I am still pretty much a newcomer to the Android operating system, but I have to say that I have thus far been extremely impressed by it.  The user experience is fantastic, and on my HTC Hero, that experience has been significantly enhanced by the Sense UI, which HTC includes with all of its Android phones.  Today at Mobile World Congress, HTC announced an update to Sense UI, which should be coming soon to all new Android phones (and is also rumored to be coming for the HTC Hero and Droid Eris.)  New features include the Friend Stream widget, which aggregates all of your social networking feeds in one location; a new thumbnail view, which allows you to jump directly to any of the seven screens on your Home Screen; and improved web browsing and email.

Of course, a fantastic new UI would not be much without a fantastic new phone, and HTC is offering two of them: the HTC Legend (above) and Desire, both featuring AMOLED screens.  Both are coming soon to European markets.  No word on availability or pricing in the United States.  Read on for the full press release…and thanks to my good friend Clinton Fitch for the pictures.

 

HTC Corporation, a global designer of smartphones, today introduced an enhanced HTC Sense experience that will be available on two new smartphones that take Android to the next level, the HTC Legend and HTC Desire.

“At its essence, the mobile phone is the most personal item you have in your possession. HTC Sense was created to magnify your ability to create and define your own unique mobile experience,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer of HTC Corporation. “HTC Legend and HTC Desire take Android to another level in both substance with HTC Sense and style with HTC Legend’s revolutionary crafted aluminum uni-body design.”

HTC SENSE

HTC Sense is a user experience focused on putting people at the centre by making phones work in a more simple and natural way. This experience revolves around three fundamental principles that were developed by observing and listening to how people live and communicate. These core tenets of Make It Mine, Stay Close and Discover the Unexpected continue to be the key to the new HTC Sense experience.

The new HTC Sense experience continues to focus on improving your interactions with your most important people.  This begins with a new HTC application and widget called HTC Friend Stream that seamlessly aggregates all of your social communication including Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr into one organised flow of updates. This simple aggregation makes it easier than ever to focus on what friends are doing as well as to view the images and links that they share.  In addition to Friend Stream, people can be organised into specific social circles, such as groups of friends, colleagues or any other way that makes sense.

The new HTC Sense experience also introduces broad improvements to applications including the browser, email client and others. In addition, the new version of HTC Sense includes a new newsreader application and widget, as well as a new seven-screen ‘Leap’ thumbnail view for quick and easy access to specific screens.

HTC Legend

Built around a newly enhanced HTC Sense, the HTC Legend boasts a unique design with a smooth, continuous surface, machined from a single aluminum block into a seamless compact frame.  To complement its looks, the HTC Legend includes a stunning 3.2 inch, AMOLED HVGA display.  The traditional trackball has also been replaced with an optical joystick, surrounded by a narrow button to improve usability without interrupting its unique design.

HTC Desire

HTC Desire is the richest way to visually experience news, friends, photos, favourite places and whatever else is important on a mobile phone. With one of the most advanced displays available on a phone today, HTC Desire is designed with a large 3.7 inch AMOLED WVGA display to enhance and maximise content, whether it is pictures and videos, browsing the Web or checking on friends’ status updates. HTC Desire is powered by a one gigahertz Snapdragon processor and is Adobe Flash 10.1 ready. As with the HTC Legend, the HTC Desire also includes an optical joystick.

Patrick Chomet, Group Director of Terminals for Vodafone said, “HTC is a valued partner for Vodafone and has made a strong contribution to the growth of the mass market appeal of smartphones. Vodafone endeavours to offer our customers the widest and most compelling choice of smartphones and to that end the HTC Legend, the HTC Desire and the HTC HD Mini will be ranged in selected Vodafone markets across our footprint. I’m particularly pleased that through our collaboration with HTC, Vodafone customers will experience a differentiated experience on the HTC Legend which will come customised for them with pre-loaded Vodafone 360 Internet services.”

Availability

The new HTC Legend will be available in Europe through Vodafone and in the direct channel beginning in April.  It will roll out to other parts of the world including Asia in early Q2.  HTC Desire will be broadly available to customers across major European and Asian markets in early Q2.  The HTC Desire will be exclusively available in Australia through Telstra. The enhanced HTC Sense experience will also be offered as a free upgrade on the HTC Hero in Europe and Asia.

Since I started using the HTC Hero, one of two Android based phones on the Sprint Network, I have been anxiously waiting for the promised upgrade to Android version 2.1.  This upgrade, which had been believed to be imminent has now been pushed back a few months.  Apparently, Sprint is now planning to release the upgrade in the second quarter (April-June) 2010.  Hopefully, this delay means Sprint will be incorporating HTC’s just announced SenseUI update as well.

