Related
The site is up and running, discussion here!
Frontpage is done, see http://www.htcclassaction.org/. Feel free to comment. None of the other pages on the site are done yet, though.
I understand the point of a petition, but a lawsuit? Why dont you get a Nokia or something,get your mind off things,cool down. I think youre coming across as a disgruntled former employee about to go postal.schitzo...
There isn't really a point to the petition, as companies don't really care. There probably isn't a big point with a class action lawsuit either, as it's entirely possible we won't win. It is something that should be investigated, as ultimately, it's just a way of applying pressure, getting publicity and raising awareness.
And nope, I'm not a former employee, but I am disgruntled by the way HTC is treating us.
Looks very good!
Vukile said:
I understand the point of a petition, but a lawsuit? Why dont you get a Nokia or something,get your mind off things,cool down. I think youre coming across as a disgruntled former employee about to go postal.schitzo...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about people who already use their hard earned money and brought the device already?
jackleung said:
What about people who already use their hard earned money and brought the device already?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The most basic rule when buying a PDA: Only buy what you know youre getting, not what you think youre getting. I learnt that the hard way three years ago,its the same game all over. I think its an annual event.
Vukile said:
I understand the point of a petition, but a lawsuit? Why dont you get a Nokia or something,get your mind off things,cool down. I think youre coming across as a disgruntled former employee about to go postal.schitzo...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you should read the main thread before posting crap like this. There are plenty of people, including myself who think a class action suite would be a good idea. Even if we didn't win or had no real grounds for one, the negative feedback alone could cause HTC to do something about the driver support.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=339745
Vukile said:
I understand the point of a petition, but a lawsuit? Why dont you get a Nokia or something,get your mind off things,cool down. I think youre coming across as a disgruntled former employee about to go postal.schitzo...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As Chainfire mentioned, petitions never work. This is because people eventually "cool off" and stop caring that they've been ripped off.
If I paid a lot less for my Kaiser, I wouldn't care as much that it's being outperformed by the older cheaper HTC models. We paid an arm and leg for these costly phones, we'd expect them to at least give us the basics (drivers).
How would you feel if you bought some fancy & expensive graphics board only to have to use the generic drivers that come with your OS?
Chainfire, great work. Let us know when you've set up the paypal account.
Oh, by the way, wonderful site Chainfire. It has all the info needed in one neatly organized site.
Excellent site Chainfire. If this is indicative of the effort you put into things, my previous (and future) donations have been well spent!! Very clear and to the point.
I posted a link on the "Proper video drivers...." sticky to a Google page tlaking about the bright new future of Android. Just wondered if it is worth highlighting to visitors to the site that HTC is one of the core companies developing this - perhaps if they realise HTC's attitude will affect more than just the current devices. Or maybe they won't care as most casual browsers don't know what Android is? Ah, I don't know.
Hey, if we draw public attention to all this, and then someone manages to address the issue here on XDA-devs, could that cause problems - infringment of copyright etc?
I don't understand the point of this petition, or a law suite for that matter. What do 99% of people do with their Kaisers anyway? There are lots of people around me where I work that use Windows smart phones and they are happy to get their push mail, GPS, bluetooth, whatever. I think they could care less about video drivers.
I'm not saying I wouldn't like to have some video acceleration, but most users probably could care less. We are the minority.
I think raising awareness is a great idea. Perhaps listing those manufactures that actually support their WinMo devices with proper drivers is even better, so potential buyers would know to spend their money else wehere.
I got my Kaiser as a Tilt from AT&T. I had 30 days to return it. I was given ample opportunity to play with it, install software, and make my complaint. I kept the device. No one was being forced to buy these things.
If you bought an unlocked Kaiser and spend a large bit of cash, well you take the first movers risk. No reason anyone couldn't wait to see what others though of the device before purchasing it.
You certainly can't will things into existence. Can't buy an HTC phone and wish into existence some drivers that it never had in the first place.
As much as I would like video acceleration, I'm not sure where it is that HTC specifically stated their would be some. GPS, pushmail, Pocket IE, it all pretty much works as expected. I understand that the qualcomm chipset may certainly be capable of video acceleration, but that doesn't mean that it was a specific feature that HTC was going after when it made the Kaiser.
I'm not trying to ruin anyones plans or desires to get the most out of their phones, but why not just not buy the phone?
I for one look forward to something like Android, so hobbiests and consumers can put the features they want to exploit in to place on phones like the Kaiser. I hope this drastically changes the market and gives us more choice in our software, and forces manufacturers to do more than the bare minimum with these devices.
-James
jmacdonald801 said:
As much as I would like video acceleration, I'm not sure where it is that HTC specifically stated their would be some.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, given older HTC devices never mentioned video acceleration in their specs either and that they're certainly performing better than the Kaiser, I think it's fair to expect performance which at the very least matches that of former models.
I got my Kaiser as a Tilt from AT&T. I had 30 days to return it. I was given ample opportunity to play with it, install software, and make my complaint. I kept the device. No one was being forced to buy these things...
...As much as I would like video acceleration, I'm not sure where it is that HTC specifically stated their would be some. GPS, pushmail, Pocket IE, it all pretty much works as expected. I understand that the qualcomm chipset may certainly be capable of video acceleration, but that doesn't mean that it was a specific feature that HTC was going after when it made the Kaiser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate to say it, but jmac makes very good points. Awareness is fine. Negative publicity might cause some action. but such a lawsuit isn't very winnable here since there were no real explicit promises broken here. Any "promises borken" were more hopes and expectations that were not made by the manufacturer.
But who knows, this being a very HTC centric forum, it could make them take a little notice, but most likely this isn't a winnable case.
jomo25 said:
I hate to say it, but jmac makes very good points. Awareness is fine. Negative publicity might cause some action. but such a lawsuit isn't very winnable here since there were no real explicit promises broken here. Any "promises borken" were more hopes and expectations that were not made by the manufacturer.
But who knows, this being a very HTC centric forum, it could make them take a little notice, but most likely this isn't a winnable case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehe, as stated elsewhere, it's mostly a pressure and publicity tool. In the end, if we do do the case, it doesn't even really matter if we win it. The publicity and awareness it will generate... There's the headology factor. People are happy using a gadget. People learn the gadget can do a lot more then it does. People are unhappy using the gadget. People complain about the gadget. Creator of gadget fixes gadget
Mark my words, if enough attention is given to this, HTC will do the right thing, if only to save face.
Great site so far Chainfire. I pray that this brings enough attention to move HTC to action. Without those drivers, I can compare this to buying a Corvette only to realize once on the road that the governor is set to 30mph.
Satus update
Status update:
The site is almost finished and uploaded, apart from the "Responses from HTC" section.
- Please read the 'drivers in detail' page and tell me what you think
- Please help me collect 'carrier branded' names of the devices in question
I have also setup a paypal address for donations for the AdWords campaign only, you can find a button on the "What you can do" page. I already put 100 euro's in there myself, and it's been getting extra visitors for almost an hour now.
Before I finish the "Responses from HTC" part, start submitting to slashdot, digg, etc, it's time for dinner
you might want to add the htc vogue/sprint touch to your list on htcclassaction.org, it suffers the same problem and i believe it has a similar chipset with the same 3d hardware.
i think htc will just say,well just because the chipset we use has 3d hardware built in doesn't mean we have to enable or support it because it was never advertised as such.
I'd have to download and extract a ROM to be sure though, I'll do that later.
jmacdonald801 said:
I don't understand the point of this petition, or a law suite for that matter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What he said...but I am a little under the influence right now. To be honest, my phone works for GPS, works for email, works for web browsing, sync's via activesync, plays movies just fine (no slider issues when adjusting sound), allows me to read ebooks, works with office mobile (though I would like to be able to save Word documents as .DOC files, not .DOCX). Guess I'm with the 99% because I really don't see any issues with the phone that cause me to get on a soapbox. I really don't care if this makes me unpopular, but I'm so sick of people coming on this forum and moaning about video driver issues. Show me one other device that does all the things that a Kaiser can do? iPhone, no GPS and limited open source unless you want to run the risk of bricking the device, Nokia? Please, I had the 9xxx series of communicators for years. I had the choice between the latest comunicator series or the Kaiser, I went with the Kaiser as Symbian sucked. The N95, QWERTY keyboard???
