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HTC issues official statement on HTC devices and ATI Imageon video acceleration hardware

There are few things worse from a technophile’s point of view than plunking down your hard earned cash on a new gadget only to find out later that it doesn’t operate as promised or expected. Things get worse when you try and get the issue fixed and the manufacturer doesn’t acknowledge the issue at all.

This is exactly what owners of some HTC smartphones are claiming. A website has been setup called HTCClassAction.org to try and force HTC and the cellular carriers that sell affected HTC devices to remedy alleged problems with certain devices and video acceleration.

The website claims that the HTC TyTn II, HTC Touch Dual, HTC Touch Cruise, HTC Wings, HTC Titan, HTC Vogue, HTC Libra, and HTC Iris as well as all the other names these phones go by are affected with the same problem. All of these phones are based on the MSM7200 and MSM7500 chipsets. These same chipsets are used by other manufactures whose devices don’t experience the same slowdowns with multimedia content according to some HTC owners.

The crux of the issue some owners are having with these devices is that the phone appears to not take advantage of the integrated ATI Imageon hardware. According to HTCClassAction.org, owners of affected HTC devices are getting mixed messages when they call to complain about slowdowns. Some HTC owners claim that tech support for HTC and their service provider deny knowledge of any issues surround drivers for the Imageon hardware. Some owners have been told by the same tech support departments that the problem is a known issue but isn’t wide spread enough to escalate up to the levels where a fix can be made.

A petition with over 4,000 signatures has is available for signing at PetitionOnline with the goal of getting HTC to fix the apparent lack of driver support for the ATI Imageon video acceleration hardware.

ATI spokesperson Jo Albers had this to say about the issue HTC owners are seeing, “AMD has licensed 3D graphics technology to QUALCOMM for use in select QUALCOMM MSM chipsets. It is up to QUALCOMM to choose in which products they will incorporate and enable this technology, and to which handheld manufacturers those products are sold.”

DailyTech contacted Jason Gordon of HTC USA for an official statement from HTC on the issues HTC owners are having with the MSM7xxx chipsets. The official word from HTC on this issue is:

In response to recent customer complaints about poor video performance on HTC devices based on the latest Qualcomm MSM7xxx chipsets, HTC is providing the following statement.

HTC is committed to delivering a portfolio of devices that offer a wide variety of communication, connectivity and entertainment functionality.  HTC does not offer dedicated or optimized multimedia devices and can confirm that its Qualcomm MSM7xxx-based devices do not use ATI’s Imageon video acceleration hardware.

HTC believes the overall value of its devices based on their combination of functionality and connectivity exceeds their ability to play or render high-resolution video. These devices do still provide a rich multimedia experience comparable to that of most smart phones and enable a variety of audio and video file formats.

HTC values its customers and the overall online community of mobile device enthusiasts and fans. HTC plans to include video acceleration hardware in future video-centric devices that will enable high-resolution video support.  

The reason there is no driver for the Imageon video hardware on phones equipped with the MSM7xxx chipsets is that HTC opted to include the chipsets from Qualcomm minus that feature. The confusion for HTC device owners comes from the fact that Qualcomm lists the MSM7500 and MSM7200 chipsets as including the ATI Imageon video acceleration hardware.

However, a quick perusal at HTC of some of the devices listed at HTCClassAction.org reveals that Imageon Video acceleration was never one of the promised features on the devices. HTC simply lists the chipsets that it uses in the phones. However, HTC doesn’t specifically say that it does not include a known feature of the chipsets produced by Qualcomm either.

When DailyTech first received a response from ATI concerning the Qualcomm MSM7xxx chipsets, the quote didn't seem to make sense with regards to the problem since it talked about enabling the Imageon hardware on chipsets that already said the hardware was included. In retrospect ATI apparently knew that not all of the Qualcomm MSM7xxx chipsets enabled the video acceleration hardware, specifically the chipsets in these HTC devices, making the official ATI statement make more sense.

The long and short of the matter for owners of HTC devices using these chipsets is that there will be no fix because HTC chose not to provide Imageon hardware in its devices.

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To me...
By FITCamaro on 1/22/2008 11:01:57 AM , Rating: 2
It sounds like these people just read the specs and made assumptions. It's up to the consumer to make a good choice on what to buy. If you make assumptions about things, you're going to get burned.

