HTC further responds to video driver issue, will improve future products
By Ryan Block 
posted Jan 25th 2008 6:53PM
posted Jan 25th 2008 6:53PM
It's pretty clear HTC customers and Engadget readers both are none too impressed with the manufacturer's decision to omit the drivers necessary to enable hardware video acceleration on a number of their Qualcomm MSM 7xxx-based devices. We heard a little bit from HTC on the topic earlier this week, but we wanted to know more specifically: do they plan to meet consumers' requests and release drivers for these devices? (And if not, why?) Finally, what's going to be done about this video acceleration driver issue in the future? Here's the response we got to these questions (and the reader poll we posted):"HTC does plan to offer software upgrades that will increase feature functionality, over the air wireless speeds, and other enhancements for some of the phones being criticized, but we do not anticipate including any additional support for the video issues cited in customer complaints. It is important for customers to understand that bringing this functionality to market is not a trivial driver update and requires extensive software development and time.
HTC will utilize hardware video acceleration like the ATI Imageon in many upcoming products. Our users have made it clear that they expect our products to offer an improved visual experience, and we have included this feedback into planning and development of future products."
More after the break.
...continued
"To address lingering questions about HTC's current MSM 7xxx devices, it is important to establish that a chipset like an MSM7xxx is a platform with a vast multitude of features that enable a wide range of devices with varied functionality. It is common that devices built on platforms like Qualcomm's will not enable every feature or function.
In addition to making sure the required hardware is present, unlocking extended capabilities of chipsets like the MSM 7xxx requires in-depth and time consuming software development, complicated licensing negotiations, potential intellectual property negotiations, added licensing fees, and in the case of devices that are sold through operators, the desire of the operator to include the additional functionality. To make an informed decision about which handset suits them best, consumers should look at the product specification itself instead of using the underlying chipset specifications to define what the product could potentially become."
Well, sounds like that's that. Users shouldn't expect drivers for current devices, but HTC apparently intends to beef up hardware video acceleration in some (but not necessarily all) future Qualcomm based devices.
I suppose that I'm missing something.
If HTC never promised this capability, but rather people infered it based on the handset's processor type, how could HTC be liable?
Never ASSUME, it makes an ASS out of U and ME.
So, if I bought a computer from the store, I would assume that it came with graphic card drivers, wouldn't you? And even if it didn't, it would still be better than this because they can be found online, unlike the HTC phones.
If a company leaves things open to interpretation, they will get flak. If you, as a company, advertise a specific chipset that has X capability, then say right up front that you will or will not use X. Be open to the consumer and the consumer will decide if they think your company is moving in the direction they want.
I think if HTC's phones (or any products for that matter) are promoted as having an ATI video chip inside, it's implied that the chip is actually going to work as intended. However, since HTC decided not to provide drivers for its product, it's quite misleading to essentially claim, "these phones have ATI graphics."
Would anyone buy a car that is promoted as having a 4 cylinder engine with a turbo charger, and a few months after purchasing it discovering that although there is a turbo charger under the hood, it is in fact not connected to the engine or enhancing the vehicle's horse power as is intended?
To HTC: I was very excited to buy your phones, one for me and one for my wife. But after the bluetooth debalce with the Mogul and now this, I will just have to look elsewhere unfortunately. I am also the person that recommends tech products to my friends and family, and unfortunately, I can no longer in good conscience recommend your products. It is disappointing because, aside from these issues, your products are actually pretty cool.
Mike G...you sir, are a moron.
I seriously dont get why people like you bring this up. If you knew anything about business law, or anything about advertising, you would know that its a big big big big big big no no to say that your product carries a particular feature, but that feature doesn't work. Even if HTC didn't advertise their peformance (which they did---"More powerful than any mobile communications device you've seen before, the HTC TyTN II takes global connectivity to the next level.") or state that there was a good video experience (which they did---"Rich media experience with AT&T Mobile Music, Video, TV and games") they're going to find themselves in hot legal water for this, and that's all but certain, its really only a matter of time before enough pissed off people get pushed to the edge. As someone said before, you would never never never buy a desktop or laptop computer, advertised w/ a great video card, and find that the video card drivers either dont work properly, or are missing. If that happened, you can be sure there'd be a lot of pissed off customers, whats the difference if its a phone?
