HTC Kaiser fans cough up over $5,000 for homebrew video drivers

Sure, it seemed like we'd heard the end of the story on HTC phones and the case of the missing drivers, but the cats over at the xda-developers forum have something else in mind. There is currently a $5199.51 bounty on offer from various members of the group for a hacker (or hackers) who can come up with drivers to get their Kaisers' Direct 3D up to par, thus increasing the video capabilities of the phone. If you've followed the case, you'll know that HTC has essentially stonewalled users looking for an upgrade to their poorly performing handsets, and has intimated that if customers want improved video performance, they should look to future hardware as opposed to upgrades on their current models. Clearly owners are looking to take matters into their own hands -- and they're willing to pay for it. We can't wait to see what they come up with, and if anyone out there has the ability and the time, here's a stack of cash that could be yours.

[Thanks, Jaime]

[Jaime Garza @ Jan 28th 2008 12:44AM]

Thank you for picking up the story! We really appreciate it! =)

[E71 @ Jan 28th 2008 9:19AM]

"end of the case"... ?

The class action lawsuit is now being looked into. Lawyers are being contacted and so on.

[Dillon @ Jan 28th 2008 12:45AM]

Finally, it will be able to play doom.

[derX @ Jan 28th 2008 1:00AM]

Hrm, finally an acceptable Doom comment...hadn't realized those existed.

*votes up*

[roflercopterer @ Jan 28th 2008 1:18AM]

PROTIP...it can play doom now:

http://pocketpcfreewares.com/en/index.php?soft=476

I tried it on my mogul for grins...blah.

[heffeque @ Jan 28th 2008 6:01AM]

I prefer the Windows Mobile version of Quake :-P

[misko @ Jan 28th 2008 7:11AM]

try this http://quake.pocketmatrix.com/download.php

[Chebwa @ Jan 28th 2008 12:54AM]

I'm not trying to sound like a prick, I am really wondering...

Why don't these unhappy customers just return their product and buy something else? That would make a bigger impact than just offering up a driver bounty.

[Nathan @ Jan 28th 2008 1:02AM]

Because a lot of these products are beyond a return grace period, so returning them is not an option.

[Surur @ Jan 28th 2008 2:52AM]

Because while they dont want to admit it, the Kaiser is a unique product, with its combination of 128 MB DRAM, touch screen, GPS, WIFI, HSDPA and tilting screen. Its a nice product, but crippled in this one aspect.

The closest competitor would be Eten, and while they use nice VGA screens they still use 64 MB DRAM, which is pretty useless in this day and age. They also have a reputation for pretty buggy products (at least initially)

[E71 @ Jan 28th 2008 9:26AM]

But we do admit it. It is a great phone but HTC decided to skimp on development time that prevented it from being an even better phone. Given many people, especially the early adopters like myself paid around $900 for their TyTN II's, I think it's fair to ask for drivers (which should have been included anyway).

I would have returned it however, during the grace period if I knew the lag was because of missing drivers as oppose to say, a crappy launch ROM (which could easily be updated either by HTC or third parties).

[OneLove @ Jan 28th 2008 12:47PM]

you always sound like a prick (a very small one).

[Chebwa @ Jan 28th 2008 12:49PM]

At least I'm not a big one.

[duke @ Feb 4th 2008 1:59AM]

All this tells me is never buy HTC. nobody wants to throw down cash to realize
the company isn't going to support something to its potential. it seems we for get
the dreamcast to quickly.

[The_Steven @ Jan 28th 2008 1:21AM]

I Told You So!

[mxxcon @ Jan 28th 2008 1:25AM]

this is a perfect example why opensource platforms are superior.
if OEM refuses to support it, community has all the proper resources to support it themselves...instead of trying it hack something that 'kinda works'

[iofthestorm @ Jan 28th 2008 4:15AM]

Or well, moderately open platforms. WM is much better in that regard than the mini OS X on iPhone/Touch.

[Sam Winter @ Jan 28th 2008 7:27AM]

mxxcon
Open source software is one thing, but low-level hardware drivers is another.. especially since these are sitting behind an expensive SDK licensing agreement. I don't think it would ever happen with the business model they pursue with these things, where the chip functionality is there with all the products, but if the integrator/manufacturer wants to use it, they have to pay to get the SDK.

Although, nothing is impossible. We are finally seeing some progress in discrete GPU drivers for linux.

[TJ Johnson @ Jan 28th 2008 11:06AM]

I would be very surprised if someone from XDA didn't get these drivers out and claim the reward. I had a Blackberry 7130e on VZ for the longest time and the biggest problem was the lack of Bluetooth DUN (wireless tethering) and Mac support for USB tethering . We all know it's another case of VZ sticking it to their customers in order to get them to upgrade so there was a $800? bounty if anyone managed to hack the BT stack or USB controller. They managed to crack the 8100 and 8700 series but needless to say, I abandoned ship before anything came to fruition with the 7130 and got myself a SCH-i760. Why I didn't leave VZ completely is anyone's guess.

Long story short, RIM is 10 times more protective with their platform than WinMo , even for device drivers, so it shouldn't be long. Just gotta be patient for now, I suppose...

[boe @ Jan 28th 2008 1:27AM]

I'd be happy to pay $50 bucks towards anyone who can get HTC's crappy BlueTooth drivers to work properly. The ones on the mogul that they "fixed" after 5 months of me e-mailing constantly, posting in every newsgroup, the HTC Wiki, the HTC forums still don't compete with the BT in free phones. Distance, sound quality, static - all better on free phones than any HTC phone.

