Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC unveiled a facelift to its Sense user interface, and plans to launch the updated offering through its new Android-powered Sensation smartphone, which T-Mobile USA will begin selling this summer.
The Sensation sports a 4.3-inch qHD display with contoured glass to protect against scratching, a dual-core 1.2 GHz Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Snapdragon processor, 8-megapixel camera and the ability to record 1080p HD video. "It's probably our highest-end product at the moment," Drew Bamford, HTC's director of user experience, told FierceWireless.
Beyond the hardware, HTC is hoping that the tweaks it has made to Sense will help its gadgets stand out from the Android pack, which is sure to become more crowded this year. Research firm Gartner has predicted that by the end of the year Android will capture 38.5 percent of the overall smartphone market.
Specifically, HTC's new version of Sense will now allow users to customize the phone's lockscreen, giving them access to information without the need to unlock the phone. Users can customize the lockscreen with applications, photos and other widgets. "So the idea really is that this becomes a platform for us to help people customize their experience on the phone," Bamford said of the lockscreen changes.
Additionally, HTC added a 3D carousel viewing experience to the homescreen panels found on its Flyer tablet, and added new cinematic graphics and sound effects to its weather widget.
"All of these little details add up to a huge benefit to our users over a vanilla Android release," Bamford said.
HTC also launched its new Watch video service, which leverages the strategic investment HTC made in Saffron Digital earlier this year. The service enables low-cost, on-demand progressive downloading of hundreds of HD movies from major studios.
For more:
- see this release
- see this Forbes article
- see this AllThingsD article
- see this Engadget post
Related Articles:
Sprint launches HTC's Evo 3D smartphone, View 4G tablet
HTC debuts Flyer Android tablet, launches Facebook integrated phones
HTC boosts content efforts via Saffron Digital investment
HTC plans tablet, expects strong Q1 sales
HTC sees value in cloud computing model for smartphones