And for HTC to say that putting together drivers isn't as easy as it sounds, its something that takes time and money...well no fucking shit. Really...seriously, really? Why do you think companies spend money on R&D and engineering. As if they're not making any money by selling these handsets like gangbusters. Word of advice HTC, you'd probably be better off spending your money getting a fix for these drivers, than fighting the issue in court, then having to do it anyway. Just my .02
I think this is more in line with buying a 300hp BMW 335i, and finding out that it is capped at 150mph though you know from the horsepower, gearing and weight it should go faster. You ask them "wtf did you cap my car's top speed? I want a new ECU flash to unlock its true potential" They tell you "there are lots of costs and expenses required to allow that to happen. Safety concerns, the additional R&D and cost to make sure that the suspension will be reliable, and the tire rating won't take that speed on our stock configurations sold in the US. Just because we advertise it as the Ultimate driving machine, it doesn't mean it will allow you to drive it to its utmost capabilities. We never claimed it will go that speed, but we may release future vehicles that can travel in excess of 150mph safely."
I buy myself a Tivo, based on the specifications and the fact that it's running on Linux, I'm going to make the assumption that I can install Open Office on it because it's running an "open" operating system, it has the disk space and the USB port for a keyboard and mouse in addition to internet connectivity though the ethernet port. I bring it home in anticipation and find out that *gasp* it doesn't do what I thought it would do? "wtf I want my Tivo unlocked so I can run my package installer! give me a patch!" Tivo responds "Sir, we understand your concern. Unfortunately, we do not plan to offer that capability at this time, as the majority of our users are satisfied with the multimedia capabilties of our unit. We understand your interest, but the costs in R&D, support, and associated requirements to add word processing capabilities to our current model line make it highly unlikely. We will take your thoughts into consideration for our next generation DVR".
Get a grip people, just because the hardware came with it doesn't mean they have to use it. This happens all the time, everywhere. Especially with integrated chipsets, and system-on-a-chip products where it's cheaper to buy a product that has more features than you need, than the product that meets your exact specifications. Why? More people bought the one with more features, so eventually it became cheaper to produce in volume.
Let's say you're an HTC engineer, you go to your boss and say "Boss, these phones have 3d acceleration, lets activate it and advertise it!". "You idiot, what are we going to do, enable 3d, advertise it and have no bundled 3d applications to go with it? Or do you want us to write our own? We'd get screamed at. What do we do when Broadcomm's chipset drops in price and we replace the chipset in the product line mid-life? We'd have to repackage, change the model name, issue new manuals, change the advertising, and deal with the hordes of screaming fanboys who are pissed they got the older rev. Stick to your job Nelson!!"
You'd be surprised how many of your other devices around he house have untapped potential. If you want to hack it to give it more capabilities, more power to you. Just don't think that the manufacturers owe you anything other than what's in the manual.
@Mii
as the comic book guy would say, "word analogies EVERRR". seriously, you analogies straight up suck. they're awful, and really bad. Please name one product in the world, anything....where its advertised to have something installed, but doesn't make use of it. Name anything, i challenge you. The BMW example was horrible because you know what, you can still use all that power at any speed blow 150, and on top of that, when is it exactly legal to go 150 except on a track? its done for safety reasons. You'd sound even more intelligent if you said, BMW came out w/ an all new turbo inline 6 that makes over 300 hp...but when the hood is popped, the turbos aren't hooked up to anything...in fact they're actually pictures of turbos where the turbos should be like in the simpsons episode.