I spoke with some at HTC recently and they even admitted the BT on their phones suck. I won't say the persons name for the sake of their job but they said they also experienced the crappy BT issues described in many forums on their own HTC phone.

What the hell is wrong with HTC?

While I would certainly appreciate better video drivers, the BT is the most important feature of my phone next to e-mail, and voice command. If I had full exchange integration on another phone with touch screen functionality, a slim form factor and a large screen I'd be happy to jump ship.

I can understand if you have issues with the alarm clock, and other issues that the HTC phones have but I don't understand how bluetooth isn't one of the most well tested feature coming from any phone manufacturer.

[crow610 @ Jan 28th 2008 1:53AM]

Actually, I think the BT issue is not a hardware problem but a software problem. Guess who's to blame now??

[O2 @ Jan 28th 2008 1:32AM]

The only brand I buy is HTC and the only reason is because of xda-developers

[TJ Johnson @ Jan 28th 2008 11:16AM]

Feel free to take this thread with you when you leave work this evening cuz IMO, it's yours. Hopefully that didn't boost your ego too much.

I don't even have an HTC device but I can still count on XDA to make my life 100 times easier. If it weren't for them, I'd probably be using the native WM6 theme (**cringes in fear**) or something close to it. I'm running TouchFLO, or as close to TochFLO is possible, on my Samsung i760 and I can more or less guarantee that at least 20 children have been saved from certain physical trauma and mental anguish.

XDA Forums For Global WinMo Domination!!!

[skulldriveshaft @ Jan 28th 2008 1:42AM]

Sweet - do you have to by-pass anything to get the driver to update manually?

[Jon Chang @ Jan 28th 2008 2:07AM]

Yep, we're all in for this...
Please oh please, let the gods of driver development smile upon us :)
This affects pretty much all of the MSM7xxx based phones, so I hope a fix for the Kaiser would be applicable for the other devices such as the CDMA Vouge/Touch, and the CDMA Titan/Mogul

[J @ Jan 28th 2008 2:14AM]

I'm glad this situation is getting some publicity. As a Tilt owner I can vouch for the fact that the display rendering/graphics are horrible on it. And after browsing through xda-developers it's clear that many others have the same gripe. Since HTC won't do anything about it I certainly hope someone else can come up with a solution. If not then I guess I'll have to look elsewhere (iPhone perhaps?)

[Surur @ Jan 28th 2008 2:54AM]

Not true - video drivers are a problem in the open source community also, often requiring binary blobs from the vendors directly.

WM is as open an environment as Windows desktop - you can write any code you want, and most is well documented.

[ethana2 @ Jan 28th 2008 9:48AM]

ATi and intel have really gotten their act together, and nVidia's feeling the heat. Add to that Ubuntu's restricted driver manager.. I think you have a reason to look again.

[Jon @ Jan 28th 2008 3:37AM]

Doom runs just fine on non-optimized Pocket PC for years. And why is there a picture of a Touch when the news concerns around the Kaiser (Tilt)?

[Darkest Daze @ Jan 28th 2008 3:56AM]

Because this isn't about an Apple product so Engadget can't be bothered with making sure their pictures match the article.

[quiksilv3r @ Jan 28th 2008 12:16PM]

He meant the HTC Touch... I hope you know that there are other things with similar names that AREN'T Apple...

[Sam Zebian @ Jan 28th 2008 4:38AM]

Finally!!! This is exactly what I was waiting for!!! Now, all we need to do is wait until some developers see the $5000 they will be getting for developing a driver, will start doing it and we'll get it in no time. I think I'm going to donate too (probably only $5-15. I'm not cheap, I'm kind of running low on money)

[Chip @ Jan 28th 2008 6:20AM]

I'm in for $75. Heck, if they're good, maybe $100. Have you ever noticed that all smartphones seem so close to the Holy Grail but just miss the mark. There isn't a phone out there that does everything right.

[xxdesmus @ Jan 28th 2008 8:05AM]

Too bad that's not a picture of the HTC Kaiser....

[DJWhiplash2001 @ Jan 28th 2008 10:21AM]

I'd bet the developer who gets the cash will be some low-level code junkie from HTC :)

That'd be the nail in the coffin for a suit, if anything - an HTC developer has the capability to make it, they just chose not to. I'm not sure what legal grounds if any a lawsuit would have, but HTC users can take advantage of the legal system like everyone else. And I hope the users win :).

[wud_e @ Jan 28th 2008 10:42AM]

Does this video driver issue affect the HTC Touch for Sprint?

[TS @ Jan 28th 2008 11:37AM]

Yes, this does apply to the Sprint Vogue/Touch and the Sprint Mogul. Both of these phones also use Qualcomm MS7xxx chipset.

[Derrick @ Jan 28th 2008 9:03PM]

The thread at XDA:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=351986

[storino03 @ Feb 3rd 2008 2:49AM]

I hope this issue gets fixed. I doubt the big companies will offer it now, but perhaps XDA-Developers can get something scrounged up.

--James

[Mohamed Sherif @ Mar 29th 2008 6:28PM]

I can t believe that such a huge professional establishment like HTC would risk its reputation putting sales and business destiny at failure edge , I`ve been using HTC products for some time enough to judge , now isnt it possible that all this claims of pitfalls and disadvantages is only some kind of organized campaign held by competitors to break the power and promotion of this company ???????????