Smartphone maker HTC will begin selling the Hero, its new Google phone, in July -- competing in the increasingly crowded smartphone market with Apple's iPhone 3G S and Palm's Pre.

The Taiwan-based company said the Hero is the first Google phone with its new Sense customized user interface.

The new phone has bevelled edges and an angled bottom contoured to fit against the face.

It features a 3.2-inch touch screen, coated with Teflon for smudge resistance, a built-in 5.0-megapixel auto-focus camera, GPS with digital compas and access to popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to view status updates and share photos.

The smartphone also has a dedicated search button to search through Twitter, locate people in the contact list and find emails in the inbox.

The HTC Hero introduces a more natural way for reaching out to the people and accessing your important information," said Peter Chou, HTC's chief executive. "Sense is a distinct experience created to make HTC phones more simple for people to use.

The HTC Hero is available in Europe starting in July, Asia in the summer and North America later in 2009