HTC Hero approved by GCF: GSM and HSPA confirmed

We're gearing up to cover HTC's press event this coming Wednesday, where the company is expected to unveil their third Android-powered device, the HTC Hero.  That's now looking even more likely, after the Global Certification Forum (GCF) reportedly approved the smartphone as the HERO100.

Going by the GCF, the Hero will be a quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE handset as well as supporting dualband UMTS/HSPA (1800/2100MHz).  Since they don't concern themselves with any other specifications we're still in the dark, but we're expecting the usual bevy of WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and a capacitive touchscreen.

The Hero differentiates itself from the HTC Dream (aka the T-Mobile G1) and the HTC Magic (aka the T-Mobile myTouch 3G) by virtue of its new UI, which borrows some of the concepts from TouchFLO 3D and introduces them to Android for the first time.  Right now, though, this is all speculation (albeit speculation based on leaks).

[vms 49da13542e0726b7bb75]