By January 23, 2008

HTC respond to HTCClassAction

I’m sure that many of you are aware of the complaint being raised to HTC regarding the alleged lack of video drivers included on the latest HTC devices. For those of you not familiar, the allegation is that HTC have deliberately nobbled the newer devices by not including the video drivers that are necessary to make the devices work to their full potential and lots of people are complaining that their new HTC phone underperforms when compared to two year old devices of a lower spec.

The complaint being managed by htcclassaction.org starts as follows:

What is this all about?

The latest SmartPhone and PocketPC devices from HTC (High Tech Computing) are supposed to be the most powerful devices on the market. And in theory, they are indeed real powerhouses of mobile technology.

There’s a catch though: HTC has neglected to include the necessary drivers needed for the devices to come to their full potential.

What does this mean?

This means our really expensive HTC phones (the TyTN II is about $700) are grossly underperforming. In fact, in many things, these devices operate even slower than HTC’s (and competitors’) two years older models – see the videos under navigation for demonstrations, especially the TomTom video (TyTN II vs Magician) is a terrific example.

The drivers (small pieces of software that govern your device’s hardware) in question are responsible for all drawing operations. This means absolutely everything having anything to do with putting something on your screen is affected. This includes normal programs, video playback, games, taking pictures, etcetera. If it’s on your screen, it’s affected. This makes the devices feel really slow and unresponsive. For more details about this, see the Drivers in detail page.

Yesterday, HTC gave an official response to the complaint:

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.

Personally, I am happy with my TyTN II, I’ve never really noticed it being slow or unresponsive. However, if there is something that can be done to make it perform much better then I’d be really pleased to see it!

There seem to be a number of unofficial responses from HTC too and reading through the points raised on HTCClassAction, make a good case. So why not head over to HTCClassAction.org and make up your own mind… I’d love to hear your opinion!

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): , , , , , ]

Posted in: News

About the Author:

More than 20 years in the IT industry. Blogging with a passion and thirst for new technology since 2005.
Loading Facebook Comments ...

Post a Comment

No Trackbacks.

https://www.ukmeds.co.uk/surgical-face-masks