This phone is not designed as a graphics device, its a business tool. If you want DVD quality movies, buy a portable DVD player, graphic intensive games, get a PSP. I have a Nokia 2110 mobile from 10 years ago that can't handle MID files, a Garmin Sat-Nav the size of a house brick and a digital camera that uses 3.5" floppy discs cause memory cards hadn't been invented when it was launched. HTC have packed an MP3 player, sat-nav, laptop computer, digital camera, mobile phone (...the list goes on) inside a device the size of a packet of cigarettes. Personally I think this is amazing, lets give them a bit of credit for doing this!
[/drunk rant off...]
I've found a couple of companies that specialize in developing drivers for handheld devices, one of them is particulary interesting as it has done exactly what we're looking for before. I need someone who can talk to them and get them all the details and specs.
Here's the correspondence so far:
Me to them:
'm writing on behalf of HTC Kaiser owners. It's pretty much well
known to whoever is interested in PDAs that HTC has shipped many of its
recent devices without proper video drivers. They have a Qualcomm chipset
with (reportedly) ATI Imageon hardware acceleration in it, but not enabled
or not properly used. We've collected a good sum of money to get those
drivers developed, and I wanted to ask whether your company can help us with
this. More info (including specifics of the problem) can be found here:
http://www.htcwiki.com/page/HTC+TyTN+II+Driver+Issues and here:
www.htcclassaction.org Please let me know whether you can help us with that
and we can talk about compensation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They answered:
Thank you for contacting ALT Software.
We would be happy to discuss your requirements with you. As you may be
aware, ALT has been developing software driver solutions for our clients for
over 13 years now. Our team has extensive experience in creating system and
embedded level software. In fact ALT supports a variety of ATI chips within
our own OpenGL product line, as well as having been engaged by AMD/ATI on
other software development projects enabling new chips for the HDTV and set
top box industry.
ALT definitely has the ability to support your group; however the key
component that may be lacking is access to the hardware specifications,
registry specs for the chip, and existing driver source from ATI & Qualcomm.
Does your group have access to those specifications? Without that
information, it would make the task monumental.
Are you able to provide me with a ballpark on the budget your group has set
aside for this work?
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks,
Rob
Robert ********* - Sales Manager
ALT Software Inc.
****************
****************
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've answered:
Thanks for getting back to us.
Here's the basic info on the chipset: http://www.qualcomm.com/press/releases/2006/060404_sampling_msm7200_chipset.html
There are a lot of senior developers in the community, I'm sure I can get more details on the problem and about the chipset from them. HTC also promised to release some kind of a fix for video rendering that may help you.
So far we've collected over $4000 for this, and if more is needed - I'm sure people will pile in more as they will see that someone is working on it.
Let me get some people who know drivers better than me so that we can provide better details.
In the meantime, let me know what the price range for this could be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I covered the contact info so that he doesn't get swarmed with descriptions. We need to keep this at a reasonable level. I will give his email and phone to however decides to handle this.
Wow, cool man. I'm just afraid we don't have enough specs from HTC to get the project going...
That's where the money come in. I just need someone who can talk hardware to these guys and figure out the details.
Good legwork. I would think a company like this would want to charge at least 50-100k considering the impact. But I could be WAY off(hopefully). You may want to mention to them the high profile this issue has gotten and that they could potentially come out of all of this as hero's and get a lot of good publicity which may add a lot of value instead of cash...
Yeah I was just thinking about that. We could use publicity.
So far however, they want to know the extent of the problem.. They wanna know how much work is needed (understandably). That's why I need someone who has whatever info we can possibly have about this.
bump this...important.
DarkDvr said:
Yeah I was just thinking about that. We could use publicity.
So far however, they want to know the extent of the problem.. They wanna know how much work is needed (understandably). That's why I need someone who has whatever info we can possibly have about this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your best bet is Chainfire. Have you PM'd him?
Well, they are looking for a job that's $20K+, large scale projects. I tried to persuade them with publicity and ease of the project... but they declined.
However, they recommended finding someone on scguild.com.
I'll try that today...
If anybody has any leads - let us know.
Perhaps we should consider taking this approach
Show this company figures that represent the number of units the Kaiser and its variations have shown.
Let them know we will raise money up front to get them started.
Let them know they can make money by charing fro a fix and give them the numbers to back it up.
For example:
If 1 million people (and I read here at xda that it is in fact more than that, but I DO NOT KNOW) have bought the Kaiser/Tilt/TyTN II etc etc etc and only 5% of the purchasers buy a fix at lets say $20 then they stand to make $250,000 in addition to whatever start up costs we can give them.
If we get this (or another) company to commit to doing this, and we get an upfront number they require to start the development, then we have a solid goal. We then start a campaign not only at xda, but worldwide, involve the media who has covered this story. The media entities who have covered this to date, have a great follow up story. This in turn gets the coverage needed to show them enough people will buy the fix after development.
For example, they might say "We will be willing to develop this for $XXXXX upfront if outlets exist where we can be assured there is DISTRIBUTION for the fix.
We then have a goal:
Start a world wide campaign to raise the upfront costs.
Secure distribution at every pocket pc software sales site we can contact.
They just might go for it.
That is a lot of money!
Money talks. Publicity seems like a good idea, but they want cash. Show them this is but one way of how to get it!!!!!!
mrmega said:
Perhaps we should consider taking this approach
Show this company figures that represent the number of units the Kaiser and its variations have shown.
Let them know we will raise money up front to get them started.
Let them know they can make money by charing fro a fix and give them the numbers to back it up.
For example:
If 1 million people (and I read here at xda that it is in fact more than that, but I DO NOT KNOW) have bought the Kaiser/Tilt/TyTN II etc etc etc and only 5% of the purchasers buy a fix at lets say $20 then they stand to make $250,000 in addition to whatever start up costs we can give them.
If we get this (or another) company to commit to doing this, and we get an upfront number they require to start the development, then we have a solid goal. We then start a campaign not only at xda, but worldwide, involve the media who has covered this story. The media entities who have covered this to date, have a great follow up story. This in turn gets the coverage needed to show them enough people will buy the fix after development.
For example, they might say "We will be willing to develop this for $XXXXX upfront if outlets exist where we can be assured there is DISTRIBUTION for the fix.
We then have a goal:
Start a world wide campaign to raise the upfront costs.
Secure distribution at every pocket pc software sales site we can contact.
They just might go for it.
That is a lot of money!
Money talks. Publicity seems like a good idea, but they want cash. Show them this is but one way of how to get it!!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but charging for the fix? it would presumably need to be built into a rom rather than installed seperately. how could they charge for it when we would be cooking roms with it in for free to download? and if we are doing that still then thats quite a bit out of order really. I wouldnt personally like to see us lot cooking roms.
Good idea, I like it.
I'm not giving up - still searching and spamming developers who would be interested in this. If anybody else googles driver development companies - that'd make it easier and faster for us all.
I've got a good description of the problem (thanks Chainfire) which you can use to describe the problem:
"The problem with the current drivers is that they essentially just dump the completely software rendered screen on to the display memory, and that's pretty much all they do. Direct3D and OpenGL ES drivers are missing completely.
No use is made of any sort of acceleration that is provided by the ATI Imageon technology used in these Qualcomm MSM7200/MSM7500 based devices.
What we want are GDI / DDI, DirectDraw/3D, OpenGL ES and GAPI drivers that do make use of the available hardware acceleration."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thefunkygibbon said:
but charging for the fix? it would presumably need to be built into a rom rather than installed seperately. how could they charge for it when we would be cooking roms with it in for free to download? and if we are doing that still then thats quite a bit out of order really. I wouldnt personally like to see us lot cooking roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All we need is 1 ROM with proper drivers in it. Everything else is easy.
however the key component that may be lacking is access to the hardware specifications, registry specs for the chip, and existing driver source from ATI & Qualcomm.
I'm not a pro, but isn't that just the problem??
That's just what's needed, and no one seems to have it. (Or is willing to provide)
$20 000 is not that much. Thats just $20 from 1000 people.
Imagine selling the driver for $20. Way more than 1000 people would buy it. I dont think this amount of money needs to be an obstacle.
Surur
Er...
NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER TELL THEN HOW MUCH MONEY YOU HAVE!!!!!
Geez people!
You ALWAYS ASK A PRICE QUOTE AND THEN HAGGLE!!!!
They say, so you got 4k... we want 10k+
BUT
if you ask a price range, they dont know how much we have, and then cant ask double for it. Understand?
Time to start with a new company...
Hehe, well these guys' problem was not really the money, it was the volume as he himself said.
His words:
"Unfortunately, ALT will have to decline this scope.
