As previously reported, the DROID Eris is functionally identical to the Sprint Hero with pricing set at $469.99 Retail/Month-to-Month, $269.99 after a new 1 year agreement and $199.99 after a 2 year, with the $100 mail-in rebate bringing the totals to $169.99 and $99.99 respectively, undercutting the Sprint Hero by $80.

Buy the HTC Droid Eris from Verizon Wireless

The device is expected to launch on T-Mobile according to a leaked internal employee slide first reported on last month.

As previously reported, the US launch of the HTC HD2 will mark the availability of the Qualcomm Snapdragon platform to US consumers, having already launched in Europe and Taiwan to favorable reviews due to improvements in application speed and general usability.

Image courtesy of Engadget Mobile

On the same day as the launch of the Motorola DROID, HTC will be launching its DROID series device in the HTC Eris for Verizon, which will also mark the debut of the DROID branding as a series of devices on Verizon Wireless.

The HTC Eris is functionally identical to the forthcoming Sprint Hero with Android 1.5, 3.2 inch HVGA resolution capacitive touchscreen display, HTC’s Sense UI overlay, 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7600 processor with 512MB RAM/288MB ROM, microSDHC expansion slot with pre installed 8GB card and 5.0 megapixel camera with video recorder.

Pricing is set at $469.99 Retail/Month-to-Month, $269.99 after a new 1 year agreement and $199.99 after a 2 year, with the $100 mail-in rebate bringing the totals to $169.99 and $99.99 respectively, undercutting the Sprint Hero by $80.

Image courtesy of WMExperts

An image found on USCellular’s site suggests the carrier will be launching its version of the popular HTC Touch Pro 2 and will also be the first CDMA carrier to offer both Windows Mobile 6.5 and HTC’s highly praised Sense UI according to the above image.

Current CDMA versions of the Touch Pro 2 recently launched by Verizon and Sprint feature Windows Mobile 6.1 along with TouchFLO, with no word on availability of the expected ROM updates to 6.5 from either carrier at this time, making USCellular’s variant more desirable to enthusiasts.

As the GPL requires immediate availability of all source code created under the aforementioned license, many developers were upset when the initial requests for the source code after the release of the smartphone were met with vague responses and no specific availability information, with some even threatening legal action due to perceived non-compliance.

Correction: This article has been corrected for clarity and to specify the type of source code made available. PhoneNews.com regrets any confusion that arose from the original article.

The T-Mobile version is expected to be launched on the carrier before the previously stated Q1 2010 US release timeframe and will herald new services for the carrier such as ebook downloads and streaming television/movies over its forthcoming 21 Mbps HSPA+ network upgrade.

The $30 plan offers unlimited data, text messaging, and 5 GB of Phone As Modem service. On Everything-plan-required phones like the Palm Pre, the plan trades 5 GB of PAM for basic Sprint TV and Sprint Navigation service.

And, starting today, the plan is now available for Android phones on Sprint. Android joins the Palm Pre, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile, as well as non-smartphones in being offered on the plan. The HTC Hero is available for sale from Sprint’s Relay Store web site, and existing Sprint Relay customers can switch to an Android phone with the help of a plan specialist.

Sprint has also confirmed to PhoneNews.com that the Samsung Moment will be available on SRDO, next month.

The Sprint version of the Hero is functionally identical to the reference GSM version with the same 3.2-inch multitouch capacitive display, 5.0 megapixel camera with video recorder, microSDHC slot, 3.5mm headphone jack, HTML browser and the Sense UI frontend.

The rest of the featureset consists of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with stereo audio support, accelerometer and speakerphone.

Pricing is set at $179.99 after minimum $69.99 Everything Plan or higher selection, $50 instant rebate, $100 mail-in rebate and new 2 year agreement.

The myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition has a guitar-inspired wood-grain finish and a built-in 3.5mm headset jack but is otherwise identical to the current myTouch while including a 16GB microSD card loaded with videos from a variety of musicians known for their use of the near legendary guitar.

The device will be available in time for the holiday season with pricing and availability yet to be determined.

As previously reported, the device will feature Windows Mobile 6.5 and will be available for $349.99 before an additional $50 mail-in-rebate, bringing the total to $299.99.

Update: AT&T reps have confirmed that the October 8th release date refers to stocking and sales for business customers, with consumer sales scheduled for October 18th. Microsoft has provided further confirmation in a press message detailing Windows Phone devices issued during CTIA this week.