HTC's Sense UI headed to other current Android phones

The Sense interface on the new HTC Hero.

(Credit: Crave UK)

HTC unveiled its Hero at an event two days back, and the highlight of the launch, without a doubt, was not so much the physical features of the smartphone but its custom Android interface.

According to Pocket-lint, CEO Peter Chou confirmed that the new HTC Sense user interface "will be available on some other existing devices." This will give added capabilities such as an expanded Home screen with unique HTC widgets and tighter integration with social-networking tools like Twitter and Facebook. There's no word on which devices exactly will get this, but it's likely to be the HTC Magic, which recently went on sale in many parts of the world.

MobileBurn is also reporting that phones bearing the "with Google" logo will not be eligible for the upgrade as licensing terms between Google and HTC would prevent the manufacturer from being able to tweak the interface too much.

(Source: Crave Asia via Boy Genius Report and Engadget)

[externallain]

This sounds like bad news for Android. HTC seems to be the only phone manufacturer using the Android OS and now they are replacing/re-releasing those phones with their new Sense UI...those Sense seems pretty cool.

[NetApex]

It's actually great news for Android! Not only is HTC able to customize it (free of charge as stated below) to show case their own "personality", it will open the competitive software flood gates for other companies as well. There are plenty of other companies working on the next generation android phones (http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=pdamaster&posted=1&os=a150) and even the generation after that (http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=pdamaster&posted=1&os=a200). Not too long after they come out over seas they will be picked up in the USA. With HTC leading the way in making their device stand out, the other companies will then be forced to do things to improve their offerings as well. Competition is always a welcome event from the consumer perspective.

[wikimon]

no it's still great news for android as a platform. it simply reflects the freedom and customizability. handset manufacturers with guts can completely re-engineer the software of the phone and create their own branded feel. and it's not like you couldn't get the Hero custom build on another device so long as the hardware itself has the power to run it, which means that although not sanctioned by HTC, you will still see its stuff running on other android devices due to the hack/mod community.

[thelazzyone]

That is the whole point of Android..what HTC has done... It is supposed to be customizable...That is one of it assets.. and Samsung already launched an Android phone as well:

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/06/24/samsung-galaxy-now-available-from-o2-germany/

It will come to the States later this year..

[seven7dust]

looks very interesting
but I think one problem with Android is that almost anyone can use it free of cost
no questions asked
which means companies lose their competitive edge !
which is probably why the adoption has been this slow !
hopefully that changes !

[badgaz1]

This is the great thing about Android. Companies can make their own unique looking versions of it to seperate themselves from the others and have a unique identity but at the same time they all work together to create one huge Market together to share. Well, that's the idea but it's taking a while to take off.

[jietj]

Great news for mobile Phone fan, HTC is great mobile Phohe manufacture in world:) but if any Phone can Play bru-ray DVD ,which now need <a href="http://www.pavtube.com/dvd_ripper">one DVD ripper</a> to converter to phone format for playing.

[jietj]

Sorry for my bad links, thid is http://www.pavtube.com

[cheinyeanlim]

The new Android UI will have something called ?Perspectives,? a new method for connecting email, contacts, and social media automatically. This version will also be the first to support Flash natively.

http://www.pupuweb.com/blog/htc-sense-ui-begin-of-android-customization/