Another dumb analogy...your HTC engineer. Really, seriously? You're being serious. Lets put your example this way, it'd be like ATI/Nvidia coming out w/ a kick ass video card, but them manager saying we shouldn't release the proper drives for it...lets turn it down a bit because there aren't any video games out yet that can fully utilize it. Do you understand how stupid that sounds? If you make hardware, make your fucking hardware and make it run properly. let th people that make video games and software worry about utilizing your hardware. jesus w/ some of you people...
Did they specifically state it has that chip in the phone, and that the ATI capabilities were in use?
Claiming that their phones have a rich media experience doesn't infer that they carry an ATI graphic card. As the media experience is considered "rich" when compared to the vast majority of phones on the market.
You would have to prove that you bought the phone thinking that it had the ATI graphic system because it was advertised that way, not because you looked up the unadvertised chipset, and discovered that it was capable of it and therefore it does use it.
I realize this is an emotional issue for the owners of these devices, and I think some of you may be letting your emotions sway your judgment.
Hasn't this same thing been going on for years?
I bought my laptop with a 1.6GHz processor, but it was actually created as a stock 1.8GHz and clocked down to save on production costs. The case with your handset is similar, they make these OEM chipsets with many features, you have to expect not all of them will be used.
If you want to complain, ask your cell providers why many of them disable OBEX over Bluetooth, or disable the GPS in your phones.
I own an unlocked TyTN-II and so this problem never sat well with me. Maybe that's why I moved to the iPhone. Thing is, I still have the TyTN-II around, and I would like to use it more if it had some better multimedia performance. I hope HTC turns around and releases a driver for free or for a small fee. I am not going to buy a new HTC, as the TyTN-II was all I needed regarding the rest of its features.
There should be NO fee if they do it. Does nVidia charge you to download their drivers? ATI? Intel?
CorePlayer is pretty good for movies. 1.2 is being released February 21st, and the newly released 1.1.3 addresses some TyTN II-specific issues with playback.
Well fancy seeing you here!
I'm semicolon on the hv20 forum.
Well HTC did advertise the "multimedia experience" as part of their product's capabilities, and being that is has trouble rendering the GUI effectively, that's probably at least a little bit of false advertising.
Sigh...again...this was supposed to be a reply to Mike G...
*must...kill...comment...system...developer*
It was their vague use of such phrases as, "most powerful," and saying the device could be used for a wide array of features that led users to believe the device was capable of more than what was brought out. And, we read to far into the specs.
Imagine a fish that didn't have omega3 fatty acids but says it's a fish and the best fish to eat. It may be the best, but one of the basic components of all fish is missing. We inferred, didn't assume, that the fish also included what the previous fish we'd eaten did (i.e. in the phone, a decent response, system-wide, of user interactions).
BTW
It's not about the damn video playback. Our Tilts/TyTN II's/Stellars/MDA III's are just plain slow. The painting of different applications (and speed of even the advertised TomTom) is so poor for a device from 2007 that was suppose to be, "more powerful."
Its not just the multimedia performance, it would also improve the speed of the screen being redrawn during simple activities such as going from portrait to landscape mode. Its pitiful how slow it currently is.
Exactly. I understand their point that it would take additional time, but what they seem to be saying is that they were not setting out to create a multimedia-heavy device. OK, fine. But what they've created is a device that sucks ass at drawing the simplest UI elements onscreen in a timely manner. Was that their intention? It sure sounds like it based on that statement. So now I am even less inclined to purchase from them again if this functionality is what they intended the usability of the device to be.
Yeah I call BS, also.
I think this is a classic case of, dare I say it, Apple-itis.
"Look how great and wonderful our phones are. Look how better they are from everything else. But oh yeah, we're still at the will of the providers who decide what bloatware they're gonna install to slow the thing down and what drivers to withhold which would speed it up and make the functionality enjoyable like you were expecting. Oh and one more thing, we're not going to tell you about it until you decide to find out for yourself. Sorry, but I gotta run and get back to work on the new phones that have the features you've already wanted but you're gonna have to pay for a few months down the road. Ta-ta...."
