MobileBurn says that HTC has confirmed news that there could be plans to develop an upgrade package so that they can bring the HTC Sense to earlier Android models. The HTC Sense, for the unaware, is HTC’s latest UI which is utilized on the new Hero smartphone. However, licensing issues have left devices which have the “with Google” brand without the upgrade. This means that models such as the T-Mobile G1 and Vodafone Magic will not receive the upgrade.
The reason for this limitation is due to Google’s three-tiers of Android deployment. Google also affirms that phones bearing their name should give the complete, unmodified Android experience. This has lead to many Android devices officially on sale in the US and Europe to lose out on new HTC developments such as Exchange support on the Magic. The forthcoming T-Mobile myTouch 3G too will not receive the Sense UI as it is a Google-branded phone.
However, it should be noted that this upgrade is not by any means a sure thing. HTC says that there are potential logistical and R&D cost issues that might scupper a more limited Sense roll-out to existing devices that aren’t run by Google.