To me this is just another frivolous lawsuit. Yes the companies should attempt to make the fix if possible and there is an issue. But there's no basis for a lawsuit. To me if I bought one and there was such an issue, I'd return it if there was no way to fix it.




RE: To me...
By omnicronx on 1/22/08, Rating: -1
RE: To me...
By Digitaltigre on 1/22/2008 11:59:31 AM , Rating: 4
Sounds like somebody has no clue what video acceleration is for and hasn't taken the time to read up on what's actually being complained about. Software rendering is the reason my $700 device takes 1.5 seconds to switch from landscape to portrait and why the battery life suffers so badly. You can't tell me I don't have a reason to be upset. htcclassaction.org

If this is really HTCs stance then I will respond by taking my mighty dollar elsewhere. Too bad because this device (TyTN II) could be so much more than it already is.


RE: To me...
By Screwballl on 1/22/08, Rating: -1
RE: To me...
By Digitaltigre on 1/22/2008 12:52:13 PM , Rating: 4
And that is the reason to be upset with HTC. I DID take note that the processor ran at 400MHz just like the previous device I had. That gave me pause but I also heard that the new chip had more capabilities and features. I figured because of this the new device would perform better at the same clock speed. HTC in no way made it known that the device would not use the processor to it's potential. This is the part that's really intersting because if any computer hardware were in the same situation it would definately be grounds for a refund. This is kind of like getting a new top of the line video card but being stuck with the generic Windows VGA driver.

"It is your fault (the buyer) for buying a device without researching it first."

There was no way to accomplish this. Only now are people being made aware of this situation.


RE: To me...
By Chudilo on 1/22/2008 1:34:21 PM , Rating: 2
Actually Nvidia 8600 Series cards were supposed to have Advanced Video acceleration be made available via a firmware upgrade. And after a while it was determined that only version cards would be upgradeable. There were a lot of upset people. but they did not promise video hardware acceleration on early cards. They only showed off that feature at trade shows.


RE: To me...
By Screwballl on 1/22/08, Rating: -1
RE: To me...
By forcedalias on 1/22/2008 3:41:34 PM , Rating: 2
Well I bought mine early, reviews were very brief and nothing was ever mentioned about a constant stream of lag, whatever you do on it.

All I knew at the time from looking at spec sheets was that its video acceleration was to be handled by the Qualcomm MSM7200 chipset but I weren't expecting it to take full advantage of it, from experiencing something similar with the Trinity.

However, the only expectation I did have and well... let's face it, we all have, when we purchase the successor to another gadget is that it at the VERY FRIGGIN' LEAST matches the performance of its predecessors.

The fact that it's slower than HTC's own older models in itself makes it HTC's fault for charging me, an average Joe, nine FRIGGIN' hundred dollars for a seriously-flawed device.

Over time I noticed serious lag whenever I did anything on it but assumed its just early (release) ROM issues that would probably be ironed out in a month or two with a ROM update/patch, then find out through xda-developer forums what the deal is.

Since I don't have the luxury of just returning my phone, I'm definitely supporting the lawsuit option and quite frankly, if I was a little better off, I'd put a lot more money in towards it.

Only one thing's for certain, I sure as hell won't be buying HTC anymore.


RE: To me...
By Digitaltigre on 1/22/2008 4:46:09 PM , Rating: 3
'research before buying' would not possibly turn up the fact that the drivers aren't included. Neither would a few weeks of use.

This issue wasn't discovered until a few really smart people at XDA-Developers dug deep into the phone.

Stop trying to denounce my claim.

I am not at fault for this.


RE: To me...
By heero884 on 1/22/2008 12:56:48 PM , Rating: 2
If only it was that easy. Unfortunately HTC is not so clear as to what is and what isn't enabled. The users had to find out for themselves that the driver was missing. I guess this makes a bit of sense for HTC.. it would have cannibalized sales of their next $700+ phone ;)


RE: To me...
By heero884 on 1/22/2008 12:36:10 PM , Rating: 2
Ironically your "crappy" HTC 6700 probably outperforms the new TYTN II. Don't even think of "upgrading" ;)


RE: To me...
By therealnickdanger on 1/22/2008 11:20:15 AM , Rating: 2
I'm buying a Touch today, actually. I read up on this lawsuit earlier... it will disappear faster than a fart in a hurricane.


RE: To me...
By porkpie on 1/22/2008 11:43:28 AM , Rating: 4
It won't disappear. HTC will settle to avoid the risk of an idiot jury, the users will get a 50 cent discount on their next HTC purchase, and the attorney who setup the suit will receive $9M in fees.