You may have better luck looking to a individual contractor boards such as www.scguild.com."
But point taken. I've ran through that website and wrote to many potential graphics driver developers... we'll see what they say.
thefunkygibbon said:
but charging for the fix? it would presumably need to be built into a rom rather than installed seperately. how could they charge for it when we would be cooking roms with it in for free to download? and if we are doing that still then thats quite a bit out of order really. I wouldn't personally like to see us lot cooking roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only suggested my idea because we are talking about a 3rd party developing this for us, not HTC. I am not a developer so I don't know how the fix would be applied so please forgive my lack of understanding of how the fix needs to be applied.
If it is a driver, and the devs here would have to cook it into a rom or roms then maybe we are only paying for the driver.
All I can say is that we have a goal, and if HTC wont give give us what we need, and if none of the developers here can succeed then we we have to consider resorting to going to a 3rd party company to develop the solution.
A 3rd party company is only going to be interested in the $$$. I can only speak for myself, but if my choices are to have no drivers or to pay for them... I, like everyone else who pledged to the bounty thread will GLADLY pay to get this issue fixed.
Do I want to pay? NO! HTC should have given this to us but they did not so I don't know what else to suggest.
How about these:
http://www.pfaadtsoft.de/
Here's some stuff I found on MSDN:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms890622.aspx
I haven't bothered reading it but the title looked interesting
This section in general might hold interesting info:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa447511.aspx
undac said:
How about these:
http://www.pfaadtsoft.de/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good find, email sent.
Here's some stuff I found on MSDN:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms890622.aspx
I haven't bothered reading it but the title looked interesting
This section in general might hold interesting info:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa447511.aspx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's to whoever understands driver better than me.
I'd be willing to chip in a good amount. Was already looking into other companies fixing the problem, but they would need a lot of information that only Qualcomm and HTC have. :\
This is just my opinion....
Once in a while, a new mobile device comes along and sets imaginations and credit cards on fire. Something compelling, something new. The next big thing perhaps? How many of these devices can you remember from the past couple of years? A few? Now; just how many of these lived up to their full potential?
Go on, take a guess.
Zero.
Now don’t get me wrong here. When I say potential, I mean their hardware potential. Just because the end product is popular and sells well, it doesn’t mean it lives up to what it could be.
Consider the current driver issue with the HTC Tytn II. Many people are very unhappy with the performance of the video drivers. The device is very slow at redrawing the screen when the display is rotated. In some programs like Tomtom , it appears that the device absolutely struggles with motion on the screen. Others have complained about sub-par video playback performance.
A petition has been started, and I am sure by now HTC have received thousands of complaints from unhappy Tytn II owners. Everyone is asking for the same thing; a set of drivers that can use the new Qualcomm hardware to its full advantage. HTC even mentions the capabilities of the new Qualcomm MSM7500™ and MSM7200™ chipsets in their press release. The press release even states that the TYTN II is based on the new dual core chipset. Yet the overall performance just doesn’t seem to compare to the manufacturers claims.
HTC’s response has been rather subdued. Their approach seems to have changed a little. At first, they didn’t seem concerned and suggested that the device worked as advertised, i.e.: it could play videos but it was essentially designed as a business tool. Only after many complaints had been made did they listen and start taking information for the performance related issues, not just the video playback.
So why won’t they develop and release the drivers as so many people have requested? Simple answer really:
Long term profit. Let me explain.
The TYTN II is one of the first HTC devices to feature the new Qualcomm chipset. Compare it to the other HTC devices that have the same Qualcomm chipset, none of their specifications are quite the same. Each device is the first generation on the new chipset for its particular niche.
We are, essentially, beta testers. We buy the latest technology, use it heavily, complain about the bugs and report our findings back to the manufacturer via blog posts, reviews and complaints. It doesn’t need to be direct feedback; the internet is full of corporate trolls. Whatever you mention about their device, no matter where it is, chances are it has been read by one of these trolls. We can’t help it; we all like to express our opinions and frustrations. Its fun discussing options and troubleshooting with others on forums and websites. The most serious complaints are taken down, and over the next couple of revisions (e.g.: Tytn III?) they are generally ironed out.
This is why the drivers are not coming. HTC are banking on those who are frustrated with their device not living up to its potential, to upgrade and buy the successor. Not the best business method by a long shot, however thanks to early adopters and geeks, it’s a profitable one.
Oh, but you won’t ever, ever buy another HTC device again? Yes, you probably will. So will I. I found it quite amusing reading posts about the new Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. Many people said that they would buy it over a HTC device, but the fact is it IS a HTC device. My bet is it will sell like hotcakes, however I bet there will be some issues that will mean it won’t live up to its full potential. Sure, the issues cited with the Tytn II (and other early HTC Qualcomm devices) will be addressed.
The introduction of new features leaves the door open for new issues. We will discuss these issues. The trolls will read these issues. The issues will be addressed in the next generation of handsets. When it comes time for a new chipset, expect a bunch of new issues and complaints to arise.
It’s the circle of consumerism.
My next device won't even be a WM one, let alone HTC's junk. I've had enough of all the stupid problems with either the hardware or the OS. Next time my contract rolls around for renewal, I'm gonna buy a plain and simple Nokia just for calls.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=368108 a proper windows mobile phone bye bye htc once my damn contract on this stupid phone ends *shakes fist*
Until such time as it's on the market and proven to be what it claims, I'll consider it just so much marsh gas; much like HTC's promises.
FloatingFatMan said:
My next device won't even be a WM one, let alone HTC's junk. I've had enough of all the stupid problems with either the hardware or the OS. Next time my contract rolls around for renewal, I'm gonna buy a plain and simple Nokia just for calls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
definitely my way too
Are there any known MSM7xxx phones that have the video acceleration?
My suspicion is that the following happened:
HTC was one of the first manufacturers to use the MSM7xxx series
3D acceleration was a "growth feature" that needed development and HTC wanted to get the device out the door and add the video acceleration later
Broadcom sues Qualcomm over patent infringement in the MSM7xxx series
Broadcom wins suit and Qualcomm is served with an injunction forbidding it to sell or even support infringing chipsets
HTC is screwed because their vendor is now legally forbidden from providing them the support they need to implement accelerated video
HTC also does not hint at the real reason for the drivers not existing for political and/or contractual reasons
HTC's "buy a future device" comment means "we need to find something that isn't covered by the Broadcom injunction against Qualcomm"
Entropy512 said:
Are there any known MSM7xxx phones that have the video acceleration?
My suspicion is that the following happened:
HTC was one of the first manufacturers to use the MSM7xxx series
3D acceleration was a "growth feature" that needed development and HTC wanted to get the device out the door and add the video acceleration later
Broadcom sues Qualcomm over patent infringement in the MSM7xxx series
Broadcom wins suit and Qualcomm is served with an injunction forbidding it to sell or even support infringing chipsets
HTC is screwed because their vendor is now legally forbidden from providing them the support they need to implement accelerated video
HTC also does not hint at the real reason for the drivers not existing for political and/or contractual reasons
HTC's "buy a future device" comment means "we need to find something that isn't covered by the Broadcom injunction against Qualcomm"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, everything you said makes perfect sense.
Chances of Kaiser getting video drivers - ZERO
Although I respect your opinion, and you are probably right, I have to say that making HTC develop/release drivers is just one of the paths we are exploring. I believe in our case it is essential to explore every possible opportunity to get Kaiser to use it's hardware 100%. That includes lawsuit, 3rd party developing drivers, ripping drivers from another device, getting SDK from ATi/Qualcomm, etc etc.
Whatever it takes - we must explore it... even if it sounds crazy or unlikely. Besdies... it's not like we have to pay cash for every opportunity that doesn't work.
FloatingFatMan said:
My next device won't even be a WM one, let alone HTC's junk. I've had enough of all the stupid problems with either the hardware or the OS. Next time my contract rolls around for renewal, I'm gonna buy a plain and simple Nokia just for calls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here...
DarkDvr said:
Although I respect your opinion, and you are probably right, I have to say that making HTC develop/release drivers is just one of the paths we are exploring. I believe in our case it is essential to explore every possible opportunity to get Kaiser to use it's hardware 100%. That includes lawsuit, 3rd party developing drivers, ripping drivers from another device, getting SDK from ATi/Qualcomm, etc etc.
Whatever it takes - we must explore it... even if it sounds crazy or unlikely. Besdies... it's not like we have to pay cash for every opportunity that doesn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely! I would love to see one of the developers here sort out drivers, or see the drivers ripped from another device work. I have my doubts that it will happen, however it would be fantastic to be proven wrong.
