HTC owners up in arms over graphics
Class Action wants software fix from HTC
A BIT of a spat has arisen amongst owners of certain recent HTC mobile PDAs and the manufacturer over an alleged lack of a decent driver. The complainers have formed the HTC Class Action organisation.
Given the tone of the site, the group appears to be mainly US based. Their main gripe is that a number of HTC devices based on Qualcomm MSM7200 and MSM7500 chipsets fail to properly use the hardware acceleration provided by the ATI Imageon hardware inside the devices.
In the group's own words, "Even much older devices from HTC as well as from their competitors perform better."
We're talking about how well these devices' graphics capabilities work here, of course.
While the threat of a class action (involving the US courts) by the group appears to be something of an empty one, HTC Class Action does seem to be genuinely offering a reward of over $3,000 to anybody who comes up with the right software fix. That must be worth a punt.
The group also claims that it has put together a petition which has been signed by over 4,000 HTC mobile PDA owners asking the company to resolve the situation.
Given that one of the HTC models in question - the TyTN II – retails at about $700, the group doesn't think this is a trivial complaint.
However, HTC did respond to the INQ with an official statement on this particular problem. It said: "Based on recent customer feedback with regards to video performance, HTC is in the process of investigating and validating these reports and if necessary identifying solutions to rectify any unusual issues."
So the two sides still seem far apart on whether there is a problem to be fixed or not. Perhaps HTC doesn't want to pay ATI unnecessarily? µ
L'INQ
HTC Class Action
Comments
Not just 'video' in its most obvious sense
The problem is with the entire graphical and display ability of the device. Screen rendering of menus, documents, icons, ... anything is very slow. Scrolling text can become impossible on larger documents. This is not simply an issue of kids being unable to watch videos or play games. This compromises the whole device for all users.sounds fimiliar
sound like a typical ati problem, bad drivers are the initiation to any ati hardware.The HTC Email HIT LIST
So, what do we believe? I sent an email to AT&T & HTC USA statintg my intent to return 300 Tilts & take my business to Samsung & Verizon. The respone I got was initially "We know about it, but don't know what we can do". After replying with a carpet bomb tyrade response email, a certain VP (J.B.M.) responded with a new line "we are working on a fix & believe it will be ready for release somtime before April".But now I see a response from HTC saying, "We don't use the ATI & aren't fixing anything".
NOW HEAR THIS:
I say we need to somehow get together an HTC Email Hit List. If we can get email addresses of the Execs & make them focus their time on this problem it will SERIOUSLY impact their efficiency, use up their valuable time & truly make a difference.
The people we really need to bomb with emails are the ones who's time realy matter.
We need phone numbers (Direct) & email addresses for the people whom matter. If you can supply any of theser do so annonymously. I will be using several special databases to see if I can get any of this info as well.
LOOK OUT HTC YOUR ON THE HIT LIST (EMAIL HIT LIST)
For the USA:
Mark J. Baker, Senior Director, Enterprise Business Unit, Americas
David Kou, Director, Business Development, CDMA
Waiman Lam, Controller
Hsiao-Wen Lin, Director of Engineering
Jason B. Mackenzie, Vice President of Sales and Marketing
David Smith, Director of Marketing
Chris Stovall, Executive Director, National Accounts
Wyatt Whaley, Executive Director, National Accounts
For Europe:
Peter Chou, CEO and President HTC Corp.
Florian Seiche, Vice President HTC Europe Co. Ltd.
Kevin Chen, Executive Director HTC EMEA Channel
Philip Blair, Product Director HTC Europe Co. Ltd.
Peter Frolund, Account Director HTC Europe Co. Ltd.
Frédéric Tassy, Account Director HTC Europe Co. Ltd.
Lars Weisswange, Account Director HTC Europe Co. Ltd.
Oliver Schulte, Finance Director HTC Europe Co. Ltd.
Peter Chiang, Account Director HTC Europe Co. Ltd.
Diane Studman, Head of European Marketing HTC Europe Co. Ltd.
Daniele De Grandis, Country Manager, Italy HTC Europe Co. Ltd.
These are the people at HTC whose time matter. Their lost minutes equal lost millions for HTC. Lets see what we can find & hit these people where it hurts (In their productivity & their pocket book)