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[Q] HTC Support History - Ditch HTC??

HTC seem to be developing a history of dropping development and support on their models after 6 months, which is extremely annoying unless you like to upgrade every 6 months. Is this false? Or should we all migrate away from HTC to other phones for this reason? My particular interest is in Android.
I was going to get my wife a HTC Desire Z but now I'm wondering if she's better off with an Android phone from a brand with a support history longer than 6 months.

Which Android vendor provides you with long support?
For me, I have just bought a HTC Dream more than 2 years after its release because there are tons of custom roms on xda. The Dream lives on because of the large community.
Make sure what you buy is a popular phone, so when official support stops you would stil get new roms from the community.

Inclined to agree, I have the original Desire so I am reading up on rooting and custom ROMs. Any suggestions or warnings?

DroidBois said:
Inclined to agree, I have the original Desire so I am reading up on rooting and custom ROMs. Any suggestions or warnings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take your time and read those stickies on the Desire forums. You'll be glad you did.
To OP, I think most are about the same. Though, I am still a little annoyed at the whole TyTN II debacle a few years ago, lol. For me, it really comes down to build quality and not much competes with HTC. Especially when they try. Like the HD2.

I sure am taking my time. I am the kind of person who drives everyone nuts with questions on every detail.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

This site is a benefit to anyone who uses it. It will extend the life of your phone. Many of the manufacturers will drop support after a few months. Most don't provide upgrades to software. Being able to use this site provides you with both: technical support for problems and upgraded software as newer versions becomes available.
My advice to you; buy a phone supported by XDA. If its not on here, don't buy it...
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

Wise words. I am so thankful I got the STOCK factory standard unlocked / unbranded AMOLED UK HTC Desire now, that's about as 'vanilla' as you can get by the sounds of it and I should be ok for ROM support then. Now to work out the right rooting / ROM procedure and which ROM to use!!

[Q] HTC HD2?

I know it is almost sacriligious (?) but I have an opportunity to buy one of there unlocked and was wondering if anyone here has had one that can compare it to the inspire. Since it is unlocked I think it will work on ATT? Any help or opinions would be appreciated.....

It'll work for voice, but you may not be able to get 3G data depending on which model HD2 it is. You'll need a T9193 (the Australian model) not the T8585 (I think) made for Tmobile.

True that. The oz version will work on 1 of the att channels so depending on what you have in your area it could be a very good experience for you, or just very expensive.
Also, it isn't anywhere near as fast as the Inspire- which can be had for free if you want 2 more years of AT&T.
Sent from my CM7 Inspire 4G with that special XDA app.

I appreciate the input. In my business I just cannot be without so if I continue to play with the phones I feel more comfortable with a spare I can just switch the sim card and be back online.
I had two Captivates that I sold to get something else. I am very happy with the inspire but you know how that goes, something better? Something newer?

I have an HD2. I love it. It's the best phone I ever had for customizing. It has much the same specs as the Inspire except for the camera and data radio. Oh...and the LCD isn't the "Super" version of the Inspire, but I find it quite excellent, nonetheless.
I'm currently using the cmylxgo Stock DesireHD ROM on it, which is essentially the same ROM on the Inspire. The Inspire is faster, smoother and cleaner, but the HD2 version isn't a slouch. It works amazingly well. But the glory of the HD2 is being able t use a whole host of custom ROMs on it. I'm actually using two android ROMs on my HD2. One is flashed to internal memory (NAND) and the other, a Nexus S CyanogenMOD by AmeriCanAndroid, is on the SD card. Both of these are excellent.
Some people use WindowsPhone 7 on the HD2 also. But be assured, you wouldn't have any boredom with an HD2.

[Q] Predictions on the bootloader

Since I have very little technical knowledge, I want to ask the people who do: Do you think the signed HTC bootloaders can be cracked?
Are they bulletproof? Is it just a matter of time? No idea?

Lord Panzer said:
Since I have very little technical knowledge, I want to ask the people who do: Do you think the signed HTC bootloaders can be cracked?
Are they bulletproof? Is it just a matter of time? No idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My knowledge on the topic is probably as limited as yours, but consider this: if someone figured out how to crack an iPhone, someone will undoubtedly figure out how to crack a signed bootloader.