Has their been any real progress towards a solution as yet though? I'm not trying to sound too negative (even if thats not how it sounds..) I've read about the LG driver rip that works / doesnt work depending on who you listen to. Has there been any proven progress to date with either developing or obtaining an SDK?
Many seem to think the Kaiser won't ever get the missing drivers. I'm a bit more optimistic in this point. I still hope that - if not HTC - at least members of this forum are some day able to (re-)engineer the necessary drivers. Am I only dreamer or what do you think? Is it that unlikely that it will happen?
Hey... I just went to Vodafone store and tried the LG KS20, i think it has the same hardware as the tytn 2 (check http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=pdacomparer&id1=733&id2=825 to compare), but doesn't looks like it suffers from the same problems as the tytn. I tried the camera and isn't more slow than a regular phone camera? Might be a solution of the problem? I don't know but it's worth checking it...
LG KS20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQEsjzHgnpA&feature=related
Shows video performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U-w1oTQ3BA&feature=related
If Broadcomm are the ones that will prevent support, then why do XDA or HTC not approach Broadcomm for assistance instead? That may be an avenue which may yield more positive responses than going after HTC.
Pummy said:
If Broadcomm are the ones that will prevent support, then why do XDA or HTC not approach Broadcomm for assistance instead? That may be an avenue which may yield more positive responses than going after HTC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only Broadcomm IP in the Qualcomm chip is the technique for power backoff when there's no signal. It's like asking Honda how to get your Toyota engine to work.
Regardless of HTC's intent on this issue, the fact is they are building a "perception", at least in this forum, of poor customer support/response. This can be seen by the hyper-attention it receives at XDA. Is it justified? Some say yes, some say no. Personally, the biggest issue I have is with the lagging camera and the slow autofocus. I can't get my daughter too sit still long enough to let the camera to focus on her and get the shot I want. I can live with the slow screen rotation and even the laggy video playback. To be honest, I never expected super gaming or video from a QVGA screen... but that's just me.
That being said, perception becomes reality without response or action. HTC is playing an ill-advised hand if they think people will just buy their next product and just forget about their Kaiser/Tilt experience. This is coming from an unsatisfied ex-Axim owner.
NuShrike said:
The only Broadcomm IP in the Qualcomm chip is the technique for power backoff when there's no signal. It's like asking Honda how to get your Toyota engine to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not know that. Looks like I will need to start reading up on the case and settlement.
As mad as I am that the drivers are not there, my tilt still blowes away my previous device, I hope for a fix, but until then I will be scoping my new device as with my last and the one before. Yes HTC will not be my prefered option, but then I will base that on what is available at the next upgrade time.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=355345&page=35
There may.. MAY come a time where we'll all actually thank and appologize to HTC, hehe. Judging by the latest article (insider interview) and supposed Peter Chou emails.. Qualcomm may be the one to blame in this, and HTC is as much of a victim of Qualcomm's hopeful lies as we are.
I'm not saying that it's true, I'm just saying that'd be a really interesting turn of events
I feel like I'm reading a crime mystery hehe.
Hi
There may.. MAY come a time where we'll all actually thank and appologize to HTC, hehe. Judging by the latest article (insider interview) and supposed Peter Chou emails.. Qualcomm may be the one to blame in this, and HTC is as much of a victim of Qualcomm's hopeful lies as we are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This may be true however ultimately HTC still misled it's customers using the Qualcomm feature set in PR, specifications and marketing releases. HTC will have known they were shipping the phones without the necessary drivers, but of course it would be too costly to hold back all their new models or redesign the phones around a different chipset, so they went ahead and sold them hoping no one would really notice!
HTC are making huge profits on the back of mis-advertising their latest products so it's hard for me to give very much sympathy if any at all to them They still have not made any official statement or apology to their customers, except for a rather cold and clinical statement to their shareholders. Yes I know various websites have comments from HTC regarding the matter but none of this has been put officially on their website and is just viral marketing, using the same tricks that got them in this mess in the first place.
Regards
Phil
As pointed out by DarkDvr the content of this thraed is now crossing with the content in at least two other threads:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...355345&page=35
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=359534
Please use one of them to continue any discussion.
Thank you
Mike
Hi Guys,
This is probably the best PDA forum. HTC should pay all you guys for creating this great forum for its overrated mobile.
TyTN II was the most $ I have ever spent on a mobile. With the price I pay, I could get a decent dual core laptop. But I wanted all things in one gadget and the news on TyTN II prior to its launch have made this mobile my dream mobile.
I was weary of the slow CPU speed. But after reading Qualcomm's specification of its CPU, that it is a dual core chip, I forced myself to believe that it will be faster than my old PDA that runs on Intel PXA270, 416MHZ. Unfortunately, I was mislead.
Sure, the TyTN II is stable, but I need to wait for 1-2 secs for it to register my command and than to react is totally not acceptable, especially I paid so much $ for it.
As for the Video, the first time I experienced, at best, the still moving pictures from an avi file had caused me great concern that my TyTn II is faulty. But now we all know that that phone is working under perfectly fine condition. Seriously, who has time to encode avi file down so that it can be viewed on TyTn II. I brought this phone to assist me and make my life more convenient, not the opposite.
So finally, I am trading in this phone at 64% of its original price (I have only used this phone for 5 months) for either Asus P750 or Gsmart MS800. I have ordered both of these new phones with the store for inspection and to make my final decision.
I am also frustrated with its inability to record telephone calls, which is one of necessary function for my job. I have spoken to a HTC sales and he told me that it is for privacy reason that they have make such a restriction. This is a load of BS. All large phone companies such as Nokia, SE, LG, and Moto have such a function.
Hope that I will also be able to find a native forum as good as this for Asus P750 or Gsmart MS800.
AND, I will never (during my time on earth) buy another HTC phone again... and I will certainly spread the word to all my friends not to buy any HTC phone either. HTC is good at make its first time customer its last time customer.
Guys, seriously, do you still believe that there is hope for the video driver or video improvement for HTC???
Get a life. Good luck with your new phone. Maybe they will have the video drivers you are looking for. We need to make a Sub Forum called "People Who ***** About HTC Products and Video Drivers"
goodbye, enjoy your new phone
honestly if anyone is tired of their kaiser, pls just sell it and leave, no need to whine about it or say goodbye. we really wont miss you at all.
all of us still holding on to our kaisers may be stupid from ur point of view, but we are all trying to make it work, hence the name xda-developers, not xda-whiners. if you dont like ur kaiser, sure you are entitled to your opinion, but ppl who choose to stay, dont really care, so just sell of your phone, piss off, and dont bother anyone. we dont really care to know what you feel about your device
well thx for telling us how u feel but we dont really care...its not like we're gonna follow suit cuz of u...research or try it out before u spend "so much $" on it...and whether new drivers are coming...who knows maybe or maybe not...this phone being not suitable to u doesnt mean it sucks or its bad in any way...just go get ur phone which suits u best...and live on
well... what more can I say..?
bye bye...
FYI, it's 'wary', not 'weary'. Good luck.
Seems like you want someone to sympathize. Pick one of the following responses:
1. Awww poor baby. There there.
2. I'll join you in abandoning HTC products.
(disclaimer: meh)
Good luck. and hope you can find the right PDA.
Tell it Wayne...
One whiner less....
This is nothing personal, but people are tired of new whining threads... plz just go and leave us alone with the whining.
If your friends belive the $ you talk it's their problem. Noone here cares if your friends like HTC or not. It doesn't matter for most if HTC sales some phones less or not. I still dont geht the point of such threads...
U think HTC will read this? U think it gets better if you buy a new one? Sry but every phones has it's issues... everything... here it is a video driver, other phones als cheaply manufactured, some have other bugs. There is nothing perfect. So wake up! The world is unfair.
Guys I am sorry but there is someone who tells us what he is doing now.
I believe HTC will never release the new drivers and at least they should see that people are selling the device now and will buy other brand in the future.
HP h4150 (best device I ever had)
Magican (it was fantastic but not that fast as the h4150)
TyTn1 (was ****)
Trinity (same **** like TyTn1, color pealing blahh blahh. but at least smaller)
now this stupid Kaiser (good device but not ready for the market)
I have bought 4 devices from HTC and only one was that what I am expecting to get.
And now you Guys are blaming him because he tells in a open letter what he will do?
Nice one!
