HTC licensing HTC Sense to Motorola

Since the launch of the HTC Hero and HTC Sense, it’s been no secret that HTC is a few steps ahead of the competition when it comes to Android development.  Motorola tried to launch their own custom UI and social media integration with MOTOBLUR, but reaction from the masses has been disappointing.  Motorola hoped to give people the social integration they thought they wanted but forgot that a smartphone’s UI needs to be gorgeous as well as functional.  On the other hand, HTC’s Sense UI has been a phenomenal success.  Developers have been porting Sense to every Android phone they can get their hands on (that includes the Motorola DROID) so it’s no surprise that HTC seems to be willing to share the love.  We have heard from a highly trusted source that HTC and Motorola are entering into a limited licensing agreement which would allow Motorola to port HTC Sense UI to Motorola’s Android phones. 

They (Motorola) realized it would be in their best interest to adopt their (HTC) build rather than compete head to head.  As part of the deal, HTC has agreed to integrate some of the MOTOBLUR widgets into Sense UI with added customization.  Further, the remote wipe and backup features will be included in future builds of Sense.

If you’re a HTC fan and feel a little betrayed by all this, there’s some good news in all this.  HTC loyalists will be happy to hear that Motorola will not be getting the full Sense experience.  Motorola will simply be licensing the Rosie engine which will allow them to create more functional widgets on the home screen and add a lot more UI magic to MOTOBLUR equipped handsets.  We are not sure what the details of the agreement are, but I wouldn’t put it past HTC to eventually put the Rosie home replacement app on the market and make is available to all Android phones sometime in the future.  As much as HTC is about innovation, they are always worried about their bottom line.