With the official Android 4.0 “early access preview” for the HTC Sensation expected to drop any day now, we’re sure that many of you are keeping a close eye on your notification bar to see if you’ll be one of the lucky few chosen to test the new update. But if you simply can’t wait to get of taste of HTC’s latest Android 4.0 build with HTC Sense 4.0, we have some great news for you. A leaked ROM based on the HTC Endeavor (now known as the HTC One X ) has been ported over to the HTC Sensation.
ROM ports are not anything new, but this is the first time we’re seeing an HTC ROM build which was created for a Tegra 3 device be ported to a phone running on a Snapdragon S3 chip. As you might expect, there are still quite a few issues with the ROM on the HTC Sensation, but TripNRaVer and other developers on RootzWiki are working around the clock to make the new ROM as functional as possible. For now, the Sense 4.0 launcher, lock screen and HTC’s keyboard have been disabled due to the resolution differences between the HTC Endeavor (720) and Sensation (qHD), but we’re confident that those working on the ROM will be able to get the graphics scaled down to size in no time.
Some of the new features that we’re seeing for the first time in this ROM include a new clock application which looks similar to Google Earth and displays the time and temperature of cities across the globe, a dual-tabbed task manager which switches between running applications and those consuming the most battery, Microsoft’s Skydrive integration, 3D carousel animation when swiping between panes in applications, and improved copy/paste functionality which does not require a long-press when you want to paste test into a field.
As you can see in the video, the HTC Endeavor ROM port to the HTC Sensation is definitely buggy and slow, but we expect things to get a lot better over the next week or two. For a closer look at some of the new UI elements within HTC Sense 4.0, check out the image gallery below. We know there are many of you who despise HTC Sense and most other custom OEM skins, but I’m sure we can all agree that HTC’s latest version is a welcome improvement.
Gallery
What’s working:
- 3G
- WiFi
- GPS
- Calling
- SMS
- sound
- Display
What’s not working:
- MMS
- Bluetooth
- Video playback
- YouTube
- Camera
Elements currently disabled due to 720p resolution:
- Rosie launcher
- Lock screen
- HTC IME keyboard
