HTC Hero Flies To India, Airtel

If you’re from India and waiting for Android to save you, you’re in luck – the HTC Hero has arrived! The press release does not distinguish whether its available immediately or not, but this official announcement is proof that the wait is virtually over. For 34,600 Rupees ($715) in Maharashtra and 31,990 Rupees ($660) elsewhere, the HTC Hero will be available on Airtel in India.

This Indian offer comes with a unique twist – customers will get 100MB of free data service for the first 6 months of their contract. I think this is a GREAT idea to help show general consumers how a data plan on Android is necessary to get full functionality from their phone. Those first 6 months will likely convert a lot of folks who wouldn’t normally get a data plan into lifetime subscribers.

Here is the full Press Release:

New Delhi (India), September 08, 2009 – HTC Corporation, a global designer of mobile phones, today announced the launch of the Android-powered HTC Hero in India. The HTC Hero with its distinct sleek design marks the debut of HTC Sense, an intuitive and seamless device experience that will be introduced across a portfolio of phones.

HTC Hero continues HTC’s leadership in introducing cutting-edge innovation and technology and enhancing the communication experience for Indian mobile phone users. Featuring beveled edges and an angled bottom, the HTC Hero is contoured to fit comfortably in your hand and against your face while you’re on a call. The HTC Hero is built to last and is equipped with an anti-fingerprint screen coating for improved smudge resistance and a longer lasting, clearer display. The white HTC Hero includes an industry-first, Teflon coating, resulting in an improved, durable white surface.

The HTC Hero comes with a special offer exclusively for 100 million Airtel users in India, wherein Airtel customers will get free data download of 100 MB per month for six months. Airtel customers will also be able to avail many utility-based applications such as Portfolio Manager, Hello Tune Manager, Weather Channel, Mobshare, In-mobile search and City Search on the HTC Hero.

“The Android-powered HTC Hero further underlines HTC’s commitment to push the boundaries in mobile phone innovation and design. HTC Hero introduces a more natural way for reaching out to the people and accessing important information in a much more easier and hassle-free manner. We are also very pleased to introduce a fully customized user interface called HTC Sense with the HTC Hero,” said Ajay Sharma, Country Head, HTC India. “HTC Sense is a distinct experience created to make HTC phones more engaging, immersive and intuitive and will be integrated across a portfolio of HTC’s phones in the future,” he further added.

The HTC Hero comes equipped with access to Android Market, where users can search and download applications to personalize and customize the phone.

With its 3.2-inch HVGA display, the HTC Hero is optimized for Web, multimedia and other content while maintaining a small size and weight that fits comfortably in your hand. It also boasts a broad variety of hardware features including a GPS, gravity-sensor, 3.5mm stereo headset jack, a 5 mega-pixel autofocus camera and expandable MicroSD memory. HTC Hero also includes a dedicated Search button that goes beyond basic search, providing you with a more natural, contextual search experience that enables you to search through Twitter, locate people in your contact list, find emails in your inbox or search in any other area in Hero.

HTC Sense – A Customized User Interface Debuting on HTC Hero

HTC Sense is focused on putting people at the centre by making your phone work in a more simple and natural way. Built on a culture of innovation and a passion to enhance people’s lives, HTC shapes the mobile experience around the individual. Debuting on the HTC Hero and available on all new HTC devices moving forward, Sense delivers on three basic principles: Make it Mine, Stay Close and Discover the Unexpected.

Make It Mine
Make It Mine, is about feeling your HTC phone was created for and by you. To do this, HTC encourages you to dictate and organize how you want to access the people and content in your life in a way that fits best for you. For some, this means adding glance view widgets that push content like twitter feeds, weather and other content to the surface while others may want quick access to business-focused information like email, calendar and world-times. HTC is also introducing a new profile feature called ‘scenes’ that enables you to create different customized content profiles around specific functions or times in your life.

Stay Close
Today, staying in touch with the people in your life means managing a variety of communication channels and applications ranging from phone calls, emails, texts, photos, status updates and more. HTC Sense takes a different approach by integrating these communication channels and applications into one single view enabling you to stay closer to your important people. With HTC Sense, friends’ Facebook status updates and photos along with their Flickr photos are included along side their text messages, emails and call history in a single view.

Discover the Unexpected
Many of the most memorable moments in your life are experienced, not explained. HTC Sense is focused on providing a variety of these simple yet innovative experiences on your HTC phone that will sometimes bring you moments of joy and delight. It can be something as basic as turning the phone over to silence a ring or as simple as improving the smart dialer for making calls quicker. HTC Sense also includes perspectives, a new way for viewing your content such as email, photos, Twitter, music and more in different ways.

Pricing and Availability:

The HTC Hero will be available at a market operating price of Rs. 34,600/– in Maharashtra and Rs. 31,990/– in the Rest of India at all leading authorised HTC resellers across the country.

[Via HTC, thanks Salil!]