Increase over the air download speeds?
I hope they are referring to the EVDO Rev.A upgrade they promised to release last fall for the Titan (right before they released an upgrade that screwed up your phone).
HTC makes great hardware, but their software and support are downright pathetic. Thank goodness for XDA Developers...
I feel seriously shafted. I'm never buying anything from these assholes again.
This says it all!!!
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/25/htc-further-responds-to-video-driver-issue-will-improve-future/
Sorry, wrong post...
http://www.htc.com/press_room/03-press-070905.htm
ya, I'm sure someone at xda will probably make a fix for this soon enough, just like they did for us touch owners that got one before they came out with the htc album and keyboard.
Not unless they are privvy to ATi documentation that is entirely proprietary, under lock and key, bound by NDAs, if it even exists somewhere accessible to an insider.
HTC needs to do whatever it take to rectify this situation and do right by its customers. And do not charge a fee as the people who bought these phones have already paid for it through being inconvenienced by poor performing products. And that latest reply from you does not give you a get out of jail free card HTC. It gives you an extension on delivering what you should have in the first place. The customers who paid a nice amount of money will hold you accountable. Show and Prove HTC, Show and Prove.
sorry wrong post...
http://www.htc.com/press_room/03-press-070905.htm
I don't think they realize that almost everyone that wants these issues fixed would actually be the customers who are most likely to upgrade when HTC says "Ok we know you loved our last device and it's running great for ya, but here's an even better one". You buy from companies you trust to give you the best value for your dollar and one who doesn't isn't one I buy from again.
Exactly, but this attitude is typical in the PDA/smartphone world. The manufacturers have always treated these devices more as disposable consumer electronics than the computers they are--and they were certainly helped in this attitude by Microsoft themselves, who never treated WinCE as a proper OS that could be improved and updated on legacy devices. Considering how porky WinCE and PPC eventually got, it's amazing that they could never get some proper hardware abstraction and a good driver model going on that platform. It's pathetic that it took a major revision of the OS (was it 2003SE?) to include support for VGA screens, and each new odd-ball screen configuration required a new OS update, instead of a mere driver revision.
@patsy
That's not necessarily true...if you look at M$'s NET CF 3.5 framework update it literally will make your phone 20% faster (if installed correctly). MS isn't (always) as bad as everyone makes them out to be. HTC on the other hand...
Yeah I completely put the blame on HTC here. MS looks like they've been taking their PDA market seriously once phones got involved, and more and more business users use them. Think about all the integrated MS technologies they get to sell to large corporations if Windows Mobile phones are succesfull.
Everyone that bought this product deserves what HTC did to them. If you want a video player get an iphone. Apple is the best company in the world and Microsoft sucks. HDDVD will win, you guys just watch. I wish I could have Steve Job's children, and we can all crowd around our HDDVD copy of Transformers while sitting on a pile of dead Blu-Ray profile 1.0 players.
Uhhh....you DO realize that HD-DVD is a Microsoft backed format right? Apple is supporting Blu-Ray. If you're so anti-MS and pro-Apple, shouldn't you be backing the other side?
Steve Jobs = Pixar = Disney = BluRay.
HD-DVD = Microsoft.
you probably masturbate a lot
lol I just wanted the rise. go blu-ray.
wow these people wouldn't know irony if it gouged their eyes out.
irony (noun)
the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Haha, nice, sad how many people got roped into that blatantly obvious joke.
I hate you Daniel! Why would you say that?
Forget the analogies already! The main problem is this device PERFORMS WORSE THEN ALL PREVIOUS HTC DEVICES!!! COME THE FEKK ON!!!
HTC, what do I care how much time and money it costs you to develope drivers for this device? You already charged me twice the price for a phone that isn't even as good as your own, older phones. You charged me a higher price justified by better hardware but don't supply the drivers to use it?
