HTC Hero Replacement Will Launch Early Next Year

The HTC Hero is HTC's flagship Android-powered smartphone, but it's been around since this summer, and a successor is on the way. A high-level company executive says this device will debut in just a couple of months.

Patrik Andersson, the head of HTC in Sweden, revealed that the replacement for the Hero will be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress tradeshow in February. This model will be released in Europe shortly after that.

However, Andersson did not give any details on this upcoming smartphone, not even its name.

The Hero is not a cutting-edge device, and has been somewhat eclipsed by Android models with larger, higher-resolution displays, like the Motorola Droid. The new model will be HTC's chance to get some attention back.

There have been unconfirmed reports that this company is prepping a Android-powered phone with a 4.3-inch touchscreen and a 1 GHz processor. If these prove correct, this could be the successor for the Hero. 

More about the HTC Hero
The Hero is HTC's most widely-available phone running Google's Android OS -- its offered in Europe, and in the U.S. from Sprint. Verizon also has a version, though this has been renamed the HTC Droid Eris. There are also rumors that it's going to be released by AT&T early next year.

It has a tablet-shape with a 3.2-inch HVGA screen, Wi-Fi, 5-MPx camera, and a GPS receiver, but no hardware keyboard.

The Hero runs Android 1.5, but an OS upgrade has been promised. HTC has replaced the standard user interface with its own, which it calls HTC Sense.

Source: IDG.se