HTC builds a custom user interface that runs on top of Android phones and tablets. It’s called Sense and it features a custom lock screen, custom widgets, settings menus, and other features. In the early days of Android, HTC Sense provided a little extra polish to an operating system that was rough around the edges.

Now HTC is preparing to launch a new version of Sense that’s designed to run on top of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. If you’re a fan of Sense, you’ll be happy to know that the new software looks an awful lot like HTC Sense for Android 3.2 and earlier… but that means the user interface also hides a lot of what makes Android 4.0 special.

Google designed Android 4.0 to run on both phones and tablets. The company has also managed to provided a consistent look and feel throughoutthe operating system so that you don’t necessarily feel like you’re running a third party app when you fire up the settings menu or built-in chat or email apps.

But custom skins are probably here to stay. HTC isn’t the only company working on a skin for Android 4.0. An early version of Samsung’s new TouchWiz interface for Ice Cream Sandwich was also leaked recently.

If you want to try out the new HTC Sense software you can download a custom ROM from the xda-developers forum. It’s designed to run on the HTC Sensation XE smartphone and it’s based on the leaked software. This is an early build though and the final version of HTC Sense for Android 4.0 may look different.

via Android Central

Research in Motion hasn’t officially unleashed BlackBerry Messenger 6.0 on the public yet, but we know it’s coming. Now the folks at CrackBerry have snagged some screenshots of the new messenger app.

BlackBerry Messenger 6.0 will likely be released when BlackBerry OS 6.1 comes out. It will have new icons, and color options, allowing you to change colors for contacts and individual chats.

Word on the street is that the app also features tighter integration with Twitter, better file sharing, and other new features.

BlackBerry Messenger is one of the killer features that have kept many people coming back to BlackBerry, allowing users to send instant messages, text, and other data to other users without accruing SMS fees.

There’s a rumor going around that Research in Motion is working on the next-generation of its BlackBerry Messenger service. According to a rumor posted in the BBBlueZone forum,  BlackBerry Messenger 6 will include social gaming over the BBM network.

The game platform sounds a lot like the Xbox Live integration in Windows Phone 7 or the Game Center feature in iOS. Users will be able to use their BBM user names as a gamer tag, track achievements, and possibly share your information with your BBM contacts.

This is all in keeping with RIM’s announcement last year that it was opening up the BBM social platform to third party developers.

The new messenger service may also support larger groups, cross chat, and more. BBM 6 will reportedly support devices running BlackBerry Messenger 5 and up.

via PocketBerry

Google is expected to launch a major (and long overdue) update to the music player bundled with Google Android. Eventually the app will allow users to browse for music stored on a PC using their device, and transfer music purchases made on the web to their mobile device seamlessly. Those features aren’t available yet, but a member of the xda-developers forum managed to track down the installer file for a pre-release build of the new music player which does have a new user interface.

The app is currently a bit buggy, might cause extra battery drain, and reportedly has problems with playlists. It’s also reportedly a serious memory hog. But there’s a shiny new menu button in the top right corner, which seems to indicate that this could be the music app that will be bundled with Honeycomb — the first version of Android designed for tablets which may not have physical home, menu, back, and search buttons.

You can check out a video of the music app in action after the break, and you can download it yourself from the xda-developers forum if you’re cool with testing buggy software.

via Engadget

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Apple is set to launch iOS 4.1 for iPhone and iPod touch users this week. But a developer preview has been available for a little while already, and it turns out the latest build installs just fine on pretty much any supported Apple mobile device — even if you haven’t ponied up the $99 for a developer license.

The folks at Uneasy Silence tracked down the files you need to install the update on the iPod touch 2G or 3G or an iPhone 3G, 3GS, or iPhone 4.

Bear in mind, Apple will be pushing out the official update in a few days, so if you want to stay on the up and up you might want to wait just a little longer. On the other hand, if you simply can’t wait another day to find out if iOS 4.1 really will improve performance on your old iPhone 3G, now there’s an option for the impatient.

via MobileCrunch

Update: The official beta is now available for download.

Yesterday we reported that TweetDeck for Google Android would be available this week. Today it is… kind of. A pre-release build leaked out, and a number of folks have grabbed the installer file and taken it for a test drive. It actually works pretty well, but TweetDeck CEO Iain Dodsworth says the build floating around right now is actually an older version — and that the real beta will be available tomorrow.

He recommends avoiding the old build that’s making the rounds today. But I decided to ignore his advice and take a quick look. The app seems to work pretty well, and has one of TweetDeck’s signature features: The ability to create custom columns. Say you want to keep track on the latest tweets from the public timeline about Google Android. Just hit the search button, enter “Android,” and click the “Add column” button at the bottom of the screen.

While you can display multiple columns side-by-side on the desktop software though, the mobile version of TweetDeck lets you switch between columns by swiping left or right. Only one column shows up at a time.

The default columns show your personal timeline, @replies, and direct messages. You can use TweetDeck for Android to keep up with your Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz, and Foursquare contacts. Each service is color-coded, so that, for instance, Twitter updates have a gray background while Facebook updates show up on a blue background.

Another killer feature? The ability to manage multiple Twitter accounts.

You can click on any message for more information, allowing you to favorite a message, retweet, reply, comment, or like — depending on the social networking service. You can also click on a contact’s picture to bring up their profile. You can open links shared by your contacts in a web browser by clicking on them.

The current build is still a little buggy. For instance, there’s no obvious way to return to the account screen after you login for the first time — meaning that if you want to add a new Facebook, Twitter, or other account after your initial login, you may be out of luck. But I suspect the official beta due out tomorrow will address that issue.

via EuroDroid

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Another leaked build of Google Android 2.2 Froyo for the Google Nexus One has been leaked. It’s not entirely clear what if any changes there are between this build and the one leaked a few weeks ago, but it appears likely that this is just a bug fix update, since the update is quite small (under 2MB).

In order to install the update, you’ll want to download the file from Google or a mirror site, rename it to update.zip and copy it to your SD card and then follow the steps below. But bear in mind, this will only work if you have a Google Nexus One that’s running the FRF50 build that was leaked recently and you haven’t rooted your phone.

OK, so here’s how to apply the update:

1. Turn off your phone.
2. Hold down the power button and the trackball at the same time until a white screen with three Androids on skateboards pops up.
3. Use the volume buttons to select “bootloader,” and then press the power button.
4. On the next screen, select “recovery.”
5. The phone will reboot to show you an Android and an exclamation point.
6. Use the trackball to select “apply sdcard:update.zip.”
7. Once the installation is complete, select “reboot system now”

Note that it will probably take longer than usual for your phone to reboot. This is normal.

If you notice anything new in the FRF72 build, let us know in the comments!

via xda-developers

stuff

While Apple still hasn’t announced any plans to bring video calls to the next-generation iPhone, there’s been mounting evidence that the company plans to add that feature. And a tipster sent some screenshots to Boy Genius Report that appear to be a pre-release version of the next generation iPhone software with support for video calls.

Of course, there’s a chance the photos are doctored. But that iPhone prototype Gizmodo reportedly paid $5,000 to review had a front-facing camera on it. And that seems like a rather silly piece of hardware to add if you’re not going to enable video chat.

via Electronista