This is some pretty big news: it appears that HTC is getting in on the e-Book business. Watch out Apple iPad?

The latest version of Manila/Sense 2.5 (2012) features a tab dedicated to reading e-Books that can be purchased by Boarders or, evidently, though Adobe. No word on Amazon.com at this time.

HTC Reader 1.0 is the name of the program that will render the e-Books and overall it looks pretty great. It follows the usual UI/UX that HTC has laid out with their other tabs, which includes a directory for browsing, book art, and of course reading the book. There does seem to be some scrolling action needed, in addition.

The other big news is that this latest ROM comes from a Chinese Rhodium Shipped ROM.  To translate and as we mentioned in the last podcast, this is coming from a Touch Pro 2 ROM that is ready to market. That HTC, they never rest.

Does this mean the reason for the Sprint WM6.5 ROM update is taking so long is so they can get their hands on this version? We have no idea and zero indication that is the case, but that notion has at least entered the realm of plausible. Keep your fingers crossed.

In the mean time, you can expect some custom ROM action to start including this latest build as it spreads through out the community.

[Big thanks to tek818 for the screenshots & info!]

As much as we loved the idea of Manila 2.5, the "no landscape" and slowness of the messaging app has kept us at arms-length from it.

Of course the no-landscape issue was addressed a few weeks ago, but things like Twitter still only took half the screen; clearly it was not finished (and perhaps there were ulterior motives for that leak).

Well, as you can see above, in build 2011 the Twitter in landscape feature is fixed. There are probably some other enhancements, though it remains to be seen what those are specifically. Though at lest according to one who is using it, "It is as fast, if not faster than Sense 2.1!" which jives with the idea that it comes from a "shipped Topaz ROM", meaning this is final baby.

Expect your favorite ROM chefs to start rolling this out soon.

[Thanks, tek818, for the tip & screenshots!]

A big question many of us have been wondering is this: if Windows Mobile 7 is this huge overhaul of the OS (and it is), what will become of HTC's Sense UI?

One the one hand, we have strong reason to believe that WM7's UI will be very compelling--possibly Zune HD like, with a Silverlight base for transparencies and advanced GUI features.

On the other, you have HTC and its now corporate-branded UI: Sense. Sense appears on Windows Mobile and now Android devices and has come to represent their identity in the marketplace.

But how will these two work together in WM7?  Is HTC really going to push forward? Evidently yes.

XDA member CookieMonster found this bit of code in the latest Sense 2.5 (1922):

if HomeMachineStatus.WM7Device.Value then 
  IsWindowsMobile7Device = true 
  PredefineItem = 1 
  HomeItemCollection = HomeManager:GetHomeCollection(1) 
else 
  IsWindowsMobile7Device = false 
  PredefineItem = 0 
  HomeItemCollection = HomeManager:GetHomeCollection() 
end

Considering we have a pretty good idea that the HD2 is getting WM7 and Sense 2.5 (1922) is designed for the T-Mobile HD2, well you can see how HTC is already playing with and planning to cover up WM7.

Of course we know MSFT has no issue with this and in fact encourages such practice, plus it's not like you can't turn off Sense to return to the WM UI.  Still, it's an interesting tidbit for the future.

[MobileTechWorld via WMPoweruser]

Here it is, folks: The HTC HD2 in all of its 4.3-inch, glass capacitive screen glory, running Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional and HTC's custom Sense user interface, which takes the place of the venerable TouchFLO 3D.

After the break: Four and a half minute of the largest Windows phone ever to walk this Earth.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Samsung Omnia II is a more-than solid piece of hardware. It's the UI that drives us batty. But that's no matter to the folks at MoDaCo, who are hard at work loading HTC's Sense UI onto that gorgeous AMOLED screen. It's still a work in progress, but work that we're glad is being done. [MoDaCo via pocketnow]

For those using custom ROMs and who have been flashing with HTC Sense 2.5 (aka Manila 2.5), you will surely have come across one of the major limitations of that version of TouchFLO: it can't do landscape.

The reason for that is that Manila 2.5 was built for the HTC HD2 aka 'Leo' and because that device doesn't have a physical keyboard, HTC never designed it to do landscape.

Of course the fact that Manila 2.5 was built to run on a Snapdragon CPU and the lack of landscape orientation hasn't stopped anyone from using it, namely due to all the cool new features (Footprint, Twitter tab, Shortcuts, etc.).

Luckily, XDA member Rotastrain has stepped in to finish HTC's work by releasing his 'fix', which involves Mortscript and a few other files.  He's even released a Chef package to easily cook into ROMs. (So get on that Chefs!)

While not perfect, this certainly extends and fixes one of the biggest drawbacks of Manila 2.5 for many of us, so kudos to Rotastrain!  Get it here.

On top of building phones that continue to increase in sophistication, HTC also has continued to evolve its custom OS skin. We're all used to TouchFLO and TouchFLO3D on Windows Mobile. Android now has the Sense UI, and it's coming to WinMo on the HTC HD2. Above, a presentation from HTC that shows Sense in great detail, and hopefully what we can expect on more Windows phones in the future. [via Mobile Tech Addicts]

And speaking of Sense, be sure to check out Android Central's review of the HTC Hero and its implementation of Sense.

The HTC HD2, aka the Leo, has been one of the worst-kept secrets out there, and HTC pulled the covers off it this morning. Unfortunately we're not looking at a U.S. release, so we'll have to gaze at the massive 4.3-inch screen, 1GHz Snapdragon processor and honest-to-goodness Sense UI, as first seen on Android, from afar.

The HD2 will be available "later this month across Europe."

Full presser after the break.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here's a video of the Sense UI stripped out of the Android-based HTC Hero and slapped into the HTC Vogue, the stalwart Windows Mobile device.

Yeah, it's running on Android within Linux on top of Windows Mobile, so it's not you're really running Sense on top of Windows Mobile, like TouchFLO 3D does now. But it is pretty darn cool, and it works pretty well. (What you see here, apparently, is an early build, and things have gotten snappier.) It also has the hooks for basic phone devices. And as Rory mentions in the video, it's more proof-of-concept than actually everyday workhorse.

Keep an eye on the project homepage if this is your cup of tea.

This Mobile Life via Pocketnow

And that's the question of the day. HTC has released a slick new phone (pun intended — the darn thing's got a Teflon shell!), with a slick new UI called Sense. So, of course, one of the first questions asked is, "Will Sense come to Windows Mobile?"

HTC, so far, isn't saying, of course. Can't really blame them, seeing as how Sense is all of 6 hours old at this point. But NetworkWorld [via wmpoweruser] is saying otherwise:

The company calls the new software HTC Sense, and it will be introduced in HTC's entire portfolio of mobile phones starting with the HTC Hero. The company is the world's largest maker of Microsoft Windows Mobile smartphones, and handsets running that software will also run HTC Sense in the future.

That's taken from an interview with HTC's chief marketing officer, John Wang, though it's not a direct quote. So we're taking it with a bit of a grain of salt. But we're willing to bet we'll see some Sense knocked into Windows Mobile at some point (sorry, it's just too hard to resist). Whether it replaces TouchFLO remains to be seen.

Update: Oh, yeah. Forgot about this line from the official HTC press release, emphasis ours:

Built on a culture of innovation and a passion to enhance peoples lives, HTC shapes the mobile experience around the individual. Debuting on the HTC Hero and available on all new HTC devices moving forward, Sense delivers on three basic principles: Make it Mine, Stay Close and Discover the Unexpected.

So, there you go.