixel camera. The battery is a 1500 mAh and is rated at up to five hours of continuous talk time. The HTC Hero does lack a hardware keyboard, so if that is your thing, you may want to think twice before jumping the gun.

Sprint is selling the device for $179.99 after a $100.00 mail in rebate and two year contract renewal. Best Buy is selling the device for $599.99 and is already on back order. More detailed information and device specifications can be found here.