This is your press release http://www.htc.com/press_room/03-press-070905.htm
Why would I not expect a higher performing device. You say it is but maybe you should compare it to your older devices and see for yourself. I won't assume you already did because if you did, you'd be ashamed. If you have no intention of doing right by your users, don't think for a minute I'd by another product by HTC. What, this time it's the most powerful device on the market?
why HTC wants to lose their most loyal customers is something i will never understand....
"HTC will utilize hardware video acceleration like the ATI Imageon in many upcoming products."
Yea, just without drivers! Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice and shame on me.
That is EXACTLY what the are saying.
As a current ATT Tilt owner, which I waited for and touted as a total iPhone killer...
This information is really disconcerting.
HTC, you've really lost a customer.
This is exactly my sentiment. why do i have to wait 3 seconds after i slide open the keyboard just to have the screen flip to landscape? now i'm stuck with this phone for the length of my 2 year contract, and when that's up i'll get the new "best phone on the market" and again find out right after my 30 day trial is up and the phone is mine for good that something crucial, which should be there and has no good reason for not being there, is not there.
^^
3seconds? What the hell are you doing to that phone? My switches real quick.
I think people are pushing these devices way too much and claiming that they suck. If you push it beyond what it was intended, of course performance will suck.
Mine works fine. Video playback, game playback, and general use is quite fine.
HTC = Hookers to cash
This is bullshit. I should buy an iPhone now.
Ehh...i wouldn't quite resort to that. I mean, shiet...other than the video issues and the slowness/unresponsiveness of the phone its actually a good piece. I mean, i didn't at all use the standard AT&T OS, and upgraded to some stuff from XDA within 20 minute of first turning it on. But after all the cabs and programs on this phone, i really couldn't be happier, except...how am i supposed to watch the daily show on this phone? video acceleration stinks, my 8125 was honestly much better than this, and that is a POS phone (great when it was new)
@ SimbaDogg
"Ehh...i wouldn't quite resort to that."
er... you just made a pretty convincing argument *FOR* "resorting to that". Most normal people aren't interested in having to spend 6 hours tricking their new phone into not sucking.
Nice going, HTC. I guess you don't care that by the time most of us are ready to upgrade our phones in a couple of years, you won't be the only game in town offering this type of device. I personally will never buy another product from you again. And I have already dissuaded a few friends and relatives from considering your devices, and will continue to do so to anybody who will listen to me.
Happy now?
just canceled 200 order from Att for the 8925 aka tilt. Just a start, they want to insult their customers, then we will vote with our money.
Please tell me you let them know exactly why you cancelled that phone order.
This sounds like buying a computer with a dual core CPU and finding out that one of the cores is disabled.
I guess you don't remember the 80486SX / 80486DX....
The SX chip had the mathco disabled, but a simple "pencil hack" restored it, and "turned it into" the DX chip.
I guess you don't remember the 80486SX / 80486DX....
The SX chip had the mathco disabled, but a simple "pencil hack" restored it, and "turned it into" the DX chip.
Seems like the goobers over at HTC are only hearing... "our TYTN IIs are nothing like an iphone", when in actuality all we really want is the damn thing to respond at least a little faster than the previous model, after all thats why you upgrade right?!?!?!
HTC - I dont care about playing 3D games, just make the UI respond a little faster than my granny after a glass of wine!
Just...Incredible...Never thought I'd e reading this words... They would do better if they'd stayed quiet!
"HTC will utilize hardware video acceleration like the ATI Imageon in many upcoming products. Our users have made it clear that they expect our products to offer an improved visual experience, and we have included this feedback into planning and development of future products."
And this part is just... GOLD... I seriously hope that this damage their reputation and soil the company...
Had the Magician 128 and now the Tytan II. If nothing is done, I'll NEVER buy an HTC product. EVER.
I am probably what you would call an HTC fanboy and what Seth Godin would call a "sneezer" (at least 3 people I know have purchased the Touch because of my first impressions of the device). I am now on the third generation of HTC devices myself (HTC Apache, HTC Mogul, HTC Touch) and quite frankly this dissapoints me a lot as a loyal customer. I've been holding my breath for the HTC Omni but now I just don't know anymore...