HTC cheaters
I agree with the first post of this thread.
lot of people are addicted to flashing roms (me too), the fact that Kaiser is a disaster will never be acknowledged bec we have paid good amount for this and we refuse to give up or accept the facts. Till how long, will this go on. when will HTC be made to change their attitude, an attitude of taking consumers for granted, show me any hardware of their's which is perfect, either the speaker or camera will let u down. people who have criticized the first post should realise that people didnt go out to buy a phone with bad camera, speaker and display issues. Fact is we all have been duped by HTC. and if people here think things can be solved by xda everytime so lets buy htc, then its not right. I hope someday XDA dev manufacture a great phone , probably it will be the perfect phone.
gqstatus0685 said:
Get a life. Good luck with your new phone. Maybe they will have the video drivers you are looking for. We need to make a Sub Forum called "People Who ***** About HTC Products and Video Drivers"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unnecessary! It's a forum for people to voice their opinions and thats all he was doing. Fine, if you don't agree with his post, thats up to you but it's like my parents used to tell me "If you don't have anything nice to say.... don't say anything at all"
This is kind of one of the reasons why I try not to post here too much. Too many people all wanting to jump down someones throat when they disagree with a post, r the reason for posting. It's not just here, it's the same with any forum you go to. It's sad really.
Even though you think he's whining, it doesn't get better with the negative answers you give him. He just tells us he's made a choice.
The rudeness to him in the following posts is not worthy of an xda-developer.
Stay friendly.
viewedit said:
I agree with the first post of this thread.
lot of people are addicted to flashing roms (me too), the fact that Kaiser is a disaster will never be acknowledged bec we have paid good amount for this and we refuse to give up or accept the facts. Till how long, will this go on. when will HTC be made to change their attitude, an attitude of taking consumers for granted, show me any hardware of their's which is perfect, either the speaker or camera will let u down. people who have criticized the first post should realise that people didnt go out to buy a phone with bad camera, speaker and display issues. Fact is we all have been duped by HTC. and if people here think things can be solved by xda everytime so lets buy htc, then its not right. I hope someday XDA dev manufacture a great phone , probably it will be the perfect phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ag, shamepies,
Maybe HTC will provide live feeds from Mars too.
Or maybe better yet, a device that will record your blood pressure and hot & cold running water at the same time!
Oh, maybe even better, a device that will also double as a BMI scale and also have a built-in HIV monitor and blood-group detector!!!
Grow up!!
This has truly become the Cheese & WHINE forum!!!
MACkjam said:
Ag, shamepies,
Maybe HTC will provide live feeds from Mars too.
Or maybe better yet, a device that will record your blood pressure and hot & cold running water at the same time!
Oh, maybe even better, a device that will also double as a BMI scale and also have a built-in HIV monitor and blood-group detector!!!
Grow up!!
This has truly become the Cheese & WHINE forum!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is YOUR contribution to xda-developers exactly?
even if i dont't mind if anybody has a kaiser, sells a kaiser, buys a kaiser or sleeps with his kaiser, i think such threads might not be useless.
if many people make it clear that they leave HTC and why they sell their phones maybe HTC realizes that their way to treat customers was wrong.
rhov23 said:
What is YOUR contribution to xda-developers exactly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly, I've helped a few people here and there. Secondly I've been here a little longer than you even if I haven't posted much.
And yours???
MACkjam said:
Firstly, I've helped a few people here and there. Secondly I've been here a little longer than you even if I haven't posted much.
And yours???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well length of membership really isn't anything to go by, I could have signed up to be a member yesterday and could be a total guru (im not though )
Look, lets just play nice ok? Its a public forum for people to publish their opinions. Lets not turn this into yet another bashing thread.
foobar1977 said:
Well length of membership really isn't anything to go by, I could have signed up to be a member yesterday and could be a total guru (im not though )
Look, lets just play nice ok? Its a public forum for people to publish their opinions. Lets not turn this into yet another bashing thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree. Thanks
MACkjam said:
Firstly, I've helped a few people here and there. Secondly I've been here a little longer than you even if I haven't posted much.
And yours???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Made iTask, and made a lot of skins for various programs.
Emailing to HTC
a.k.a.
- - - Operation "ath6kl_sdio.ko" - - -
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Hey Guys,
As you know, our great little phone has lot of potentials, but HTC condemned it to the status of an entry-level phone, meaning its main purpose is to draw new customers to their more expensive devices. And thus they leave us in the dark in the development front, and not just us but other less hi-spec phones too, like our twin-brother the Explorer forum or the Amaze 4G who have both achieved amazing things despite the lack of support.
Compared to other companies like Sony and Samsung who aims to be a "good open source citizen" by releasing entire source codes ahead of the actual phone launch, we can call it carelessness, laziness or a marketing model with debatable efficiency, but that is not too important now.
The only thing we can do - similarly to other users of neglected phones, like the Amaze 4G - is to inundate HTC with emails from each one of us, so they become aware that there is a strong and willing community of Desire C users who are devoted to this phone not just because it is cheap, but for other reasons too :victory:
For me personally it's the size that hands down beats all the higher-spec bigger bros, and feature wise all it's category. Think about yours and write to them.
The aim of this thread is to highlight the holes in the official support and to provide information for anyone who is prepared to write HTC regarding the development issues we are facing. The post below will be updated parallel with the info we are gathering here.
>>> Therefore it would be appreciated if our devs and more technically literate members added their insights on these problems, so it can be communicated to the company effectively in an appropriate manner.
However we are looking for sharing valuable information here as we don't have anything else right now, so please aim for constructive comments and don't spam the thread with "it aint gonna happen no way" and "i hate you HTC, die cun**ts", herpaderpaderp and so on.
Sobbing, ranting or being cynical does not help at all, in fact does the opposite. <<<
::::: So guys, we can choose wether moaning about the shortcomings of our phone or actually do something about it even if one isn't a dev. Based on the info you find here and on these forums, write an email to HTC, some of us have done it already. We have nothing to lose and a pro-active collective attitude can make real change. In fact that's the only thing that does
CLICK to write to HTC
if you run out of space in the provided text-box, alternatively you can contact them here:
http://www.htc.com/uk/contact/email/
However, expect to get a well-bred canned reply with no actual help at all, but as an example look at the recent Amaze 4G success story (thanks for odunluzikkim and sakindia123 for pointing out).
You have to realise our strength is in collective effort, and its success is depending on each one of us, seriously.
To educate yourself in the topic:
-- about the success of the Amaze 4G community:
http://www.change.org/petitions/htc...ivers-sourcecode-associated-with-the-amaze-4g
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1679112
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1557500
-- about HTC's violations and company attitude:
http://users.livejournal.com/joshua_/41833.html
http://users.livejournal.com/joshua_/43185.html
http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-c...ore-decisive?utm_source=ac&utm_medium=twitter
-- about the competition and HTC's situation on the market:
http://www.tmonews.com/2013/01/as-s...-different-financial-results-can-htc-survive/
http://www.dailytech.com/Apple+Samsung+Snag+99+of+Mobile+Phone+Profits+/article24616.htm
-- about software licensing:
http://www.fsf.org/about/
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License
http://www.bsdnewsletter.com/bsd/license.html
http://pthree.org/2007/08/08/bsd-license-explained-in-layman-terms/
And finally, if you believe this is a good cause and benefits for the whole Android and Open-Source Community:
) ) ) ) ) SPREAD THE WORD! ( ( ( ( (
- Include this or the petition in your signature and blog and write about it in forums. Click to download the press pack or the avatar pack
- Use Twitter, Facebook, G+ and all your social networks to tweet, share, post about it and about HTC's ignorant attitude
- Bombard @HTC and @HTCdev Twitter and Facebook and express the issue
More on #HASHTAGS will follow later -
Stay tuned
How and What to Write
Known issues with official support that hinders us in development:
Source code of the WiFi driver called "ath6kl_sdio.ko", that prevents the porting of fully functioning custom ROMs like CM9/10, AOKP and so on
S-OFF
ICS 4.04
Bootloader or Stock Kernel bug that causes reboot in Recovery
And we have the lack of Jelly Bean issue, but honestly I believe it is part of HTC's marketing policy, and asking them for it would be like asking Apple to build SD card slot in iPhones lol. Officially it is not gonna happen. But I also believe porting JB will happen sooner or later regardless if they care or not, and if they can make our devs' work easier with something, that is even better.
