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HTC just unveiled the successor to last year’s Hero handset at Mobile World Congress.  Called the Legend, it’s pretty much everything we’ve come to expect.  It has a similar form factor to the Hero with its slight chin but it gets an overall boost in performance. 

If last year’s handset was unique with its Teflon coating, this year’s standout design feature will be its unibody case.  Made with one continuous piece of aluminum, the Legend literally has a polish to it.  Like the just-announced Desire, the Legend also features the updated version of Sense UI.  Specifications include a 3.2-inch AMOLED display, optical trackpad, and Android 2.1 under the hood. Look for the HTC Legend in April on Vodafone and Asia in early Q2 with a worldwide rollout to follow.

Will HTC’s new Legend handset end up in the Google Android store with the Nexus One?  Sindre Lia, of infoSync thinks it’s a possibility and we’re inclined to agree. One of the things mentioned when the Google store was unveiled is that other handsets will be sold through the channel as long as they brought something ‘unique’ to the portal.  Looking at the Legend, we see plenty of things that differentiate it from the Nexus One, making it a potential store candidate.

• The Legend more than fills the gap between feature phones and super phones while the Nexus One sits near the top of the food chain.
• A lower price point could attract more eyeballs to the store
• The two phones have distinctive designs likely to appeal to completely different users
• The Nexus One offers the stock Android experience whereas the Legend features Sense UI

When the HTC Legend was announced, HTC said that there were no immediate plans to offer it here in the United States.  That could mean two things – a US version could come later (a la Sprint’s Hero) or it could be made available through the store without any carrier attached.

As of now, we can only guess as to what phones will arrive in the Google store.  We’re aware of Motorola’s plans to offer something through the channel, but beyond that, your guess is as good as ours.  Or as good as Sindre Lia’s.