Chuong Nguyen
01-23-2008, 02:47 PM
In a recent Powered On, Sound Off (http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=4954) article, we posted about the video driver issue from HTC. Engadget (http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/01/22/htc-chimes-in-on-video-driver-controversy/) got a response from HTC. Essentially, if you want high resolution video support, you will have to wait for a future product from HTC's product lineup. According to Engadget:
"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 smartphones and enable a variety of audio and video file formats," reads the official response, in part. Furthermore, the company has officially confirmed that Imageon drivers are not in use on the affected devices, but that it "plans to include video acceleration hardware in future video-centric devices that will enable high-resolution video support."
The controversy started when users of recent HTC products noticed that the Qualcomm chipset used in the devices have enhanced graphics support. However, HTC released devices without driver support to enable the graphics functionality, despite the hardware being capable of such tasks. As a result, users have noticed lags, delays, and choppy video performance on their hardware. Upset users have started several websites regarding the issue. The other side of the issue being that HTC never marketed the devices as portable media players capable of video nor did they promise enhanced graphics support in their marketing. To read more about the controversy, head on over to our heated discussion forum (http://discuss.pocketnow.com/showthread.php?threadid=22761).
Now that the word is out, what do you think? Will you continue to support HTC in the future by continuing to purchase HTC manufactured products? Or will you defect to other manufacturers?
My take is that I can't complain for what was never promised to me. I will probably continue to support HTC products based on the fact that their devices are highly hackable and there are plenty of cooked ROMs available if I am unhappy with the stock ROM that was shipped on the device. However, I do think that HTC should improve customer support, especially since they are marketing their devices with their own brand more and more now. With the "Sprint Touch by HTC" and the HTC logo on the back battery cover of the AT&T Tilt, HTC will be eroding its goodwill.
"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 smartphones and enable a variety of audio and video file formats," reads the official response, in part. Furthermore, the company has officially confirmed that Imageon drivers are not in use on the affected devices, but that it "plans to include video acceleration hardware in future video-centric devices that will enable high-resolution video support."
The controversy started when users of recent HTC products noticed that the Qualcomm chipset used in the devices have enhanced graphics support. However, HTC released devices without driver support to enable the graphics functionality, despite the hardware being capable of such tasks. As a result, users have noticed lags, delays, and choppy video performance on their hardware. Upset users have started several websites regarding the issue. The other side of the issue being that HTC never marketed the devices as portable media players capable of video nor did they promise enhanced graphics support in their marketing. To read more about the controversy, head on over to our heated discussion forum (http://discuss.pocketnow.com/showthread.php?threadid=22761).
Now that the word is out, what do you think? Will you continue to support HTC in the future by continuing to purchase HTC manufactured products? Or will you defect to other manufacturers?
My take is that I can't complain for what was never promised to me. I will probably continue to support HTC products based on the fact that their devices are highly hackable and there are plenty of cooked ROMs available if I am unhappy with the stock ROM that was shipped on the device. However, I do think that HTC should improve customer support, especially since they are marketing their devices with their own brand more and more now. With the "Sprint Touch by HTC" and the HTC logo on the back battery cover of the AT&T Tilt, HTC will be eroding its goodwill.