The first Android-based smartphone from Sprint - the attention-grabbing HTC Hero - has been officially released by the company, and is currently available on the Sprint website as well as the Sprint stores. Though the handset will also be sold by Best Buy, the retailer's website has not yet listed it.

The Hero HTC - priced at $180 with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate - features a 3.2-inch capacitive AM-OLED touchscreen, which enables users to the advantage of multi-touch input - like pinching to zoom in! In addition, it has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, an 800 MHz processor, and an optical joystick.

The rounded tablet shape of the Sprint version of the Hero lacks a hardware keyboard, as well as the prominent "chin" of the European version. However, Sprint customers desiring an Android
-based smartphone preferably with a hardware keyboard will have to wait till next month for the launch of Samsung Moment.

Meanwhile, though the HTC runs Android 1.5, it has substituted the standard UI with its HTC Sense. The handset includes standard Google applications, and gives users the access to the
10,000+ applications on the on-device software store, the Android Market.

Along with the inclusion of popular titles like ShopSavvy, Twitter, MySpace Mobile, and Pac-Man among others, Sprint has also added its own services, such as Sprint TV.