However given the situation, our priority now is the precious ath6kl_sdio.ko driver. And we will get it one way or an other So the emails and our petition should be focused on that, we can deal with the rest once we have this.
::::: Sooo, you want to write an email to HTC? Let our voice be heard and spam the hell out of them! But we need to do it professionally Have a good read on hasoon2000's thread from the Amaze 4G forum, it's amazing what these guys have been gone through. They have tried literally EVERYTHING and they were ready to push it even further.
The Battle Plan, Phase 1:
Phase 1 Operation “ath6kl_sido.ko”
Email Awareness Campaign;
This campaign will be a focused in two pronged strategy to HTC. The idea behind this is to create awareness within HTC that ;
(a) There is a problem with the Desire C software that needs to be addressed
(b) That we will not back down from this issue
(c) That the standard emails from support agents are not good enough and getting us nowhere
(d) That we would like the problem escalated to the appropriate division
(e) That we get a clear and defined answer to the problem from HTC
With this in mind we will embark on the following strategy;
i. Design four emails to HTC, hardcore and soft core, Desire C user and Non desire c users. DONE
ii. Orchestrate a combined email drive to htc support and htc public relations departments on Monday 8th April starting at 12:00 gmt
iii. These emails will be sent as close together as possible
iv. The troops will select a mail of the four templates that they comfortable with and adjust them if need be
v. That the emails will go to the following email addresses only: [email protected] (Vice President of Global Communications & Public Affairs); [email protected]
vi. This strategy will be implemented for one week only and then we will change tactics.
vii. To involve as many people as possible, including, family members and friends who do not belong to XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A couple of things to consider before writing your email:
--- "ath6kl_sdio.ko" was released by Atheros Communications Inc. under dual BSD/GPL license.
Apparently this means they are not obliged to release the code, since BSD - in contrast to GPL -, allows them to keep it if they want to. Dual BSD/GPL means they are free to choose either of the licenses:
- GPL grants that the code stays open source, once it has been reused it has to be released by law, no matter how mighty the company is there is no way around it, and this is why corporations don't like it, obviously it is set against the capitalist framework, and this is why open source loves it.
- BSD is also a free software license, but it allows you to take the free code and not giving it back to the open source community.
We can safely assume HTC chose the second option.
Basically we have to accept the fact that legally, they have the right to keep the code. On the other hand it is not a good fashion from them to do so, and we have to highlight this to them and to anyone out there on every possible channels. This is what means "giving them a bad PR".
--- From a point of marketing efficiency: HTC has been doing quite badly for while now against their competition, who recognised the asset in the co-operation with communities like ours. More support means more trustable brand image and stronger customer base. They are losing market due to being closed-minded.
--- Brand image: which company wants to be known for **** support, especially if they are openly state the opposite. On the main page of www.htcdev.com can be read:
HTC is constantly pushing to create the ultimate experience for developers. Now you can access the tools you need to make great things happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- sounds quite embarrassing after flicking through the pages of this thread...
--- Keeping the code is very questionable ethically, this is what also russell664 was pointing out in his emails. This is a rational we can stick to, because there is simply no reason to keep the source code away from us, other then a stubborn and static marketing model, which is being proven to be outdated, inefficient and unsustainable. They are hoping an upheaval from One X and Sense 5, which is great, but the other companies have great new stuff too plus a loyal customer base, boooo....
--- Keeping the Desire C source code is not a question of life and death to them, but rather an initial decision which follows an outdated marketing model which leaves the open source initiative, like ours out of consideration (A clever company however grabs every bit of opportunity to turn it into profit). This is why we have to make them aware that we are here and we want the code, and we are not going to stop until they release it.
--- HTC is a huge company with bureaucratic structure. Convincing them won't be an easy task, be prepared to for a long and tough struggle. For the guys in Amaze 4G forum took 7 month. However they already have pioneered this before us which hopefully makes our job a bit easier. We just have to follow their example.
Be adult (even if you are not) and consider these before you post "...they don't help us... :crying:" etc. Know that they won't acknowledge their mistake or tell you "here is the driver, mr. xda member desire c user". Remember it is not a person but a corporate entity we are talking to at the end.
Do your homework:
Everyone who is concerned, please read through hasoon2000's thread, there is everything you need to know about how to deal with HTC. It is 30 pages but if you don't, you have no right to complain y u no have CM9
Let me quote the enlightening words of negotiation-master hasoon2000 from this post:
Remember, HTC is a huge company. You can't send an email like this
Y u know releaze da driverz 4 da Desiya See.
You have to be professional with them, at all times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read ALL my posts so you can see my professionalism and CALL THEM OUT! Don't accept what they have to say. Frankly, I don't care what they say because I know what they will say. You need to attract attention and give them bad PR, professionally of course. After months of working on it and teaching people, they finally released the source.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unified template? Don't even. If I received multiple emails of the same thing with the only difference is the name, I wouldn't care because you didn't actually make an effort to convince me. Everyone has different experiences with different manufacturers, phones, etc. Tell them your story, why you got the Desire C. Whether it's because you have a budget or you don't want the latest and greatest phone. Maybe because you like the size of the phone or you have small hands. Whatever it may be, they had a reason for you to buy the phone or everything else. Tell them why you bought it, how you want to customize the phone with your hard earned money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These guys are corporate people. All they want is money. Find statistics on how HTC is losing sales and how Samsung/Apple are getting more market share. Tell them how HTC is losing customers and exposure over something small. Compressing the source code takes no more than 2 minutes. Uploading it takes a few minutes. Is that REALLY going to kill them? No, unless they don't release the source code. Tell them how Samsung was not developer friendly in the beginning and when they became developer friendly, look at them now. They are making BANK! HTC could do the same IF they weren't being assholes. When someone sees how cool a phone is when it has a custom ROM, people will start purchasing from that manufacturer because of the cool stuff it can do. Tell them all these things! Look at the Amaze 4G, we got out source.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
And now some examples of his correspondence with the company. Look at how he did not let them to overwhelm him and get away with bullsh*it. He broke the same canned responses what we already got, and gained attention with sheer logic:
Here is what I wrote:
HTC has made a promise to help to development community by releasing the source code as well as unlocking the bootloader for their devices. However, the TI WLAN source code has been withheld from the community. This slows development and can even cease development for the device completely. Without the source code, developers will have to develop blindly and hoping not to break anything in the process. The Amaze 4G has great potential due to his hardware and power that it harnesses. Android is an Open Source OS, but HTC is sounding more like Apple, holding their source from the public. People purchased the device to experience the "Real Feel" of Android by customizing it, installing Custom ROMs, tweaking it, etc. Without the WLAN source code, we, as a community, have starting to lose faith in HTC and some of us have even pledged to never purchase an HTC device again due to HTC's policies. The community will like for HTC to rethink their strategy and be "Open" with the community. The best form of advertisement is by "The Word-of-Mouth". When our community, the tech savvy and the owners of a smartphone, see how HTC listens to their customers requests, they will become more profitable and retain/gain new and loyal customers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Follow along my lines but don't copy and paste it. Be truthful to them. Open your mind/heart. Tell them why we want, why it will help, why it will help their image with consumers, how it can lead to more business and brand loyalty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC responded to me
Dear Odai,
I understand you would like to have certain source codes like the WLAN drivers to the development community. I realize that this information is of great importance to you. The only source code we have available is the full source code available on the HTC Developer website at http://htcdev.com. We do not currently have an option to send individual parts of the source code separately. Any parts of the kernel source code that are not included in the released source code on the website should be considered propriety and not available for release. Please visit http://htcdev.com/contact to leave comments about this feature. I thank you for sending your email to HTC today.
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Click to collapse
Click to expand...
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My response to that
Since HTC is committed to helping the development community, hence HTCDev has been started, there have been a fair share of issues that is being withheld from us. There has been a lack of support for certain devices since new flagship phones have been released. For example, the HTC Amaze 4G is a device with great hardware, but HTC has not given us full support due to the face of the HTC One series being released. As a business student, I understand what is being done. HTC would like their new flagship phones to sell and give less support to older devices. However, we are being left out and since this is my first non-Nokia device, I feel betrayed by HTC already. I purchased the Amaze 4G due to its hardware and I know it can unleash its true potential, only with the help of HTC. However, this is not the case. There are devices with over 10 custom made kernels and how many does the Amaze have? Only one and that is for Gingerbread and it has slight modifications since the full source has not be released. This is a huge setback to us users. We have barely any type of custom ROMs. We have not AOSP (Android Open Source Project) ROMs since we need the full kernel source to even make a kernel that is compatible with AOSP ROMs.
