HTC Hero "Sense" UI Officially Coming to the Magic, MyTouch 3G Might Be Left in the Cold

John Herrman — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:03:10 EDT

The HTC Magic is getting an official update to the Hero's overhauled, fairly wonderful "Sense" UI, but there's a catch: the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G, which is basically the same freakin' phone, probably won't get the update, for lame licensing reasons.

To be fair, we should have expected this: Back in June, there were reports that HTC representatives had been talking about a licensing issue that would keep any proprietary modifications off of phones with "With Google" branding. Sense is all HTC, and the MyTouch 3G is slapped with a Google logo, so this forthcoming update, which was announced at a press conference in Taiwan and will be available from HTC's website at some point in the near future, sounds like a distinctly foreign interest.

It's worth holding out for possible "clarifications" on this one—please, HTC, Google, or both, say something! Soothe us!—but this hemisphere's outlook isn't so great. Enjoy turning your Magics into Heroes for free, Eurojerks. At least we've got our homebrew.

Update: Another possible issue: The MyTouch 3G and Vodafone-labeled Magics have slightly less RAM than their HTC-branded counterparts, which means even the best hacked Hero ROMs don't run especially well. Yeah, not looking so great for ol' MyTouch here. [ePrice—Thanks, Taknarosh and Nick!]

Rumor: Existing Android Phones Won't Get HTC's "Sense" UI For Lame Licensing Reasons

John Herrman — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:55:34 EDT

That HTC's "Sense" interface would run on older hardware was known for months before its official announcement, so a sanctioned update for existing phones makes sense, right? Turns out, there might be an extremely annoying barrier standing in HTC's way.

Partially contradicting earlier (but no less tenuous) reports that the interface would be ported to other Android phones, MobileBurn is now claiming an HTC representative told them that "licensing restrictions" would prevent the company's customized, proprietary interface from arriving on "with Google" branded phones—which include the T-Mobile G1 (Dream) and MyTouch 3G (Magic).

At first glance this sounds petty and strange, but oh, goddamn it, there's a precedent. From May:

We've just learned that HTC is including a built-in Microsoft Exchange client on the HTC Magic devices that lack the "with Google" branding... According to HTC's Eric Lin, the "with Google" phones will sport the stock Android smartphone operating system, while the non-Google branded phone will include HTC developed "special sauce."

I'm sure there's a sound legal reason for this, but that doesn't stop it from being as annoying as all hell. It looks like this one might be up to you, homebrewers. [MobileBurn--Thanks, Alan!]

Gizmodo: with google

HTC Hero "Sense" UI Officially Coming to the Magic, MyTouch 3G Might Be Left in the Cold

Rumor: Existing Android Phones Won't Get HTC's "Sense" UI For Lame Licensing Reasons