The SE X10 bootloader was locked too and xda devs have unlocked it...though it took them a year to do it
Now knowing that hTC devices are way more popular here in xda, the unlocking process will take much less time, the incredible S are already temp rooted and it wouldn't take much time to be permanently rooted.
Now if you want to play on the safe side and love HTC then buy the DHD, it's still a stong device,rooted and plenty of roms

I like to believe my knowledge is limited as well.
From what I understand, a signed bootloader will require a leak of an internal engineering build to unlock. This was done on the HTC Thunderbolt for example.
An encrypted bootloader is tougher to unlock. This is why most of us won't buy a Motorola device.

By the way we still don't have any confirmation if it will be locked or not.
Htc said that their approach to security is "unchanged." If their approach is unchanged from devices like the Incredible S, which has an encrypted bootloader, the Sensation is unlikely to see custom firmware. If, however, their approach is unchanged from the Thunderbolt, then we are in luck: that phone has already been unlocked and rooted.

kgbkny said:
My knowledge on the topic is probably as limited as yours, but consider this: if someone figured out how to crack an iPhone, someone will undoubtedly figure out how to crack a signed bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except that Apple products seem to be very crackable, sometimes even before the launch date.

Once again they are not signed they are locked meaning there is a possible way to crack them. Motorola signed theirs. HTC just locked them in a different way. Making harder for us to crack. Bootloader locked and bootloader are signed two different things.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App

Perhaps but when you see the poor Incredible S users who tried everything possible to root it and couldn't...

vegetaleb said:
Perhaps but when you see the poor Incredible S users who tried everything possible to root it and couldn't...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ps3 couldn't be hack someone did it its mostly about popularity. They said the same thing about the g2 and the thunder bolt it got hacked. Its not impossible.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App

Not if, but when?
For me personally, the issue is not if the Sensation will be rooted, but WHEN. I'm personally thinking I might not want any new Android device before its rooted. I mean, although the Sensation has a lot to offer, unrooted it's going to be a resource hog that I won't be able to manage as I'd desire. I won't even be able to use Titanium Backup and some of my other apps till its rooted.
So I'm debating with myself about holding off on getting the Sensation till after it's rooted and an "unroot" path is also developed.
The only form of Android I've ever known is ROOTED, so going to a locked down version is not a pleasing option to me.

See this is what I love about Android and Opensource in general, and XDA in particular. You can go directly to the best and brightest and get answers! Thanks, everyone!

It shouldn't be a problem stock as bad as other phones gingerbread fixes alot of problems. The real fix is from ext4 but. It shouldn't be as bad as before though I hate sense the only thing I like is the camera apps ui and the fact that it doesn't lose data speeds.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App

The main thing I like in Sensation is the Sense 3.0, but the low benchmark score is a clear indication that it needs root to speed up some things like kernel OC.
Rooting a phone is not sufficiant, you need a bunch of happy devs to build roms and kernels, look at the beautiful xperia Arc for exemple, it has same power as DHD and its rooted for 2 weeks, but due to lack of devs we still don't have recovery nor roms,it's like if you bought a ferrari but can't drive it because of lack of petrol
HTC devices are the most loved ones at XDA for the time being and they get tons of roms BUT things can change if HtC wanna lock all their new devices like the Incredible S, even Paul from Modaco is not willing to buy the Sensation if it will be locked like IS, the SGS2 will win the hearts of the devs here...

vegetaleb said:
The main thing I like in Sensation is the Sense 3.0, but the low benchmark score is a clear indication that it needs root to speed up some things like kernel OC.
Rooting a phone is not sufficiant, you need a bunch of happy devs to build roms and kernels, look at the beautiful xperia Arc for exemple, it has same power as DHD and its rooted for 2 weeks, but due to lack of devs we still don't have recovery nor roms,it's like if you bought a ferrari but can't drive it because of lack of petrol
HTC devices are the most loved ones at XDA for the time being and they get tons of roms BUT things can change if HtC wanna lock all their new devices like the Incredible S, even Paul from Modaco is not willing to buy the Sensation if it will be locked like IS, the SGS2 will win the hearts of the devs here...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before there was ever Android, there was Windows Mobile and locked ROMs. And this very same site, XDA Developers was the place to come to unlock and get new ROMs.
So HTC locking down Android devices is old hat, as is unlocking them .
This site's history is rooted in HTC devices and so long as HTC makes something even marginally competitive I don't see it changing. The developers here have been hacking HTC devices before Android came to town. In fact, Android is the new kid on this block . Here, a lock is simply an exciting challenge to overcome, and a source for some developer to earn our $upport .
Don't count on a lock in the Sensation causing any wave of developers here to go running to Samsung.

