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Dear Forums,
As we all know, the key to having a truly customizable device is having the source for their builds, and as we also all know, Viewsonic has not released the source code for their Gtablet.
If we all find the correct email to contact, much like all other companies they will be pressured into releasing the source to the community.
Let's get this done.
LETTER
Dear Viewsonic,
We are aware your company has directed many customers calling for technical support to the gTablet sub-forum of xda-developers
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=841
Please consider listening to what the community as asking for.
By using the Linux Kernel in your device you are required by the Free Software Foundation's General Public License (GPLv2) to release the source code for the kernel. If there is any proprietary software involved in said code, then you have the right to protect your investment, and not include that with the source release.
We are entitled to the source to change our tablets in the way we see fit with the full understanding that when we modify our tablets software we remove ourselves from any sort of warranty you may offer.
Furthermore, we would like an open dialog between with your developers concerning the software which is shipped with the gTablet. It well known among the community that the return rate for the gTablet is unnaturally high. The version of Android developed by Tap n Tap does not provide a positive user experience for the average user. By this time you should be aware of such feedback coming from the main distributors of the gTablet, Sears and Staples. This situation will only continue to get worse as detailed professional reviews of this product begin to circulate around the Internet. One such review I am referring to will be posted to Anandtech.com in the next few days.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4054/first-look-viewsonic-gtablet-and-tegra-2-performance-preview
Barnes and Noble has released a Software Development Kit as well as source code to enable the community to make the Nook Color the best product it can be.
http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/press_releases/2010_oct_26_nook_developer.html
Please follow their example. By working together we can make the gTablet a real competitor in the burgeoning tablet marketplace.
Sincerely,
The gTablet Community from xda-developers.com
I'll second that. Not sure what we can do, but they should be reminded.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Viewsonic's main website has a support tab that you can send inquiries. Do you think it would get to the right place if we used that?
The email avenue did not work for me
xmr405o said:
Viewsonic's main website has a support tab that you can send inquiries. Do you think it would get to the right place if we used that?
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I tried using the email tech support method for the web site; got this response back:
Dear Mr. Walker,
Thank you for contacting ViewSonic Technical Support.
I apologize but as much as I wanted to assist you with it, the product that you are inquiring about is handled by a different technical department.
You may contact them by calling 1-866-501-6405 between 8am-5pm PST, Monday through Friday.
If you have other technical concerns, feel free to contact us again. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to assist you.
Sincerely,
Josef
ViewSonic Technical Support
(800) 688-6688 (USA)
(866) 463-4775(Canada)
[email protected] said:
I tried using the email tech support method for the web site; got this response back:
Dear Mr. Walker,
Thank you for contacting ViewSonic Technical Support.
I apologize but as much as I wanted to assist you with it, the product that you are inquiring about is handled by a different technical department.
You may contact them by calling 1-866-501-6405 between 8am-5pm PST, Monday through Friday.
If you have other technical concerns, feel free to contact us again. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to assist you.
Sincerely,
Josef
ViewSonic Technical Support
(800) 688-6688 (USA)
(866) 463-4775(Canada)
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Go for it. it has to drop sooner or later. the more pressure from the community, the better. I'll drop them a line as well.
I get the feeling that instead of taking the time to lock the device down like is done with phones and other android devices, they decided they will just not release the code and hope to stall out mods that way.
TheMongol said:
I get the feeling that instead of taking the time to lock the device down like is done with phones and other android devices, they decided they will just not release the code and hope to stall out mods that way.
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That'd work, except for the fact that it's against the GPL, and that'd be breaking the law. They have to make it available, it's just a matter of pressuring them into doing so sooner than later.
just sent off my second email to viewsonic regarding the gtablet (along with a note telling them to fwd the email accordingly). i will let you guys know if i get a response.
Just called in. They are taking people's contact info that say they are android developers (they started doing that today) and they said they are not doing it to track us or anything like that, but to contact us...like say...when the source is released.
Everybody, call. Emailing isn't going to get you anywhere.
