Android 3.0 Gingerbread Not Affecting HTC’s Sense UI Upgrade Plans

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We still have a long way to go until Android 3.0 Gingerbread becomes official, but we have already seen the first rumors regarding future Gingerbread phones. And while it’s still too early to be able to confirm all this things we heard about Android 3.0, today we’re able to talk about Gingerbread support for custom user interfaces like Sense, Motoblur or Timescape.

Until now we’ve heard that the future version Android 3.0 will not come with support for custom interfaces but that might not be really accurate. HTC, which happens to be the world’s first Android phone manufacturer, confirmed for Forbes that it’s working on an upgraded version of HTC Sense.

HTC Sense is, of course, HTC’s own take at custom Android UI, and it can be found on HTC’s current hot smartphones. The feature can be deactivated if users don’t want anything on top of their Android build but HTC will not stop using it on future phones. In fact HTC Sense will be upgraded accordingly in the very near future despite the imminent arrival of Android 3.0 Gingerbread. Here’s Forbes take on the matter:

Google, too, has indicated that it wants to make the next (3.0) version of Android more polished and user friendly. Industry observers have speculated that manufacturers like HTC will make fewer alterations on their Android phones as a result. Bamford, however, says he doesn’t expect Google’s tweaks, which are scheduled to debut before the end of the year, to affect his work. “Google may focus more on improving the user interface on the stock Android [software], but I don’t think they’ll preclude manufacturer customization,” he explains.

In fact, Bamford is full of ideas on how to improve Sense by adding new experiences and evolving others. The current version of the software is people-centric, emphasizing the aggregation of social feeds and photos of people deemed important to users. In the future, Sense will also make discovering and sharing media–music, video, mobile applications and books–easier, says Bamford.

So there you have it, folks, HTC wants to offer us an even better Sense experience, one that will be extended to Windows Phone 7 handsets too, which probably means that Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Samsung are also going to keep their own custom UI interfaces. How do you feel about custom user interfaces for Android phones?