When March rolls over, Vodafone will be starting off an impressive lineup of Android smart phones.

The mobile network operator has already released the expected prices for the upcoming HTC Legend smart phone. They are currently offering the smart phone for as low as £2 (1.99) at a monthly tariff of £25 –it’s a great deal, though most might prefer to go for slightly more expensive deals with more free minutes.

The Legend was finally shown off by HTC at the previous Mobile World Congress. The device came out alongside the HTC Desire (previously known as the Bravo) and the HTC HD Mini. HTC’s Legend smart phone is considered to be the successor of the HTC Hero (also an Android smart phone) as it possesses similar specs. This smart phone stands out with its aluminum casing and sleek new look. It comes with a 3.2 inch AMOLED capacitive touch screen and a 5 mega pixel camera. Speed will not be an issue with Qualcomm’s MSM 600 MHz CPU running the Legend.

Just like the HTC Desire, the Legend uses the HTC Sense user interface. It takes away a little from the Android experience, but since the Sense UI is still fun to use, the change is insignificant. Overall, the Legend is a great deal for mid range smart phones for those who are not willing to dish out the extra few hundred Pounds for the Desire.

The Legend will be coming out with the Desire this March and next April, Vodafone is expected to being offering the Google Nexus One. While the Legend and the Desire will be available right off the shelves, the Nexus One will still be limited to the Google store.

Read more about the HTC Legend at Pocket Lint.

Within the mobile phone industry, there is little doubt that the new HTC Legend device is one of the most keenly anticipated releases due to hit the market in the coming year. The Legend is set to take the space vacated by its one of its predecessors the HTC Hero, which was a very good phone in and of itself, and also compares well with HTC’s other new release the Desire.

When compared up and close many people feel though that the Legend looks more stylish and swanky that the Desire, and this can be principally put down to the fact that the Legend’s body and frame are manufactured and made from a single block of aluminium – much in the same vein as the Macbook’s unibody design that set the recent style trend for all laptop computers. The finish of the Legend is also as aesthetically and tactilely pleasing as the Macbook’s and could be straight out of the Apple design book, which puts it even further ahead of the Desire in the style stakes.

Within the phone itself the Legend utilises a design concept which their marketers refer to as ‘Hidden power’, the main idea being that design and function work in concert, and this is contained very much in the machined single piece body idea that negates the need for a separate frame and cover. This is good not only from a style point of view but also due to the fact that extra space is made available for components. As a result of this the Legend is easily able to get several improvements over the HTC Hero as it is able, with its design functionality, to pack a vibrant 3.2-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen.

The screen itself has HVGA resolution and is a joy to behold despite the fact that some other phones in the HTC line-up this year such as the Desire have a larger display, though it does have a number of integral improvements over previous incarnations of the HTC lines. For a start, the buttons are much more user-friendly and precise and now fit neatly into the bottom of the device’s display rather than taking up their own space as previously seen on phones such as the Hero. The previous trackball has also been replaced with an optical navigation button, a decision that reflects the general mood within the industry as trackballs are apt to fail more often – not an attractive proposition for those on 18-24-month contracts.

The Legend is also powered by the latest Android 2.1 operating system, something that affords excellent operation and speed and will please users. The Android is also overlaid by HTC’s Sense UI, which seems similar on first glance to the original Sense seen in the Hero which caused such a stir at its launch though HTC have upgraded the Sense since then and it is now replete with new features. Perhaps the biggest alteration to Sense is the ‘helicopter view’, known as ‘Leap’, which works in pretty well the same manner as Expose on the Mac. The Desire also features Friend Stream which acts in a similar fashion to MotoBlur as it combines Twitter, Facebook and Flickr all into a single stream, negating the need to follow people over separate platforms.

On the rear of the desire you will find a 5-megapixel camera with the welcome addition of an LED flash. Connectivity is also excellent through the Qualcomm MSM7227 processor which runs at 600MHz along with HSDPA, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It also comes complete with the complete range of sensors such as a compass (an important part in many new Android apps), proximity sensor and GPS. Currently the release date is set for April of this year, and it is expected to be a major seller in many global markets.

Android fans already have a lot to look forward to next year. Not only will the new Android 2.1 OS be officially out, but it will be seeing a lot of use. DROID Just got upgraded to 2.0.1 and Google seems to be cranking out updates like there’s no tomorrow.

On the mobile phone side, 2010 will see the launch of the Sony Ericsson X10 and the HTC Espresso (the Hero successor); not to mention Google’s own announcement that they too will be unleashing their own Android mobile phone featuring a version of the OS that no one has seen before.

And just when we thought that we already know what we should be expecting for next year, a recent leak of HTC’s upcoming devices more than doubled the number of upcoming Android phones. The leak was of a brochure that HTC would be presenting T-Mobile (which is why the images had “T-Mobile NATCO day” written on it); so far we have not confirmed if T-Mobile will be the first carrier that HTC has approached.

Anyway, the leak also showcased 3 business model WinMo 6.5 devices, but interest in the old 6.5 version is currently running low, even with the announcement of a capacitive touch screen version of the platform, everyone just wants to know more about the Androids.

Back to the Android devices, the five mobile phones are named Bravo, Legend, Salsa, Tide and Buzz. Most impressive of the group is the Bravo. This phone surpasses most smart phone in terms of overall hardware. The processor is the much acclaimed Snapdragon 1 GHz; the screen is an HD-capable 3.7 inch AMOLED capacitive touch screen, the built in 5 mega pixel snapper is capable of recording videos at 720p.

The other Android phones are also amazing, featuring integrated apps for Facebook, Twitter, and other networking sites, 600MHz and 528MHz processors, and capacitive touch screens of varying sizes.