Sense "Has Escaped The Phone" HTC Claims: Digital Home Media, 4G Video Calling & More

HTC has been fleshing out some of its ambitions for the HTC Sense system, as the platform continues to develop from a simple smartphone UI to a more comprehensive multimedia system. According to Drew Bamford, HTC's head of User Experience, "Sense has escaped the phone"; he envisages HTC using the platform as a way of "getting cool content onto phones", starting with ebooks as on the European Kobo-powered service, but then potentially extending the company's partnership with Netflix on Windows Phone 7. It's not just on phones, either; HTC is eyeing home electronics too.

We've already been looking at the HTC Media Link this week, the company's wireless DLNA streaming box that bridges digital content devices – such as smartphones or tablets – and an HDTV, but Bamford suggests that rather than simply a compact STB, the Media Link is actually "a phone with no screen." "The living room is definitely a place where you can have a Sense experience" he claims, perhaps hinting that digital content streamed to HTC smartphones might one day also be available to stream to your TV. The company is already looking to delivery out-of-the-box 4G video calling, something currently not available in Android as a core feature.

HTCSense.com already allows users to remotely access their Desire HD and Desire Z smartphones, browsing and replying to text messages, checking the address book, locating the device using GPS and even locking or wiping it should it be lost. In the future, the platform will become even more flexible, Bamford says. "It's about giving a product intelligence to interpret the things you would naturally do with it" he suggests, "anticipating what you want it to do without being explicit."