It’s official — the HTC Hero, currently the most drool-inducing handset the Android platform has to offer, hits Sprint October 11. Sibling site AndroidCentral has all the details, and PreCentral.net has the concern that Spring might be loving the Palm Pre just a tad less when the droid everyone’s looking for hits the Now (and then) Network.

So how competitive will the Sense UI on Sprint at $179.99 be with the iPhone 3GS on AT&T at $199? (We’ll leave the iPhone 3G at $99 off the table for now). As functionality gets closer and closer, Android apps picks up, and ease of use improves, it will likely be the network that’s the deciding factor — who gets more bars in the most places they need to be. [Note: the video above shows the Sense UI, but the form factor above is the original Hero, not Sprint' chinless version]

Oh, oh…

Jokes aside, we’ve seen Nokia N900 upping their UI game, and Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 distressingly still not, should Apple be most worried about the increasingly competitive Google and its increasing army of droideka?

Or is this really — and mostly — just a problem for Palm right? Apple’s enemy’s enemy’s carrier enemy is… what now?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

The Competition: Chin-less HTC Hero Android Invading Sprint

Join Dieter, Matthew, Rene, and Kevin as they discuss all of the insanely great new smartphones that have been announced and released in the past month. On the docket:

• Palm Pre Review
• iPhone 3GS Review
• Nokia N97 Review
• BlackBerry Tour Review
• HTC Hero
• and a bit more about Windows Mobile to boot. It’s all here!

(Update: links and player fixed.)

• Download it directly with this link
• Subscribe via iTunes
• Subscribe directly to the Podcast feed with your favorite Podcatcher here
• Listen to it here with the player above

Show notes after the break.

• Matthew Miller for Nokia Experts
• Rene Ritchie for The iPhone Blog
• Kevin Michaluk for CrackBerry.com
• and Dieter Bohn for PreCentral.net, , TreoCentral, and Android Central

• HTC Snap
• Samsung Jack
• BlackBerry Tour Announced
• BlackBerry Tour Review
• Things to Love and Hate about the N97
• The N97 is Here to Stay
• iPhone 3GS Launch Roundup
• iPhone 3.0 Software Walkthrough
• Palm Pre Review
• Homebrew is here
• HTC Hero Announced
• HTC Sense on Hero

Credits

Special thanks to gmz for the song Parametaphoriquement, licensed under the Creative Commons at CCMixter.org

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Smartphone Experts Roundtable 5

Our sibling site Android Central is all over the new HTC Hero announcement — the latest Android smartphone and one that looks decidedly different from its G1 predecessor.

We weren’t exactly fond of the G1’s user experience, but did lust after their notification system and push Gmail. Does this latest entry, with its Senses UI, up the ante? And should Apple be worried yet, or is Microsoft and Windows Mobile still the low-hanging fruit in Google’s sights?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

The Competition: HTC Hero (Android)