I just read the Qualcomm/HTC press release, and it moved me from "gee, I see both sides of this debate" to "wow, is that a smoking gun for a class action lawsuit". Everything a semi-decent attorney would need to hang these guys out to dry in court is right there for the world to see.
Time for HTC to quit stalling with words as a response to this matter and step up to fix this issue. Making a phone call itself is a haphazard process based on the slow screen rendering on the Touch.
Thanks for listening. I'm off to eBay to list this dud.
If I bought a computer with a 8800gt, and the computer promised an awesome video experience, I would expect it to perform to the known specification of the hardware.
This isn't illegal, but it sure smells like shit.
wont do me any good, ill never buy HTC again after they took 90 days to replace my motherboard
Ok, fine, in a few months they will release these "future products", someone will buy one and extract the drivers from the ROM. Then they will be posted to one of those developer sites, you know the one I mean. Then we will be able to d/l them and then there you go.
Until then, let's just sit around an be pissed off. Maybe HTC will feel the love and give us the best drivers their products could support.
I wonder if this is another stunt HTC is pulling like with the (forgot which phone) that had a GPS chip but needed software to enable it. HTC decided to keep it a secrete until sometime after the phone was released.
Or maybe HTC will sell a phone say $100 more but has "super fast video bla bla", and it's the very same phone except with the vid driver.
Maybe if I buy a Honda Fit it'll turn into a Civic SI....
It was the HTC P3600, which required the latest firmware to enable GPS.
Ahh...thanks for reminding me.
HTC = Hating the Consumer
Everyone seems to be missing this press release though...
Since they didn't have to spend any time or money developing that expensive driver support, they were able to increase profit by more than 14%. In their own words...
"The revenues of 4th quarter was better than expected due to sales through momentum from new product launch in the 4th quarter."
That's 330 million in Q4 Net profit. How much do those drivers cost anyway?
Thought of upgrading my good old Magician to Cruise for the built-in GPS and 3G, guess it won't happen now as apparently Cruise is slower then 3 yr-old magician in terms of video.
Unfortunately the Magician IS faster than the current models. Just watch this video if you don't believe. Also, if you don't know what the big deal is you should watch this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIJWAu6IRe4
This is B.S. and they know it. Its like you buy a new HUMMER H3 and it says 4 wheel drive. Then you take it home and you realise the 4 wheel drive button does nothing. You go back to the dealer and they say.. "We are sorry but its only 2wheel drive. But next years model will be 4 wheel drive. Why? We cut production cost." Total BS. I am never going to buy HTC. Ebay.. here i come. Hope fully some sucker out ther buys my TilT 2.
B.S. And they know it. They sold us a phone without drivers period. What BS. I will never bu HTC adn will tell EVERYONE this fiasco. Unbelievable.
There is a better solution. DONT BUY HTC!!!!!!!!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!!!!!!!!!
If you play enslave or Podz you can see that its better off in an older model of HTC like O2 mini
and runs (very very)sluggish on the HTC Kaiser at such low framerates I forget Iv a new device
if they promised better multimedia and Gaming experience.Im assuming they mean better gaming experience than their previous phone models
I say my Gaming experience sux.and I think if the drivers were present it could improve it
Way to go HTC. I bought an S730 a couple months ago and if they fail to fix this driver issue, I'll never buy an HTC phone ever again.
Boy do I feel stupid for spending 500 bucks on a broke phone.
Don't worry HTC, it WONT happen again.
Sending EVERY person I see with ANYTHING from HTC to RETURN ALL PRODUCTS FROM HTC.
Emailing everyone I know, with a CC to HTC, telling them to RETURN HTC PRODUCTS, and to tell everyone else they know to RETURN HTC PRODUCTS.
I hate companies that pull this shit - make the driver - or did Microsoft put a gun to your heads?
