BAM! this is what we’ve all been waiting for since we first saw Froyo and Sense 2.2 running on the HTC Desire. Android wizard udk over at xda-developers has released the first version of a Froyo-based HTC Sense ROM. Before Evo and Inc…
Just because we see what looks like Froyo running on a phone with HTC Sense, doesn’t mean it’s right around the corner. The good folks over at Pocket-lint got some one-on-one time with Eric Lin, HTC’s global PR and online community manager,…
Hey guys! Jerry back with another neat trick you can do on your Android phone. This one helps keep things running smoothly, and gives us some user control over Android’s internal task killer. Like most things that affect the low level…
It seems that a lot of folks interested in the HTC Droid Incredible want to be able to turn Sense (HTC’s custom user interface) on and off at will. Previous HTC handsets (as recent as the HTC Desire) had the ability to do this pretty easily by erasing Sense as the default and throwing up a choice between Sense or the stock Android home screen after you hit the home button.
Not any more.
We tore into the system files of our Droid Incredible to see what we could find. After hours of hard work, caffiene and Excedrin, we found some interesting information — the resources
and artwork for vanilla Android seem to be absent, or at least aren’t where we expect them to be. While we can’t be 100 percent sure just yet, it certainly appears that the Droid Incredible was meant to only run the Sense UI.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. HTC clearly has upped the game with the new Sense UI,
as our video walkthrough shows. At this point, if you’re on the fence, the best advice I can
think of is to head down to your local Verizon Wireless store on the April 29 and give the device a spin. After a few minutes with it, if you think (like we do) that Sense enhances this
particular handset, use your 30 days to find out.
Update: Yep, you can use Helix Launcher 2 on it. So you’re running a launcher on top of Sense. Have fun with that.
Bloomberg reports that HTC is looking into developing their own mobile operating system. According to HTC CFO, Cheng Hui-ming:
“We continue to assess, but that requires a few conditions to justify"
An HTC device that combines their typically excellent hardware with HTC developed software seems like the logical endgame for HTC. Heck, they’ve already put their own Sense UI on top of many Android phones and have even tinkered Sense to fit Windows Mobile. On those devices, the HTC Sense experience shines as much as the original operating system. Building a true smartphone operating system (we’re not counting that dumbphone) could be taken as another step in a direction they were already heading.
However, given HTC’s strong relationship with both Google and Microsoft and the increasingly competitive smartphone market, this is far from a sure thing. HTC has proven itself successful with its current business model and the company has become the talk of the town. Unless they’re really unhappy with the state of Android and Windows Mobile, we just can’t see it happening. Or they can just buy Palm. Or not, apparently, as Reuters says today that the deal is off.
And though it’s an exciting proposition if HTC does decide to go head-on in software, we don’t want them to ever leave Android. Don’t do it HTC.
Whether you were waiting for an HTC device on Verizon, counting down the days until your contract expired, or just in the market for something new, today is the day you can head online to Verizon Wireless and pre-order the HTC Droid Incredible.
Everything tells us it was worth the wait, it looks like another awesome Android device. Snapdragon, SenseUI, 3.7-inch AMOLED, 8-megapixel camera, you name it, it’s in there. The best part — order it today and have it in your clutches on the 29th.
Pricing also is nice, at only $199.99 (after $100.00 mail-in rebate). You will need a Smartphone plan of course, but look at the bang you’ll be getting for your buck. With the Motorola Droid’s industrial look and feel, and now the Incredible with its sexy sleekness, Verizon has quite the Android Top-Dawg line-up going on for 2010. Hit the break for the full presser again, and tell us if you got one ordered in the comments. And don’t forget to check out our Droid Incredible forums to share your last few painful days of waiting and speculating how Incredible it’s gonna be with us all.
Some great stuff rolls in during the wee hours, and this is a doozy. An actual demonstration video of the one and only Droid Incredible by the fellas at nerdstalkertv, shot during the 99% conference in New York. It’s an awful nice walk through of the software, and it really shows just how fast this phone is. There’s not much we haven’t figured out already, but who cares? It’s a great video of a monster of a phone and a must see.
Hit the break for the video, keep the tissues to wipe your chin handy. Thanks, Patrick!
First off, don’t kill the messenger. It looks like Verizon has started pushing out the long awaited Android 2.1 update ( with Sense UI ) to Droid Eris users. Not very many people are reporting getting it, but of the few that have one user over at Androidforums makes the claim, and has pictures to back it up.
Not all is Rosie (pun intended) though. There are reports of complete device wipes, as well as Google account sync issues. My advice, Eris users invest in some backup software and get everything ready in case this is the "real deal" and not a technical glitch.
See Androidforums, DroidLife or our own Eris forums for more info. Thanks Kellex for the heads up!
If you didn’t know, the HTC Desire and the Nexus One are very, very similar. They rock the same internals and aside from a few buttons here and an optical trackpad there, they’re basically the same device. So it’s not that surprising to find that the Desire ROM has been ported over to the Nexus One, but what is surprising is how fast it’s been done. These modders sure are good.
Having the Desire ROM on the Nexus One means one gets to enjoy the wonders of the new Sense UI. Flash 10.1 also works on the Nexus One so you Flash-lovers out there should certainly get excited. There’s a few complications, such as the system file was too big for the Nexus One’s internal storage so re-arranging some bits was necessary but all in all, it’s a great first step for the modding community. We’re sure they’ll hammer out the final details soon enough.
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