HTC to Put Sense on Windows Phone 7 Devices

Microsoft's upcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system is set to arrive on the market with a great deal of changes when compared to the current versions, one of which would be the limitation to the number of UI changes handset vendors can apply. This might prove an issue for some mobile phone makers out there, which made a name out of the customer user interfaces they thrown over stock mobile operating systems. 

One of these companies would be HTC, though the company does not seem discouraged by the limitations imposed by Microsoft. The handset vendors custom UI, called HTC Sense, is expected to keep on living, even if Microsoft says that no modifications of the Windows Phone 7 interface are allowed. It seems that some sort of Sense would still be included in the company's future Windows Phone 7 devices, expected to arrive sometime in October.

"Microsoft has taken firmer control of the core experience (in Windows Phone 7), but we can still innovate," Drew Bamford, head of HTC's user experience design team, told Forbes. According to him, the forthcoming version of Sense would be quite different from the solution present on the company's current Windows Phone 6.5-based devices. The existing Sense was designed to integrate with most of the platform's core apps. "We won't be able to replace as much of the core Windows Phone experience, but we will augment it," Bamford says.

Previously, the company said that it would be able to add features into the mix, even if it won't be allowed to modify existing ones. Moreover, it seems that HTC would also plan a similar approach to the solution included in handsets running under the future version of Google's Android OS, supposedly dubbed Android 3.0. According to Bamford, Google too plans changes to the Android UI, but that won't be a problem. 

"Google may focus more on improving the user interface on the stock Android (software) but I don't think they'll preclude manufacturer customization" he reportedly stated. The next flavor of Android should arrive with a larger number of polishes, but it seems that HTC would focus on improving the Sense UI too. All in all, whether it comes to Windows Phone 7 or Android 3.0 based handsets from HTC, users should benefit from an enhanced UI experience, that's for sure.