I was about to purchase an unlocked Tilt so I could use with T-Mobile. After hearing about this issue, for sure I am not going to touch the Tilt and I might not buy anything from HTC in the future. E-ten and i-mate might get my business if I ever decide to switch back to WM from S60.
I honestly think most HTC phones are over-rated in terms of their capabilities.
The Touch, which has the same exact performance as the Dopod 818, but is a hell of a lot more expensive just because it's new. Maybe the casing is nicer but who gives a flying F about Touch-Flo. It's stupid! WM is already bloated with sh*t, now it's got Auntie Flow! Plus, for the amount I paid it should have at least came with something other then the Omap processor and a decent amount of storage. 64x128 just doesn't cut it.
I would not recomend anyone buy a WM phone right now since MS is probably working on somehting to compete with the iPHone and HTC, just like Dell did with the Axim X51V will not offer upgrades to the latest version of WM. Oh wait, Axim was made by HTC with a Dell sticker on it.
go figure.
Very disappointed in HTC. I'm a Sprint Touch customer (previously Sprint Mogul, but that phone had more problems than just drivers.) I'm hoping someone makes this right, it's not cool that hardware drivers weren't provided. I'll be looking at other manufacturers when it's time for me to upgrade again.
Sad, HTC basically just gave all of its existing customers the big F-U! I see they are now trying to destroy their Smartphone devision after they started producing Palm devices again...
Well, I hope HTC Classaction gets on the warpath, Just to spite their arrogant asses...
With the touch like phone launching on verizon shortly, I say we start a campaign to severely cripple the sales of said phone...maybe if verizon feels the pinch we may see the updated drivers.
How do we convince them we expect Bluetooth to work well in their next phone? How do we convice them we don't want AGPS but real GPS e.g. SIRF III gps units in our next phones?
So apparently the Tilt wasn't a good idea for me. I like it, sure, but eventually I wanna run some graphics-intensive stuff on it. Now it seems I can't do that.
Is there not a 3rd party that could develop some drivers? I know it'd take a hell of a long time to do (especially for non-professionals) but at least it'd be SOMETHING.
Until this news, I just figured it was WM6 at fault: jumpy scrolling, slow and unresponsive behavior, terrible screen redraw (not just during video playback, but ALWAYS, in every app.) I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought this. This reflects poorly on Microsoft and Windows Mobile, even though they're not actually at fault. Perhaps MS needs to exert some pressure on HTC, since HTC is the predominant hardware developer of WM devices.
Un-fucking-believable.
I was THIS >---< close to getting a Kaiser in two months' time when my current T-Mobile contract is up. I was going to enjoy consolidating my HTC Alpine's GPS functionality and my HTC Hermes' phone and data functionality into one handset, and the physical design and featureset was just totally uber.
Now I'm not going to buy a Kaiser, and I'll stick with my HTC Hermes until it finally stops working. Good job there HTC, you just lost £500 from someone who was less than 50 days from getting your latest handset. Your marketing team needs a kick up the arse, and you need to stop fitting chipsets which CAN offer the functionality yet, inexplicably, don't.
This is not a new problem, my 17 month old Hermes has the same problem - but yet somehow, when I trialed a box-fresh Kaiser versus my heavily-customised and app-laden Hermes in the T-Mobile shop, even something that should be hardware-accelerated and smooth as silk (streaming News 24 over the 3G connection, in this case) was faster, smoother and quicker to load on my Hermes than on the brand new Kaiser.
Epic fail.
I think I might actually get an older handset, at least I can be sure they'll offer the functionality you expect them to have.
I hope they burn in hell and as soon as possible. We don't need anymore corrupt people breathing in our well deserved oxygen.
HTC are killing themselves with this issue. They better get their arses in gear and sort this problem out quick. No consumer will trust them if they don't, let alone buy their products. When that happens, your finished.
HTC are killing themselves with this issue. They better get their arses in gear and sort this problem out quick. No consumer will trust them if they don't, let alone buy their products. When that happens, your finished.