The Sensation development is sky high booming with plenty of developers. As a developer for the HTC Amaze 4G, looking at the Sensation development is heart breaking. The Amaze is truly better, but yet has no support from those who created it. It is like leaving a baby in the street. You do not do that.
HTC needs to realize for those who purchase their devices and would like to retain loyalty to HTC, HTC needs to treat their customers back as well. Without us, HTC is nothing.
As I stated earlier, this is my first Non-Nokia device and I already feel betrayed by HTC. If HTC cannot fix their act and be committed to those purchase their devices, they will lose customers significantly.
There should be a way to release the full source to us HTC Amaze 4G owners by talking to other companies that have their hardware in the Amaze. If that cannot be done, this will be my first and last HTC device ever.
So do what you can and stay committed to your program for us HTC users. Without your support, we feel betrayed since the company is not living up to their word. For us, it is hypocrisy while you guys believe it is business. The best business is customer support. If customers are not given what they have been truly promised, HTC might as well just shut down or reallocate to another industry. Just my opinions and my response.
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The responded to my message.
I can definitely understand how the previous agent’s answer would make you upset. I’ll be glad to help you, Odai. By law, all that we are required to release is the kernel source code. HTC will release source code in accordance with any applicable open source license terms, i.e. GPL v2.0. Other source codes, which are not required to be disclosed by the open source license terms, unfortunately cannot be disclosed by HTC, as they may be proprietary to HTC or its licensor.
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My response
Samuel, thank you for responding. Danielle blew off my message and that is not great customer service. However, I see conflicting interests from messages I have been told as well as other. Some of the users have been told
"HTC will typically publish on http://developer.htc.com or htcdev.com the Kernel open source code for recently released devices as soon as possible. HTC will normally publish this within 90 to 120 days. This time frame is within the requirements of the open source community."
Also, "Hello, (name omitted), and thank you for contacting HTC regarding your concerns with the T-Mobile Amaze ICS kernel source code. I understand how important it is for you to have this information for your phone. As you stated in your email to us, you aren’t talking about the Gingerbread source code, but I would like to note that the source code for Gingerbread is available on our htcdev.com website. The ICS software for the Amaze is relatively new for us, having just released a couple months ago. It does take time for the code to be compiled and we aren’t trying to keep it from you or our other customers. Also, the Amaze does have Sense 3.6 when upgraded to ICS, as do all our devices, thus far, that have received the ICS update. Unfortunately, though it is available for customer use, we don’t support the htcdev.com website and do not know if or when the kernel source code for ICS will be released. I apprecate you contacting us with your concerns and thank you for being an HTC customer!"
Why are the messages all conflicting? Some say it is not required, some say you have to wait 90 - 120 days when devices, like the Sensation, received the source code within 2 weeks of the ICS release. The management is either terrible or the staff is not properly trained.
Do you see why we are not happy with HTC? High Tech Computers is what HTC stands for, correct? HTC is also looking to help out the development community, correct? The only company that TRULY believes in the development community is Samsung. They acknowledged the work at XDA-Developers.com and they see how important it is to get in touch with those who love to customize their devices. Without releasing the source code to use so we can take advantage of OUR devices, you'll end up with unsatisfied customers and you will lose loyal customers. As a first time owner of an HTC device, I am pretty mad that I can't truly take advantage of it. I worked for T-Mobile for a few years and sold many HTC and Samsung phones. I always saw the Samsung owners are able to have full and true control of their devices. It is not the same however, with HTC.
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Remember folks! TAKE INITIATIVE! CALL THEM OUT! TELL THEM WHAT OTHER COMPANIES ARE DOING! Be a man! lol
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Can I say progress?
Dear Odai,
Thanks for getting back to me, Odai. I’m honestly not sure why there is conflicting information. The first email that you quoted contains the correct information. The time frame that we generally release new kernels is 90 to 120 days. Though I don’t know why the Sensation’s source code was available so soon, there’s no reason I can see why the Amaze’s wouldn’t be released within the 90 to 120 time frame previously mentioned. Since the Amaze 4G is part of the bootloader unlock program, the latest source code will be posted to htcdev.com when available. Due to the inconsistency of the responses you’ve seen, I can definitely understand why you and others would be so unhappy. Personally, I’m going to do what I can to make sure this addressed and prevent conflicting and misinformation in the future. I agree with you that members of the developer community have the right to this information and only with that can they push their devices to the limit. If there’s anything else I can do for you, please let me know. Thanks again for taking the time to contact us and for being an HTC customer.
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My response
Samuel, I am glad that you have acknowledged the issues and the inconsistency in the messages we are given. I commend you for that.
As a Recognized Developer on XDA-Developers, as well as speaking on behalf of the Amaze 4G community, we would like HTC to work a deal with us. We need the source code, the full source code I should say, to help our development for the Amaze.
Reasons are as follows:
1. It will retain customer loyalty.
2. It will increase in sales/customer database.
3. Receiving a better name for the company.
I will explain how it will for each reason.
1. As I have stated, it will retain customer loyalty. When customers see the company taking care of them and fully addressing their issues, customers will be happy, even if the problem is not fixed. They see HTC cares and tries to do their best. HTC has well built all around devices and that is why customers continue purchasing HTC devices.
2. The sales number will increase. It may be a slight amount, but when customers enjoy their phones, they will continue purchasing the devices in the future. When I show my friends what my phone can do, it blows their mind. I have friends who purchase the phone I have because I show them what it can do and what their phones cannot do. Remember, the best advertisement is word-of-mouth.
3. A company should be a people company. HTC shows that they care about the development community by opening HTCDev. That is wonderful to see someone has been paying attention to us. Samsung does promotions specifically for XDA-Developers. They have truly recognized our community and they even hired a developer! HTC should see how big the customer base of XDA-Developers, CyanogenMod, RootzWiki and many other development websites/forums. When they show true interest in us, we will defend the company if someone speaks bad about it, etc.
All the reasons tie in with one another. Samuel, I believe you should pass our conversation along to the higher management. They should not blow our community off.
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Are you guys taking notes??
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Another response
Dear Odai,
I really appreciate all the feedback you’ve given us, Odai. I can definitely take and forward our conversation to management. Hopefully through this we can get you guys some more support. If there’s ever anything else I can do for you, just let me know. I hope you have a good weekend, and thanks again for reaching out to us.
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You guys REALLY need to do the same as I did! BRING IT TO THEIR ATTENTION!
Read the conversation. Look at my writing style. See how I took the initiative and yet, I was 100% professional?
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Okay, you enjoyed the reading I hope
Finally, here are the points to bear in mind, ALWAYS:
When you contact them initially, the agent handles you as a retard by default: answers to questions you didn't ask or just simply gives stupid answers. Not because he is a bad person or high on drugs, but not trained on solving such a case. If it becomes apparent that they cannot manage your query, the maximum they can do is to escalate the case, but again, it depends on the agent, towards which department does he/she do that, it can vary. But if we push it through, at the end this will be more efficient since they will be having the same case coming from all over the departments of the company, and the managers of each of these departments will have to notice us as a community with strong commitment, among the usual "how to change my battery" or "my dog swallowed my Wildfire, you gonna pay for this" type of emails. If your first email fits to the text box provided on www.htcdev.com, then the best is if you send your email there.
The point is that their ridiculous initial ignorance actually pays off for you, because you can embarrass them by facing them with their own outcrying stupidity, such as they don't even know their own devices. Complain about their poor customer support and give examples why until they have to take you seriously, and believe me - they will. After this most possibly you will get a new agent who uses less template and replies to your actual questions, and not like an answering-bot. But for this, you need get though the initial impersonal template-using phase. So again please, don't post their reply with comments like "wtf thats weird" and "thats a whole load of bullcraq and [email protected]*%trash" - otherwise everyone will think you are childish. Don't be naive and expect their initial style, which will change if you don't behave like a child, trust me.
Also aim to post their reply with yours, with the one you replied, to keep the ball rolling. You have the chance to be more pro-active here, this is what we need, don't just paste it passively and then expect we will munching on it. We already have seen enough of those emails, show us your initiative! And don't leave your first email out of the conversation, so other members can benefit from your words. Don't be shy, everyone has to start somehow and we are here to help each other.
And most importantly, you will have to maintain a professional manner, otherwise you lose your advantage as a serious and self-aware customer you have against them.
