HTC: Sense 3.0 might not come to older phones

Sense 3.0 staying at dual-core level?
Sense 3.0 staying at dual-core level?

The new HTC Sensation debuted yesterday with its new fancy Sense 3.0 overlay, but it seems the UI might not be ported to older phones.

Those that have just forked out for the new HTC Desire S and Incredible S might have thought that they'd be getting the next-gen overlay, but HTC told TechRadar that it is 'assessing' whether it can be ported across.

At a journalist briefing, the Taiwanese brand said that due to the fact the Sense 3.0 overlay, which offers 3D scrolling and launchable applications from the lock screen, makes use of the dual-core innards of the HTC Sensation, it has to decide whether other phones are 'capable' of managing the same feat.

Quality experience

HTC repeatedly pointed out that user experience quality was paramount when designing the UI on its phones, but did admit that 'elements' of Sense 3.0 might make their way to older handsets, although it hadn't decided on which they might be.

HTC said the Sense 3.0 update featured "the most changes we've made to HTC Sense in one go", which means users of the older phones might feel a little aggrieved at not getting the new version.

The brand has precedent here: when the Desire HD was unveiled with a raft of new features, such as downloadable themes and an advanced notifications bar, it was widely expected to filter down to the popular HTC Desire - but that update never appeared.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.