[via Android Central]

SPB Software announced today, amid the Windows Phone 7 Series news, that SPB Mobile Shell 5 will be appearing soon on Windows Mobile (6.5 and below) as well as the Android and Symbian operating systems.  This looks like a very smart choice, as Microsoft is proving that diversity is good for application portfolios.  Check out the full press release below:

February 15th, 2010 – SPB Software, a leading mobile applications and games developer announces the release of SPB Mobile Shell 5.0, a major upgrade to the world’s bestselling mobile application, popular among both end-users and OEMs. Unlike all the previous versions of SPB Mobile Shell available exclusively for Windows Mobile smartphones with touchscreens, version 5.0 is to be released for Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian. Thanks to the new portable SPB UI Engine, SPB Mobile Shell is planned to be spread to more mobile platforms.

Major updates to the new version include a new 3D engine and an improved social networking integration. The former means support for new types of eye candy effects such as 3D Media Player, 3D Photo Viewer, 3D Weather, dynamic 3D widgets and more, while the latter involves message, contacts, photo and status sync with popular services, namely Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

One important innovation in SPB Mobile Shell 5.0 is the Natural Interaction Engine which includes support for G-sensor and multitouch, a dedicated Feedback Engine providing realistic visual and haptic responses, and a Physics Engine responsible for the real-world behavior of all objects.

SPB Mobile Shell has been publicly recognized as the best-selling mobile application across all smartphone platforms for three consecutive years: 2007, 2008 and 2009. At the same time SPB Mobile Shell enjoys popularity among mobile carriers and OEMs. It’s been shipped to over 15 device manufacturers, including Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, and O2. To make implementation process even smoother, we have added SPB UI Builder 2.0 – a tool-chain for easy customization of SPB Mobile Shell and other products that are built using the SPB UI Engine. It includes APIs for pluggable components, the skin builder and a set of plug-ins for integration with industry strength design products such as 3DMAX and Microsoft Expression Blend.

*** What’s new in SPB Mobile Shell 5.0: ***

- New 3D engine
- Natural Interaction Engine
- 3D widgets
- Tight integration with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks
- SPB UI Builder 2.0
- Multi-platform support: Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian

*** About SPB Software (www.spb.com) ***

SPB is a leading brand in mobile software, standing for a unique line of popular consumer products and partnerships with the world’s most innovative handset makers and wireless carriers. SPB’s software solutions deliver richer smartphone experiences and enable subscribers to do more with their mobile data connections. SPB Software is the maker of the world’s single number one bestselling mobile application – SPB Mobile Shell. For more information, please visit www.spb.com.

Follow SPB Software on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/spb_software

Connect with SPB Software on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/spbsoftware

With Windows Phone 7 Series information being dropped today, the Windows Mobile Developer Blog for Windows Mobile is only sharing cryptic information about what to expect in regards to mobile development.  Will existing apps be able to run in a compatibility layer?  Will existing apps be able to be ported via an easy code upgrade path?  Guess we should now something more in March.  See the full details, or lack thereof, here:

In a companion post on the Windows Phone Blog, we have unveiled the highly anticipated Windows Phone 7 Series. For the first time ever, we are bringing together Xbox LIVE games and the Zune music and video experience to phones. Developers are already speculating about the app platform and tools. All I can tell you is that we are going big at MIX10, March 15-17.

I will proudly say that we are about to launch a very compelling mobile development platform – arguably the best in our history. Even if you can’t join us at MIX this year be sure to follow Charlie Kindel, @ckindel for regular updates on the developer story for Windows Phone.

You can read the full Windows Phone 7 Series press release here.

Question of the Day:  What are your thoughts on Windows Phone 7 Series?

Steve Ballmer and crew recently finished dropping the news at Mobile World Congress.  The rumors are true. Yep.  Windows Phone 7 Series is a whole new operating system.  Nothing has been mentioned of backwards compatibility for existing Windows Mobile applications, for tweaks, for anything.  Much of what 7 Series is bringing, in my opinion, is a real step backwards as there appears to be little opportunity for a user to fall in love with the operating system.  Falling in love comes with tweaks and customizations.  iPhone users *use* their device.  It’s functional.  Tweaking the OS is not possible without jailbreaking.  People who can tweak, who can customize, they become rabid promoters of their platform of choice.  Look at T-Mobile’s MyTouch campaign.  It revolves solely around user customization.  People who have an intimate relationship with their handheld have a direct say in what happens on their device.  They stipulate how it will work.  They manipulate it.  They become infatuated.  They customize.  I bend my Windows Mobile based Touch Pro, forcing it to perform what I want how I want.  Occasionally I break it, but not beyond repair.  Will this be possible with Window Phone 7 Series, or did Microsoft just take away the opportunity for love?

Let us know what you think, by hitting the comments below, as I dry my eyes.