You Do Have A Choice: Android UI Flavors
by Jason Norment
Sep 20, 2010 10:00 AM –
Choice. It’s such a strong power to be given when in consideration for mobile technology. Android provides a variety of choices to which you can pick your liking. You may already own an Android device or considering buying one in the near future. With the top three smartphone manufacturers for Android, they customize the UI in a way for them to stand unique against others. Sometimes it may be difficult to choose or understand why there are so many options or why they differ. Your main competitors are: HTC Sense, MOTOBLUR, and Samsung Galaxy S. Here’s a little information about each:
HTC Sense™
When you think about many of today’s hottest devices, quite a few of them are developed by HTC. The company sought out to create an image to set itself apart from the competition. Over 50 models have been introduced since they developed the first touch screen smartphone in 2002. Today, they describe their “Sense UI” as “an intuitive experience that was built with a guiding philosophy to put people at the center and allows the device to be completely customized to the wants and needs of the user” (HTC Hero press release). It’s based on TouchFLO 3D technology with a total of seven screens available for customization. The Sense UI has it’s own set of widgets individual along with custom animations that create a unique experience. One of the least talked about but highly impressive features of Sense is the ability to create “scenes”. Consider a scene to be a profile on your device, almost like a PC would be at home. You change the scene on your Sense-enabled device and the wallpaper, home screen, and other 7 screens will change to a customized format just for that particular “profile”. You can switch back and forth between Scenes as often as you like. Pretty cool, huh?
HTC Sense introduced back in 2009:
A new updated version of HTC Sense debuted earlier this month:
Motorola MOTOBLUR™
While HTC Sense is focused on customization, Motorola took a slightly different approach to Android: Social networking. The MOTOBLUR UI is designed to make keeping your social life at your fingertips easy. Now, let’s clarify this: You can do social networking on any Android device, however, Motorola designed their own intuitive way to provide that choice. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and LastFM are just a few choices that are included in a feature called “Happenings”. MOTOBLUR contains both a native app and widget to view your social life in one place. It does include a few other key features such as Locate Your Phone, Remote Wipe and wireless data backup via the MOTOBLUR site. You can also try out MOTOBLUR before you buy their device via their website.
Samsung Galaxy S
So we’ve covered that Sense focuses on customization and MOTOBLUR focuses on social networking so what exactly is so unique about Galaxy S? Samsung just wants to integrate your life through your device and be really awesome at it. Period. Galaxy S devices offer features such as social networking (via Social Hub), Swype, Allshare, the Daily Briefing widget, ThinkFree and more! If you check out their website you will notice that they really try to give you an idea of exactly what you can do with a Galaxy S device. Most Samsung Galaxy devices also sport AMOLED screens which are amazingly bright. Allshare via DLNA allows you to wireless stream media content such as pictures, movies, and music to other compatible devices such as your laptop, TV, or PC. You can even turn your phone into a remote control when using the Allshare feature. Additionally, the ever-so-popular Layar Reality Browser is preloaded with their devices. You can check out all the features via their website as well.
So now that you’ve seen your choices, which one do you like the most? Tell us what you choose and why in the comments below!