HTC’s Sense 3.5 has barely hit phones and now we are hearing rumors that Sense 4.0 is out there being tested already and being put through it’s paces. The guys over at Pocketnow got to see an early non-final build of the new operating system that is supposedly going to ship on the upcoming HTC Ville. From the sounds of things, HTC is really trying to step up Sense in a world where manufacturer skins are looked down upon. 

First things first, HTC apparently has no plans for on-screen keys that you will find in the Galaxy Nexus. They also said that they plan to shrink the physical keys from 4 down to 3, most likely getting rid of the search key that we have seen many companies do. Landscape mode has been introduced finally as HTC is focusing more and more on design and layout of the Sense interface rather than what it just does.

One interesting note is the addition of a “Guest Mode” that allows whoever the guest is no access to your phone and no access to your data either. The apps that they get to use are also customizable so you can share your phone without having to fear your friends pulling a prank on your mom. Browser and email enhancements focus on the visual styling of the applications, making you want to use it as much as possible.

Most likely the biggest addition into Sense 4.0 is the fact that Beats Audio will be able to be used by all applications on the phone. No longer will it just be sanctioned to the official Music app, the Google Music app and Pandora and Spotify should be able to get in on the fun as well. HTC and Dropbox have coupled and when you sign-in to your phone your Dropbox account will automatically be added and will act as a separate drive to store things on.

Overall, Sense 4.0 seems to be shaping up pretty nicely. Take into account these are all impressions of a non-final build so it may be a while before we see this so do not get your hopes up too high. Good news to any Sense fans out there?

Via: Pocketnow