RE: To me...
By therealnickdanger on 1/22/2008 12:08:55 PM , Rating: 2
AKA, disappear. No one will ever get anything out of it except the attorneys. If we all got free phones, that's something.


RE: To me...
By aGreenAgent on 1/22/2008 11:37:59 AM , Rating: 3
The guy who wrote the article misunderstood the issue.

This isn't about multimedia, this is about there not being directdraw drivers.

These HTC phones do not even use their Qualcomm chip. All video rendering is done in software on the CPU.


RE: To me...
By forcedalias on 1/22/2008 3:46:15 PM , Rating: 2
Exactly, but the majority of the douche bags out there still think we're upset because our phones can't play 1080p video and so all they do is blame the consumer.

Even if the lawsuit doesn't go ahead, I'm still spamming the crap out of HTC. Maybe get hold of some of their e-mail addresses and setup scripts on a couple of servers to supply them endlessly. ;)


RE: To me...
By tspinning on 1/22/2008 12:17:12 PM , Rating: 3
This issue (Sprint HTC Touch user here) is that Sprint has taken over all support for the US Sprint HTC "Touch" or HTC Vogue as the rest of the world knows it. Note there are differences between the CDMA and GSM phones (wi-fi, a-gps) and basically if you speak with HTC they say, we know there are issues, but Sprint chose to not use us for support (not that they want to write the drivers for their version either)

The main bitch here is that these phones could out perform a Nintendo DS, or be almost on par with a PSP... yet they are held back because once phone company's (err.. major providers) here give America us the taste of a good phone, all their shitty phones will no longer look good at the $100-$500 range and they will have to actually innovate, not slowly release designs that are all handicapped or proprietary every few months. Look at how advanced Japan's cell industry is (due to not having phones tied to carriers)... WAKE UP AMERICA WE'RE GETTING SCREWED

Info on the chip specs-

http://brew.qualcomm.com/bnry_brew/pdf/brew_2007/T...

Info on the bitching we are starting to do!

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=16320


RE: To me...
By SkyOwner on 1/23/2008 7:06:19 AM , Rating: 2
OK... this is definitely not true... The carrier-phone link is not the reason for phones to be bad. In belgium (very small country in europe) there is a law that prohibits this link, and the only effect is that phones are ridiculously expensive over there.

And one of the major phone manufacturers in Japan is NTT DoCoMo which happens to be the biggest carrier over there.


RE: To me...
By tspinning on 1/23/2008 10:04:40 AM , Rating: 2
If phones are crazy expensive, why can't you get them from another source or country, or do you have the GSM-CDMA issue we have here as well, where phones bought in another local are unable to work on your networks?

Either way, I think you misunderstood my issue, if ANY company could make phones that worked on ANY network, we would have much better innovation as opposed to carriers releasing handicapped models because it better fits their squeeze the customer for years and bleed them business plan.

Still think I’m off the mark? Check MSNBC, a slightly more “credible” source then yours truly.

Most Americans are in cell phone jail
Wireless providers have worked hard to lock you up into losing situations, constructing walls with cancellation fees, service-specific phones, and the loss of your phone number.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22342054/from/ET/


RE: To me...
By RogueLegend on 1/22/2008 1:29:28 PM , Rating: 2
This is a problem for a few reasons.

1)Battery life- using the CPU to do video processing kills your battery AND it takes longer to render standard image rather than having a dedicated processor.

2) Just having a more complex processor, no matter how well it conserves power, usually eats up more power in terms of traces and keeping the chip powered. I can't imagine a scenario where this design decision makes sense.

3)They included what is probably a more expensive VPU which drives up the cost of the phone, and not use it?? What kind of sense does that make? That's like a car dealership selling a trailer with a vehicle that doesn't have a tow hitch (I'm sure there's a better analogy).

What's unfortunate is that ATi doesn't have the grounds to handle this itself- their support is great. I'm actually experiencing a similar problem w/ ATi and a driver issue with a peice their hardware, and they're taking great care of me. Unfortunately, I can't reveal the details due to an NDA.


RE: To me...
By FITCamaro on 1/22/2008 1:36:08 PM , Rating: 2
I realize what the problem is.

What I'm saying is that unless they explicitly stated for the phones in question that "This phone features hardware accelerated video playback", there is no case.

