At a coming-out party of sorts at CTIA yesterday, Sprint took the wraps off the world’s first dual-mode 3G/4G Android device, the HTC EVO.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse introduced the device to a collective, audible approval and then invited HTC CEO and co-founder Peter Chou on stage to make a few comments.

Chou said he’s happy with the EVO and thinks it’s a first step toward developing a rich 4G device portfolio. “I think the EVO 4G will begin to change the people’s conception of the Internet,” Chou said.

The EVO includes an impressive line of specs, including HDMI output, an 8-megapixel camera, 1.3-megapixel forward-facing camera, 4.3-inch touchscreen, 1 GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, pinch-to-zoom and a new generation of the well-received HTC Sense UI. The device also includes in-browser support for Adobe Flash 10.1.

Demonstration of the device featured an interesting new app. Sprint will include a new version of YouTube on the EVO called YouTube HQ. The HQ stands for High Quality. The demonstration featured a side-by-side demo of the EVO playing HD content and a Droid on 3G, playing standard content. The crowd was noticeably impressed by the difference.

Next, the crowd was given a demonstration of the device playing HD video through its HDMI output. The results were comparable to any HD video being played on a flat panel television.

Much to the chagrin of those on hand, the demonstration ended with an iPhone running over a Sprint 4G Overdrive hot spot, something Sprint has been touting even in its recent television ads.