I find it insulting that they are telling people to not look at the underlying hardware.
I bought this phone so I wouldn't have to buy teh IPhone and I wanted 3G! The extreme lack of graphic acceleration is horrible and forced users to go digging to see how it works! Honestly, I don't want to go do some crazy 3D games, but I'd like to play a movie or scroll without it lagging!
Got an advantage. Last phone i have from HTC - just mailed them to let them know the score - voting with my feet.
Basically HTC is saying that even though they screwed up, they are not willing to pay for it. HTC thinks that whatever losses they will get due to bad publicity will be offset by the people replacing their shitty phones. The only way to pressure HTC into actually fixing this is to make them realize they will lose more money if they don't fix this issue. Here is what I propose:
Everyone who has had a bad experience with one of the affected HTC units should go on Amazon, NewEgg, BestBuy and all the other websites that sell them and provide a rating HTC and their crappy phones deserve. Firstly, it will directly decrease HTC sales. Secondly, it will generate media buzz similar to the one caused by Fox's Mass Effect blunder, thus further decreasing HTC sales.
HTC said that "... unlocking extended capabilities of chipsets like the MSM 7xxx REQUIRES IN-DEPTH AND TIME CONSUMING SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT ..."
That is contrary to Qualcomms MSM7xxx chipset solution presentations, where they offered fully tested Windows Mobile board support packages, tested implementations of the OEM Adaption Layer, boot code and device drivers for all on-chip peripherals, ... [and] HARDWARE ACCELERATED DIRECTDRAW, DIRECT3D and Position Location DRIVERS.
How does HTC respond to this fact?
I can't believe they've got the guts to do something as outrageous as this.
I can't wait for Android now. Seriously. We might actually get stuff that way.
Complex software development, sure. I can buy that. That they're not getting at it immediately is unforgiveable.
HTC can go **** itself from here on.
By the way, is anyone else having trouble with bluetooth on their AT&T Tilt? I have a Motorola headset installed, and it works fine (most of the time) on outgoing calls, but if i'm wearing the headset and get an incoming call i have to turn the headset off and back on for it to work with the call. kind of defeats the purpose of wearing the headset on long car drives when i'm fumbling around with both hands to take the headset off, close the boom mic, reopen the mic, and put it back on my ear.
Whether or not HTC are using specific features of the chipset is not really the issue. The point is that the performance of their new, flagship devices is worse than people have experienced from 3 year old devices from HTC and other manufacturers. This is what I consider to be inexcusable if the hardware is actually capable.
Guys forget HTC. They can shove the video driver issue up their arse. Look at Nuvifone! Just 3 months aways!!!
http://www8.garmin.com/nuvifone/
http://www.kansascity.com/news.../468383.html
http://www.slashgear.com/garmi...s-309996.php
http://www.phonemag.com/garmin...ne-01582.php
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/ar...remiere.html
http://www.engadget.com/2008/0...in-nuvifone/
Andrew says
Hasn't this same thing been going on for years?
I bought my laptop with a 1.6GHz processor, but it was actually created as a stock 1.8GHz and clocked down to save on production costs.
Andrew, of course they do that but they don't sell it like an 1.8 GHz CPU right!!! And you know that you are buyng 1.6 GHz CPU. That makes all differenens.
I know that when i'm buyng my new BMW (yes it says that it can goes only with 250 km/h) but it goes with the tyres that can support that velocity. And that don't have to be mentioned because you know that when your BMW can goes with the 250 it should have tyres tough enough to drive it safely. The HTC situation is that you buy a BMW limited to 250 km/h but the tyres only support 190 km/h Do you realize the difference. And when you ask them why they might told you "Well this is a luxury car it is not a race car. Besides it is not leagal to drive it with more then 190." It might be true but you will be still unhappy because even if you would never drive your BMW with more than 190 you will want it to support the 250 as you assume buying it. And you know why? BECAUSE YOU'VE PAID FOR THE FEATURE!!!