If they simply stated, "This phone features the ATI xx chip", that in no way promises said feature. Merely that it uses the chip. I would be pissed too. But I would have found it out within the first few days of using the device, and returned it upon discovering the problem and learning there was no fix.


RE: To me...
By RogueLegend on 1/22/2008 1:40:54 PM , Rating: 2
I understand the "explicit statement of features" idea.

What I'm saying is, why make consumers pay the extra hard cost for a specialized processor and not give them the benefits?

My best guess is marketing- ATi is a well known brand, has a solid end user base, and most people who would be purchasing this phone would be more technical and recognize the ATi name in the specs. This is decietful at best.


RE: To me...
By leexgx on 1/23/2008 12:00:08 AM , Rating: 2
still the Point is thay stated it had hardware but basicly None of them do so infact it was misleading mm or should i say an complete lie

why State that it has it when it does Not, thats what tthe lawsute is about i guess


RE: To me...
By osalcido on 1/23/2008 8:30:43 PM , Rating: 2
so it would be perfectly ok to you if dell sold Core 2 Duos with only one core enabled?


RE: To me...
By p3ngwin on 1/22/2008 3:56:45 PM , Rating: 3
HTC state in their OFFICIAL specifications that these devices use the MSM7200/MSM7500 chipset.

the chipset is a multi core part that has CPU, graphics acceleration, etc on a single die.

if you bought a car advertised as having a V8 engine, would you be surprised to learn that it didn't included /use all it's pistons and chambers?

HTC claim in this article that they don't USE the graphics hardware in the MSM7200 chip.

that is clever wording for them as it does NOT make explicit that the hardware is present or not, simply that they DO NOT USE IT.

now the interesting thing is that HTC are already confirming that they are officially making a patch that will be out in a matter of weeks.

HTC claim that they do not use the hardware, and some people say the legal suit is over nothing because HTC never claimed the hardware was there or even used.....

if the hardware is not there, why did they deceitfully advertise the MSM7200 chip without making clear the difference between Qualcomm's version, and HTC's version?

also, if the hardware is not there, how is HTC going to fix the visual acceleration with a patch eh?

if the video acceleration IS there, then again HTC have deceived people. by claiming that it is in the hardware and that the device has multimedia capability, yet doesn't use the hardware stated in it's specs.


RE: To me...
By forcedalias on 1/22/2008 4:02:47 PM , Rating: 2
Nicely put.

We still need to get straight answer from Qualcomm as to whether they have multiple versions of the MSM7200 chipset (with/without video acceleration).


RE: To me...
By rADo2 on 1/23/2008 4:32:16 PM , Rating: 2
Most HTC devices are aimed at professional users, managers, etc., and they could not care less about video acceleration. I do not care, and am 101% happy w/ HTC Kaiser aka TyTN II. I can understand 1% of buyers might be upset, but this is a definitive minority of HTC buyers. If you want a multimedia "teen" device, get an iPhone, if you want to work on your device, get HTC.


RE: To me...
By forcedalias on 1/23/2008 7:12:18 PM , Rating: 2
You seem to be completely in the dark as you've made a very uninformed comment.

Professional users may not need/want to watch high resolution video or play games on their Kaiser but I'm sure general lag on almost every app that draws things to the screen would be a bit of a problem.

The TyTN (TyTN II's predecessor) was also a professional device but you could use TomTom (a perfectly professional app) smoothly without the re-drawing of the map being laggy as hell so that's why there's no excuse for this being an issue with the latest models.

You need to read up a little more on HTCClassAction.org if you wish to make a comment!

I understand there's a new 'Misunderstanding' section added to the site for people like you.


RE: To me...
By rADo2 on 1/24/2008 3:17:44 PM , Rating: 2
I use TomTom 6 almost daily on TyTN II, have used it on TyTN (I), Artemis and other devices. It works well on Kaiser. I think this "issue" is mostly academic one, than affecting real-life experience with the device.


RE: To me...
By forcedalias on 1/23/2008 7:15:01 PM , Rating: 2
I also forgot to add that polls indicate that YOU are the minority:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/23/poll-how-did-ht...


