The Sprint branded HTC Hero will now incorporate a fully integrated Google Android platform and will include Google Maps, Google Search, YouTube, but most importantly, Gmail and will come on the 11th of October according to an article on ub-news.

The Sprint branded HTC Hero will enable the user to access upwards of 8000 mobile applications via the Android Market including all the popular social networking applications such as Facebook, Flickr and Twitter.

The HTC Hero will be the first Android operating system carrying smartphone on the Sprint network, and features the HTC Sense user interface which allows the user to customise up to seven desktops with widgets and apps.