HTC Hero Up For Pre-Order: Ships July 15th

Amazon UK have begun listing the HTC Hero, offering the latest Android smartphone in unlocked, SIM-free form.  The dual-band HSPA (900/2100MHz) device is priced at £429.99 ($712) and expected to begin shipping on July 15th; SlashGear was at the Hero launch last week, and you can check out our hands-on video after the cut.

The Hero has a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with a fingerprint-resistant coating, a Teflon body and all the usual Android nicities.  There's also HTC Sense, the company's latest UI advancement, which you can see demonstrated below.  Other specs include WiFi b/g, Bluetooth, GPS, a 5-megapixel autofocus camera and digital compass.

Two UK carriers have already confirmed that they will be offering the Hero, Orange and T-Mobile (the latter as the G1Touch).  Both will give new customers the smartphone free, but require a new two-year contract.

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[via Android Community]