RE: To me...
By p3ngwin on 1/24/2008 1:02:37 AM , Rating: 2
using the dedicated hardware for ANYTHING drawn on screen saves a LOT of battery power.otherwise the CPU has to draw it and that means it's NOT processing the data of the application, taking longer and therefore taking battery life.

just because most people don't understand dwoesn't mean people don't want better battery life.

if they knew, they would want it.

that's why it's better to be informed and not be an ignorant consumer.

just because you believe you are happy doesn't mean you can't be happier. you may be unaware that you full happiness potential is being thwarted and purposely suppressed by other people...like these HTC customers are finding out.


RE: To me...
By rADo2 on 1/24/2008 3:29:02 PM , Rating: 2
Well, ATI device is supposed to help apps "with Direct Draw, Direct X". Are you saying all apps use these API? Does OS itself use Direct Draw for *all* screen output? It might, I do not know (reference to Microsoft website would clear this, not a personal guess).

Anyway, I did use plenty of WM5/6 devices for work (email, messenger, internet browsing w/ Opera, TomTom and iGo navigation), and Kaiser is one of the fastest devices I had.

Nobody would mind getting even more speed, but on the other hand -- I do not care is screen redraw takes 0.1 or 0.2 miliseconds. Nobody can see that.


RE: To me...
By donatom3 on 1/22/2008 4:25:59 PM , Rating: 2
Actually we didn't make assumptions. Look at this press release by HTC back in September of 2007

http://www.htc.com/press_room/03-press-070905.htm

"The MSM7xxx-series chipsets from Qualcomm are the industry's first to integrate two distinct processors – each dedicated to modem and multimedia functions – to provide support for third-party operating systems, including Windows Mobile. The MSM7500 for CDMA2000® 1xEV-DO Rev. A and MSM7200 for HSPA also feature rich multimedia capabilities – such as VGA video encode/decode, 8 megapixel camera, and 3D graphics – as well as advanced data functionality with unsurpassed levels of integration. The MSM7xxx-series of Qualcomm chipsets are designed to expand the reach of compelling, connected Smartphone devices into mainstream consumer markets."

"HTC will have launched more than 10 devices based on these two dual-core solutions from the Company’s MSM7xxx-series platform. Some of the devices already available include the Mogul by HTC, HTC 6800, HTC 5800 and HTC TyTN II."

So does it look like an assumption anymore?


RE: To me...
By HammerZ on 1/22/2008 7:00:35 PM , Rating: 2
While I really sympathize w/ the owners of these devices, I am still confused why you did not return the product w/in the 30 days period if they are not working as expected.

As for the press release, I doubt that you bought the device based on the press release. If you did, I am sure that the 8MP camera feature is missing. :) Likewise, the QCOM MSM7xxx processor is not the first to integrate two dedicated cores, as TI did it already w/ the OMAP processors (one for number crunching, another for multimedia functions) used on various earlier devices dating back to 2-3 years ago.


RE: To me...
By forcedalias on 1/22/2008 8:13:15 PM , Rating: 2
Because, the majority of people only started noticing the problem gradually. I, for one, started noticing more and more lag but thought maybe its a ROM issue which manufacturers fix all the time with patches and ROM updates.

Regarding the press release -- I don't read the press release, the press do and report a summary (that's what press releases are for)...

First time I read the press release myself but the chipset doesn't provide the camera, they're just announcing that it can handle an 8MP camera. However the chipset DOES control the video, so it should do all these neat tricks it says. :)


RE: To me...
By winterspan on 1/22/2008 9:00:12 PM , Rating: 2
Seems to me that the assumptions made were quite reasonable. When I go to buy a computer, phone, etc, I DEFINITELY read the specs before I make a decision. It's analogous to purchasing a Dell computer that lists a certain model XXXXXX Intel Core 2 Duo processor. You go to Intel's website and see that includes all desired specifications.
Yet, you receive the machine and it turns out the processor inside is a special customized-for-Dell version that is missing 64-bit and hardware virtualization support, even though it has the SAME model number.
I would be pissed off too!

Does HTC deserve the blame, or Qualcomm? Not necessarily, but it sure seems irresponsible given the fact that other devices in the marketplace that use the SAME chip SKU have the feature included.

It's stupid... It all could have been avoided had Qualcomm and HTC made it clear what the capabilities of the non-standard-yet-same-SKU chip was.


This happens elsewhere
By SandmanWN on 1/22/2008 11:29:54 AM , Rating: 3
This happens in motherboards as well.

You buy a SB600 chipset for example. The motherboard manufacturer decides to disable the ethernet on the southbridge in favor of a marvel chip. They may also disable sata support for a promise controller. Yet they still list the SB600 because they use some of its other features.