Can you say the same to Incredible S users?

vegetaleb said:
Can you say the same to Incredible S users?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Inc S is Verizon right? We all know in the US VZW is the largest CDMA Carrier cell co. They usually get what they want. To me VZW is like Steve Jobs bunch of corporate jerks
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App

I recall the old Touch Pro 2 also took a little time to crack, but it was also unlocked. Even the old Treo Pro was eventually cracked, both the GSM and CDMA versions. They all get unlocked, some take a little more time than others.
Which is why my only question is when? The Sensation being a device that will be with GSM carriers, having a good degree of pre-sale marketing and being made by HTC. It's going to have development somewhere to the level we see with the HD2. Most of us HD2 owners that frequent this site moved to Android and the Sensation is the next suitable upgrade.

epsix said:
Inc S is Verizon right? We all know in the US VZW is the largest CDMA Carrier cell co. They usually get what they want. To me VZW is like Steve Jobs bunch of corporate jerks
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Incredible S is a GSM phone that is attracting attention since it has T-Mobile's AWS band support. Verizon is coming out with a dual-mode GSM/CDMA sister of the Inc S.

[Q] [DEV] FM Radio App - Dev on Desire or Desire HD -2

MODS: This is a copy of a post that M_T_M now agrees was incorrectly moved out of this dev forum. I'm a dev wanting to ask other devs which phone I should buy to continue development of my app.
My main question is should I buy an HTC Desire or Desire HD for further development of my app ?
I've developed a "Real" FM Radio app with RDS features and some other enhancements relative to the MIUI and CM apps. It's derived from the Code Aurora FM app that MIUI and CM are derived from.
At present, it's been tested well on HTC Legend, and also works on HTC Click and may work on other TI WL125x/127x FM/BT/Wifi chips.
I added some "experimental" support for the more popular Broadcom FM etc chips, but only the 4 simple functions in the CM app: namely On, Off, Tune and Volume/mute.
I'm about to buy a Broadcom based device, perhaps on Tuesday. The Desire and Desire HD look like my best choices. I considered a Desire Z but get a bad vibe on that from some quick reading.
If I was just buying for personal use, I'd likely get an HD for $500 Canadian new from Telus. The lesser Desire at $450 doesn't seem like a good deal, but there might be some reasons why it would be easier/better to develop on the Desire. I might be able to get a Desire used for $300 or so, but I think I'd be better off just getting a new phone.
AFAICT, the important issues to me are that both phones are supported with stock FM apps from HTC, and both support the MIUI ROMs with their FM app (?) and both support CM with their FM app. These things will make my task easier, especially given that I will likely have to do reverse engineering (again!) to get stuff like RDS working.
Also, the effort required to root/install new ROMs is an issue.

I would love to see RDS and Auto Tune in the FM app on the desire. that would be wonderfull since my finger hurts from going thru all the freq's 1Mhz at a time.

mikereidis said:
MODS: This is a copy of a post that M_T_M now agrees was incorrectly moved out of this dev forum. I'm a dev wanting to ask other devs which phone I should buy to continue development of my app.
My main question is should I buy an HTC Desire or Desire HD for further development of my app ?
I've developed a "Real" FM Radio app with RDS features and some other enhancements relative to the MIUI and CM apps. It's derived from the Code Aurora FM app that MIUI and CM are derived from.
At present, it's been tested well on HTC Legend, and also works on HTC Click and may work on other TI WL125x/127x FM/BT/Wifi chips.
I added some "experimental" support for the more popular Broadcom FM etc chips, but only the 4 simple functions in the CM app: namely On, Off, Tune and Volume/mute.
I'm about to buy a Broadcom based device, perhaps on Tuesday. The Desire and Desire HD look like my best choices. I considered a Desire Z but get a bad vibe on that from some quick reading.
If I was just buying for personal use, I'd likely get an HD for $500 Canadian new from Telus. The lesser Desire at $450 doesn't seem like a good deal, but there might be some reasons why it would be easier/better to develop on the Desire. I might be able to get a Desire used for $300 or so, but I think I'd be better off just getting a new phone.
AFAICT, the important issues to me are that both phones are supported with stock FM apps from HTC, and both support the MIUI ROMs with their FM app (?) and both support CM with their FM app. These things will make my task easier, especially given that I will likely have to do reverse engineering (again!) to get stuff like RDS working.
Also, the effort required to root/install new ROMs is an issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I heard that Desire HD was a flop, particularly because of the poor battery life.
It has 4.3 inches (big) screen and battery is merely 1350 mAh, too tittle to survive half a day.
If you read reviews on internet, you'll find that many reviewers consider HTC Desire the best smartphone of 2010.
My vote goes to HTC Desire.

