TORONTO, Nov. 5 /CNW/ -- TELUS and HTC Corporation, a global leader in mobile phone innovation and design, today introduced the HTC Hero(TM) featuring HTC Sense(TM), available in Canada only on Canada's largest 3G+ network. Already receiving accolades worldwide, including being named "Gadget of the Year" by T3 Magazine, a leading UK technology publication, the HTC Hero is designed to bring powerful, customization capabilities and a unique, eye-catching design to the Android platform.

"The HTC Hero is all about the personalization of user experience, something that more and more Canadians are looking for," said David Neale, senior vice-president of Product and Services at TELUS. "TELUS' focus on smartphone leadership means that Canadians will have access to the most advanced wireless phones available, including iconic wireless devices like the HTC Hero, an excellent addition to our smartphone selection this Holiday season.

The HTC Hero is the first device to feature HTC Sense, a design framework focused on putting people at the center of the communications experience. Introduced earlier this year, HTC Sense was designed around the three fundamental principles of "Make it Mine," "Stay Close," and "Discover the Unexpected." These principles represent HTC's philosophy of focusing on how people live and how they stay connected with the people and information that matters most to them.

"Created with personalization at the heart of the design, the HTC Hero's intuitive HTC Sense experience allows the phone to be fully customizable in a way that is unique to HTC," said Francois Gravel, Managing Director for HTC in Canada. "The HTC Hero provides flexibility to incorporate the unique interests and preferences of people in a way that makes it an indispensable extension of their lifestyle. This seamless integration truly represents HTC's brand promise of 'quietly brilliant'"

Intuitive and Customizable

With seven customizable home screen panels and access to thousands of applications, widgets and games from the Android Market(TM), people can easily create an experience unique to them. The HTC Hero offers a wide range of Google(TM) mobile services including Google Search(TM), Google Maps(TM), Gmail(TM), and YouTube(TM). If seven panels aren't enough to capture every aspect of a person's life, the HTC Hero makes it possible to customize even more home screens. This feature, called "scenes", enables the creation of customizable profiles that can be tailored to how life changes at different times of the day, or different days of the week.

Additionally, staying connected is made easier by how the HTC Hero puts people, not technology, at the center of the communication experience.