Just because the chip is their does not mean they have to use all its features. It is also difficult to explain to the end user what they used and did not use as the technical jargon is often over their heads.

What to do? What to do?
This will be an interesting lawsuit for other areas that do the same sort of things.




RE: This happens elsewhere
By heero884 on 1/22/2008 12:25:31 PM , Rating: 2
That analogy isn't quite the same but I know what you mean. If HTC didn't tout the chipsets features as much as they did then there wouldn't be a problem. It's just they failed to let anyone know that "Oh yeah, the chipset drivers on the phones are non existent."


RE: This happens elsewhere
By bldckstark on 1/22/2008 12:59:19 PM , Rating: 2
I am signature number 6224.


RE: This happens elsewhere
By Christopher1 on 1/22/2008 2:18:19 PM , Rating: 1
They are supposed to have a warning on it that they are not using the SB600 for ethernet and say which chip they are using for ethernet in specifications as well.

The company selling this product didn't do that, and that is what people are upset about. It's called 'Knowingly false advertising' when you do not tell people all of the limitations of your product compared to an older product.


RE: This happens elsewhere
By Iketh on 1/22/2008 4:25:04 PM , Rating: 2
not only that, but the mobo makers put REPLACEMENTS for the disabled SB600 features, which perform BETTER...

the right analogy: mobo maker says it uses SB600 southbridge, but does NOT say the ethernet portion doesn't exsist and there is no replacement


RE: This happens elsewhere
By SandmanWN on 1/24/2008 9:25:41 AM , Rating: 2
No, they did not always perform better. Most of the time the alternative chips are their for the additional features that the integrated solutions could not provide. They often performed worse because in the past they were tied to PCI buses. The additional features made them worth the sacrifice for some. Now with PCIe buses it doesn't matter much any more not to mention all the features on the southbridge now.


RE: This happens elsewhere
By SandmanWN on 1/24/2008 9:14:40 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah ok buddy. I think I've bought enough motherboards, retail or otherwise, to know that they never give you a break down of the chips on the board. You always have to go to a more reputable site like the motherboard manufacturers home page or a hardware review site..

What the are supposed to do, which I havent seen any rules saying they have to, and what happens in reality is often different.

The answer has been written in stone since the first time someone sold or traded an item thousands of years ago... " LET THE BUYER BEWARE "


Video acceleration
By robinthakur on 1/22/2008 11:55:04 AM , Rating: 2
I think the confusion, if you can call it that, is that earlier versions of the HTC phones played back video fine, and then starting (i think) with the TYTN there started being problems with the tmp player because the direct Draw driver doesn't work with the TYTN or its 'improved' chipset.

If this is actually a cost saving measure and the chip was purposefully left out then I'm surprised nobody noticed until now frankly, and it shows how incorrect guesses and rumours can inform people en masse that a product is defective when in fact they are just assuming features which don't exist.

I finally got fed up with the crap build quality, fiddly interface, creeping calibration on the screen and rubbish multimedia support on the TYTN and sprung for an iPhone. Much happier now. I found HTC were far more concerned with getting the next product out of the door than providing customer services. It was strongly implied when I called on 2 occasions by 2 seperate members of staff that to get my phone fixed (and sold officially in the UK) I would have to call their Taiwan office!




RE: Video acceleration
By heero884 on 1/22/2008 12:14:19 PM , Rating: 2
Actually it started with the introduction of the TYTN II. The TYTN has no issues with DirectDraw acceleration. HTC is at fault here because they advertised the video acceleration hardware when they introduced the phone but failed to let anyone know that drivers are non existent. This is akin to buying a computer advertised with the 8800GTX only to find out the hardware acceleration drivers are unavailable for your computer. Hopefully someone will find a way to make hacked drivers work..


RE: Video acceleration
By robinthakur on 1/23/2008 5:29:04 AM , Rating: 2
No, the problem might be worse or more obvious on the TyTn2 but it most definitely did exist on the original TYTN which did not play back video at the same quality as its predesessor. This is documented on TCMP's site as well as Coreplayer's and it wasn't fixed during the time I owned the TYTN.

R
T


RE: Video acceleration
By heero884 on 1/24/2008 2:51:58 PM , Rating: 2
If you do a bit of digging you'll find out the issue you were referring to with the original TYTN (Hermes) was actually a issue with TCMP/Coreplayer. Someone tried playing the same file using WMP and was able to get video acceleration.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=101...
http://www.modaco.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=24763...


