BuyMeGetMe.com

On the calendar, it’s still summer. But, for the personal electronics industry, this is autumn – the time to start rolling out a stream of brand new products for the upcoming holiday shopping season.

In no segment of the industry is the competition fiercer than in the cell phone segment.

Fast on the heels of yesterday’s announcements at Nokia World we finally learn the release date for what looks to be an amazing Google/Android OS-based smartphone and a dozen new handsets which will run on Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows Mobile 6.5 OS.

First, the HTC Hero. BMGM was one of the few members of the press given an exclusive sneak peek of this new phone a few weeks ago.

The Hero runs on the Android OS (like T-Mobile’s G1 and myTouch 3G) but with a big difference – the phone’s interface (called HTC Sense) has been completely re-worked. Without going into full detail, the Hero looked amazing. Just about everyone who attended that session agreed.

Since that preview, the phone has undergone more changes – both for hardware and software – so, of course, we’ll have to wait and see just how terrific the final version will actually be.

Luckily, we won’t have to wait too long. This morning, Sprint announced that they’ll be the first to start selling the HTC Hero. Beginning Oct. 11, you’ll be able to purchase your Hero through all the usual Sprint retail channels (their stores and online) as well as Best Buy for $179.99 (after a $50 instant savings and a $100 mail-in rebate) with a two-year service agreement.

Pre-registration begins today at www.sprint.com/hero.

Then there’s the slew of new Windows Mobile phones just announced by South Korea’s LG – the world’s number three cell phone manufacturer.

According to published reports, LG has just announced that they will be releasing three new handsets which will run the new Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system. But that’s not all. LG also announced including the latest additions, LG announced plans to launch another ten news Windows Mobile-based phones next year – for a total of 13 new Windows phones by the end of 2010.

For you history buffs, back in February LG signed an agreement with Microsoft stating that Windows Mobile will become the company’s primary smartphone platform – even though LG is also a member of the Symbian Foundation (Nokia smartphones) – and the fact that LG is said to be working on a Google featured, Android device or two. Or three.

No exact details yet for these new Windows phones though – except that we should expect to know more around October 6th when Microsoft officially launches Windows Mobile 6.5.