desire all the way, although the HD is nice, as has already been stated the battery life is rubbish, however with a bit of fettling the desires battery can be made to last 2 days(as much as i used to get from my BB bold 9700) which is awesome for a smartphone.

Well.. Desire is far better and their are more numbers of DEVs and viewers on Desire Forum than DHD..
And FM Radio and 720p recording is not working on MIUI ROM as of now.
I would love to have both on my Deisre MIUI ROM.

Oh, wow. Thanks for all the replies. And I'm a bit surprised with the answer of older Desire. Is there any bias asking on a Desire forum ? LOL.
Regardless, there's clearly more people here and more info. I checked previously and saw many more posts here than for Desire HD. But that might be expected given the HD is newer, and perhaps a bit more expensive.
I liked the bigger screen size, and if only for development, battery life isn't an issue when plugged into my dev PC most of the time.
Anyway, I still haven't bought it yet, but you've definitely steered me towards the older Desire. Presumably, anything that runs on Desire should also run on Desire HD and some 8 or so other phones supported by CM at least.
As for RDS data, give me 2 weeks or so. The definitions in the MIUI source code are the only info I have on the Broadcom FM, but the command set seems so similar to the TI command set, and the I2C/HCI interface is simple enough that I feel confident in being able to reverse-engineer the RDS etc API without too much trouble.

hope u can manage the fm. i too am looking for fm in miui rom.

One thread per device forum is enough. Please refer to the one in Themes & Apps. Not sure about MTM agreeing it's dev related...I'm almost wanting to put it in Q&A as you are merely asking a question, but I'll leave it in the apps forum.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1048623

[Q] HTC Thunderbolt ROM for HTC Desire

Hey guys. I've got the Desire for like a year now. And it's not alot of great ROMs for the normal Desire. Can someone please make a Thunderbolt ROM for it ? And you know that new Thunderbolt, Mecha, Incredible HD or whatever it's called. I want you hackers to make a Thunderbolt ROM. And please don't make a fake look-a-like copy. Originally port or copy the ROM. And I live in Norway and do not have Verizon. So please unlock the ROM for all-over-the-world operators. And can you also modify the E, H and 3G icons to 4G only. Cuz I don't have a 4G network and it will look cool to have a 4G icon on H (Super-3G) and E (Edge).
This part is off-the-topic (but please read):
I'm a 13 year old computer nerd, so I love to get new stuff. (like ROMs). I've done alot of hacking. I booted Mac OS X into my eMachines E525 Notebook. But then I relized that mac sucks. I have also done Ubuntu, which is easy to do. But that sucked too. I've hacked games both computer and Xbox 360, but my mom don't want me to open and mod and JTag -.-'. So please don't be so rough with me and make me and other readers a very, very stable Thunderbolt ROM for our Desire G7 A18181 (that's the normal Desire of course, haha! Just a longer name, no Z, HD or S) Post a reply here if you've made a ROM and a list in the replay with over bugs, specs and a blue download link, etc.

You may get more responses if you make this request in the Thunderbolt or Desire forum

Are you being serious? There are loads and loads of roms availble for the Desire, for an older handset it has some great development. Thundebolt ROM may not of been ported due to hardware limitations. New sense roms are huge and some older handsets simply don't have the memory availble to install them.
Try this one really good sense rom with sense 3.0 goodies http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1016940
UNLOCK OUR BOOTLOADERS
Noob's Watch This

OK it don't need to be a port then. But I want thunderbolt