RE: Video acceleration
By pugster on 1/22/2008 1:06:09 PM , Rating: 2
The problems with the phones is that they have such a short lifespan. By the time the handset manufacturers brought the phone to market, they see little reason to try to update the software of the existing phones because the engineers are working on the software on the next great phone. Hopefully the google Android OS will address those issues.


I think dailytech got it twisted
By UndaC on 1/22/2008 6:55:39 PM , Rating: 2
First of all, it's a rather rash assumption to think that the reply from HTC means that the hardware isn't there. They simply say that they don't use it (duh, that's what we're complaining about).

It makes no sense to make a Imageon-less MSM7200 for a number of reasons. Besides there is good proof that there is Imageon tech inside. (Registry entries refer to both ATi and GPU-acceleration, and what, if not the imageon, do people think is outputting the image to the LCD. Did HTC go out and tack on yet another display adaptor, I think not. More importantly the developers at www.coreplayer.com have already showed demos of them tapping in to the hardware acceleration of the TyTN II by means of reverse engeneering. They showed this at CES.)

Regarding implied specifications HTCs press release regarding the use of MSM 7200 in the TyTN II CLEARLY states that the chipset allow them to use 3D graphics, accelerated decode/encode of video amongst other things.
3D grahics, encode and decode are all accelerated by the Imageon in these products. Or rather it should be, as of now everything runs in software.

HTCs response was simply their way of shutting people up. "If they start to think the hardware is not there they'll think it's a lost cause."

Sorry if this sounds like a bit of a tinfoil hat wearing persons reply but if you actually read up on the issue (and preferebly have a HTC device to examine for yourselves) then it would be obvious that HTC just tried to pull a fast one.

Fortunately they failed and the community was able to debunk their nonsense in no-time.




By p3ngwin on 1/24/2008 1:13:50 AM , Rating: 2
i believe the fact you pointed out, about coreplayer using some of the graphics hardware, PROVES that the graphics chip is there better than anything.

so if the hardware is there then that argument is now moot.

that just leaves, who is going to take responsibility and provide a solution?


Trendsetter?
By TimberJon on 1/22/2008 2:45:34 PM , Rating: 2
Such legal cases in the past have resulted in the company in question providing the full features of the 3rd party product advertised I belive.

Hopefully this lawsuit will be a positive and force manufacturers to downgrade their internals if they want to keep costs down or only use certain features of components like chipsets. It would be a much easier and stable market for technophiles and consumers if a product that lists a component actually HAS all the features of said component active, period.




Just my .02
By bearxor on 1/22/2008 2:46:16 PM , Rating: 2
Having used a 6600 on a regular basis and then having tried a 6700, 6800 and Tilt, I'm very happy to have switched to a Treo 700wx. HTC makes decent hardware devices but their software support has ALWAYS been lackluster. I don't see how any long-time WM phone user could not realize this.




Response by HTCClassAction
By HTCClassAction on 1/22/2008 2:59:42 PM , Rating: 2
A response to this article has been posted on the HTCClassAction.org site:

http://www.htcclassaction.org/responses.php#offici...




RICH multimedia?!?!?
By Shaftypants on 1/22/2008 3:26:26 PM , Rating: 2
To all those harping on about "explicit statement of features". I was promised a RICH mulitimedia experience. I welcome anyone to watch a video on my TYTN II and describe it as rich. Had I been promised the poor multimedia experience that I am currently getting then I would not be complaining!!!




Consumer fightback
By andrinoaa on 1/23/2008 2:06:58 AM , Rating: 2
I think its good that us consumers get to fightback occasionally. Personally , we should all band together and sue anybody that claims their software is vista compatible if it only supports vista32. Banish these pricks who just play us for suckers. We might then get some 21st century drivers.




Sue HTC & Microsoft as well
By ezboy on 1/23/2008 11:45:42 AM , Rating: 2
HTC did another "shipped before it was ready".
I learned my lesson with HTC Tytn with daily screw ups of screen alignment.
And they'd better sue Microsoft as well for making a totally inadequate cell phone operating system.
Windows Mobile is full of shortcomings, inconsistencies, instabilities for just basic operation as cell phone. I'm seriously wondering what all these so called luminaries at Microsoft do day in day out except counting their money.




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