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While it’s no match for a leaked XviD of Super 8 in the excitement stakes (so, er, we’ve been told, anyway, ahem), a new video showing off HTC Sense 3.5 offers up a few tasty revelations for smart phone aficionados.
XDA.cn’s 5-minute YouTube clip, snappily entitled ‘8776JHG76KJGH769’, features a pair of beautifully manicured mitts prodding, swiping and pinching their way though the latest version of HTC’s user interface, which will come slathered over Android 2.3 Gingerbread on a host of upcoming mobiles, including the HTC Bliss, HTC Holiday and HTC Vigor (which we’ve seen papped in some leaked shots earlier today).
So what’s new? Well, having watched the video we can say Sense 3.5 doesn’t appear to differ a whole lot from the current Sense 3.0, as seen on the HTC Flyer and Sensation. We’re talking evolution rather than revolution, with widgets being lightly tweaked along with the way you add and remove home screens. And as you’d expect, the look of the UI is a little different, with fresh transitions and lock screens.
Perhaps the most dramatic change is the tossing out of the launcher bar you currently find at the bottom of the screen. It’s been replaced by two buttons: one for an app drawer and one to take you to the phone dialler screen.
To be honest, we’re not hugely disappointed by the lack of major changes, as HTC Sense is one of the few manufacturer-created UIs capable of competing with the standard Google-made Gingerbread UI on which it sits. It gives Android a more playful look, and playfulness is at the very top of our favourite things list.
The demo video appears to show an HTC Bliss, the ‘female-centric’ smart phone (whatever that means) strongly tipped to be the first outing for the HTC Sense 3.5 interface. The Bliss is rumoured for a late September release Stateside, but we’ll probably get our first chance to poke Sense 3.5 a tad sooner: it’s likely to officially debut at Berlin’s IFA show, which kicks off later this week.