>>>>>>>>
Here is what I wrote (thanks for whoamigriffiths for the english check). You can follow the lines of these and hasoon2000's original email, but please make it personal, don't just copy-paste it. Remember what he told us here. Explain them what you want and why you want it, why it is important to us and why co-operation is beneficial for both of us, and why the lack of real co-operation is not. Also, express that you are writing in the name of the whole community. You can mention our forum had more then 2.000.000 views since it was founded in July 2012.
And most importantly, be explicit. Always state that you want the source code of the WiFi driver "ath6kl_sdio.ko".
They will continue to hear about us Wether they like it or not.
Dear HTC,
I belong to a thriving community of Desire C users and developers. We like this phone very much and chose it for numerous reasons, price was not the only factor.
Personally I like its small size which still comes with an attractive design and relatively good performance.
For me, these features helped me decide to choose this phone, not only over others in the same category, but over more expensive devices on the market - hands down.
However the lack of substantive official support for our phone hinders us in further enhancing this already great little device.
We as a community are well aware that certain things, like official Jelly Bean support is unlikely to happen for various reasons that are both out of our reach as well as out of your reach too as a Company.
But speaking in the name of our Community, I am asking you to kindly enhance your customer support and, like your competitors, release more source code for us to use.
The most important code that we need is:
- the source code of the WiFi driver "ath6kl_sdio.ko" that is not present in the kernel source
Without it the porting of fully functioning custom ROMs like the famous CyanogenMod, AOSP and AOKP is not possible.
We have been fond of HTC since the Hero came out, which was the first phone on the market that was cool enough to compete with iPhone.
Also we have appreciated the Companys attitude in opening up to the Open-Source Community in the past by setting up HTCdev.com, that has been providing help for Independent Developers.
We aim to further strengthen this co-operation and believe together we can work for even better devices that are more customised according to the users needs.
This makes us - your more adventurous customers - happier and our work on this device has to be for the good of everyone: us, HTC and quite possibly, both new phones and new customers in the future.
A better support now, also makes it possible for us to tell everyone in the Open-Source Community that HTC is one of those rare Companies which honestly cares for its users.
With kindest regards,
Your Name
from XDA Developers HTC Desire C Community
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Soon, like the Amaze 4G guys we will release a petition, which will be addressed to Peter Chou, the CEO of HTC. Until then write your emails and stay optimist regardless of the response, remember the positive example in front of us. Stay focused on what we want and be persistent. No need to get angry, simply because we are part of something which is incomparably stronger then them:laugh:
Great job starting this thread :good: .Hopefully all the desire c users from our forum will support this and our device can finally get the attention it deserves
Re: Emails to HTC
U guys want help from htc ????
They won't !!!
U ask for help to out Pico devs .....
They will surely help u
If u want htc to help u guys
Wait for years
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda premium
Yup great idea . Hopefully we can keep this thread positive
Apex-Predator said:
U guys want help from htc ????
They won't !!!
U ask for help to out Pico devs .....
They will surely help u
If u want htc to help u guys
Wait for years
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda premium
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are you sure? i'm asking because had been like this before. did you read this link? this thread? it's worked before.
Apex-Predator said:
U guys want help from htc ????
They won't !!!
U ask for help to out Pico devs .....
They will surely help u
If u want htc to help u guys
Wait for years
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda premium
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I think emailing HTC and asking help from Pico devs doesn't exclude each other. We do whatever we can, and all the help is appreciated really much, as already it is from you guys We are pulling ourselves together for bigger horizons.
As far as i'm concerned, we need to annoy HTC to prove that there is a user base that requires support. Weather that support is in the form of jellybean or the source code of the kernel with WIFI modules. The point is as many others will agree is that HTC is a hand out and forget company they release nice little phones, and leave them unsupported, which is wrong, we need to get HTC's attention on this matter, me for one am sending multiple emails to them asking why they will not do anything, and if they can release some more source code.
Hopefully we can make something of this thread, keep it positive and post your emails from HTC here so everyone can see what they say about the matter.
The devs should focus on a CM9 setup, leave HTC devs behind, yes there open source would help but they wont help due to no money involved, the push the power of this phone it looses them money on the bigger phones (One X etc) our devs have the ability to make a CM9 or JB rom, support our devs!!!!
XDroidie626 said:
The devs should focus on a CM9 setup, leave HTC devs behind, yes there open source would help but they wont help due to no money involved, the push the power of this phone it looses them money on the bigger phones (One X etc) our devs have the ability to make a CM9 or JB rom, support our devs!!!!
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hey XDroidie626, I agree with you that the reason for lack of support is that there is no money incentive behind it, but there is also a vested interest for the big companies to support open-source communities, which pays off indirectly for them and it is good for everyone, and it's an increasing trend. I think emialing HTC and supporting our devs do not exclude each other, we put in whatever we can
stick
I think the thread should be sticked, as it is for raising awareness for new and existing members. If you think it too, report it through the reporting service and ask for making it stick.
Okay I contacted them, and this is what I got:
Thank you for contacting HTC regarding your HTC Desire C.
My name is Rob and I am a Technical Support Agent for the HTC Written Team.
I understand you are missing the Wi-Fi modules in the kernel source code.
I'm afraid we do not have the facility to send certain parts of the source code. If you are not able to find the part you are looking for, please then follow the HTC Dev Twitter. Any additional releases will be posted on here.
HTC Dev twitter: https://twitter.com/htcdev
Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.
I am confident that this will resolve your query, in the unlikely event that this does not please call or instant chat to one of our Technical Support Agents who will be waiting to guide you through step by step. Our Contact Details can be found at www.htc.com/uk/contact
Should you wish to continue your correspondence via email then please reply using the link below
Not one bit of help
guys forget jB .. htc one v doesnt have it so does desire c ... look for ics 4.0.4 with sense 4.1 !!
Re: [INFO] Emails to HTC
russell664 said:
Okay I contacted them, and this is what I got:
Thank you for contacting HTC regarding your HTC Desire C.
My name is Rob and I am a Technical Support Agent for the HTC Written Team.
I understand you are missing the Wi-Fi modules in the kernel source code.
I'm afraid we do not have the facility to send certain parts of the source code. If you are not able to find the part you are looking for, please then follow the HTC Dev Twitter. Any additional releases will be posted on here.
HTC Dev twitter: https://twitter.com/htcdev
Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.
I am confident that this will resolve your query, in the unlikely event that this does not please call or instant chat to one of our Technical Support Agents who will be waiting to guide you through step by step. Our Contact Details can be found at www.htc.com/uk/contact
Should you wish to continue your correspondence via email then please reply using the link below
Not one bit of help
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I told ya
They won't help !!!
U guys need to find our own ways
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda premium
Post this thread on your Twitter, Facebook etc!
Email sended :3
@alex-predator, i asking you again. did you read this? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1679112
really, not to be so pessimistic.
russell664 said:
Not one bit of help
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It's not surprising, but we have to keep pushing to reach a critical mass
utsav17 said:
guys forget jB .. htc one v doesnt have it so does desire c ... look for ics 4.0.4 with sense 4.1 !!
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Please read this post, no one is hoping for official JB here.
Apex-Predator said:
I told ya
They won't help !!!
U guys need to find our own ways
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No one said it is going to happen by writing an email, and as I said to keep contacting HTC by the entire community doesn't exclude finding our own ways in developing, in fact this is what our devs are doing right now.
And to everyone who is reading this, from now on I would really appreciate if you only posted constructive comments, this thread is not for gloating or giving out frustrations but to help to make things happen. Thank you!
Thank you for taking the time to contact HTC technical support.
I appreciate you taking the time to provide us with some feedback regarding what you would like to see us provide to better assist you and other members of the development community, Andrew.
I will certainly notate your feedback for consideration with regards to providing specific source codes and providing an S-Off option in the future.
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Sure, they have given me a "positive" answer...in the future....
TheRedHunter said:
Sure, they have given me a "positive" answer...in the future....
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These are 100% the expected responses, we just have to keep pushing on a regular basis, all of us.
Suggestion
I know that other thread asked for people to write from the heart etc in an attempt(successful) to get things done
But
And this is just a suggestion from personal experience.
The majority of people are likely to read a thread like this and nod in agreement , then do nothing about it.
It might be good if someone wrote a 'template' email for people to copy and paste as well as the link to the email of HTC (Already includedI know).
You might find you get a much better response from the people who read (and don't generally participate)the Forum.
I know HTC will see the same email over and over BUT they will be from different people and phone numbers . It will in effect become a written protest from desire c owners.