I informed them that they will legally have to release source under GPL, he said he will be passing that up to the developers. It sounds like we may be getting somewhere, but we need to call...the more the merrier. It sounds like they have a small call center so its not how many times you call, but how many different people call at this point.
myndwire said:
That'd work, except for the fact that it's against the GPL, and that'd be breaking the law. They have to make it available, it's just a matter of pressuring them into doing so sooner than later.
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Oh yes indeed. But that doesn't mean people won't try to get away with things from time to time. Perhaps they are not even aware. I know I am going to call and ask soon even though I just started developing on android.
I called them today, as well - good bunch of people over there and a pleasure to talk with them.
I'm serious - in a world of reps in third world countries speaking broken english and working off a script, the VS reps are a breath of fresh air and Viewsonic should be commended for that alone. I put in my usual request to please release the source and I was told that they will pass it onto the development team.
I don't expect anything to come from it, but they do know who I am and who we are, so I'm hoping that VS management throws us a bone once they realize what a mistake it was adding that TnT layer.
roebeet said:
I called them today, as well - good bunch of people over there and a pleasure to talk with them.
I'm serious - in a world of reps in third world countries speaking broken english and working off a script, the VS reps are a breath of fresh air and Viewsonic should be commented for that alone. I put in my usual request to please release the source and I was told that they will pass it onto the development team.
I don't expect anything to come from it, but they do know who I am and who we are, so I'm hoping that VS management throws us a bone once they realize what a mistake it was adding that TnT layer.
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I agree. The guy I talked to was pretty cool. He also said that the developers are being very persistent about keeping TnT in place. Very nice to talk to someone that can actually speak English
scsione889 said:
I agree. The guy I talked to was pretty cool, and even he came out and said xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. He also said that the developers are being very persistent about keeping TnT in place. Very nice to talk to someone that can actually speak English
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Watch out, they read these forums, don't want to get the poor guy fired!
jacindc said:
Watch out, they read these forums, don't want to get the poor guy fired!
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x2 on that! Rule of thumb - if you write something here about a conversation with CS, assume that their management might read it and how that would look.
Just spoke with Mike @ Viewsonic gtablet support. First, they are very nice! Second, Mike said that they are working on a release, but no date yet. Finally, Mike said that they would be posting it to viewsonic.com/gtablet website (and to also check xda-developers.com for other updates).
They also took my e-mail address - hopefully to send out a blast when they are finally able to post it.
BTW, Mike - thanks!
I also have to echo others who have posted here - Thank you, Viewsonic, for having people who can speak English!!
I figured I would do my part as well. I called & spoke to a tech who said they were not releasing it & have no plans to do so. I said its linux based & the GPL says they have to release the source by law. He said they dont support changing the operating system. I said Android is linux based & falls under the GPL. He then transfered me to a senior tech who said:
Tap n tap is proprietary & therefore it doesn’t fall in the GPL. He said the TNT is also horrendous & they want to protect the tap n tap ‘investment’ which is why the source wont be released. They did not ask for my information aside from my first name for the conversation we had. He basically said they were not going to release the source regardless of how many people called. The only way to get it is to sue the company & force them to do so. Obviously, I am not looking to spend more money just to get the source. He knows that, the company knows that & until someone bucks up & hires an attorney, viewsonic doesn’t care.
He did say that they did get a number of calls, he feels for me, he said others have rooted it but tough titties (my summary).
RichTJ99 said:
He basically said they were not going to release the source regardless of how many people called. The only way to get it is to sue the company & force them to do so.
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Boy, did my blood pressure just skyrocket.
RichTJ99 said:
I figured I would do my part as well. I called & spoke to a tech who said they were not releasing it & have no plans to do so. I said its linux based & the GPL says they have to release the source by law. He said they dont support changing the operating system. I said Android is linux based & falls under the GPL. He then transfered me to a senior tech who said:
Tap n tap is proprietary & therefore it doesn’t fall in the GPL. He said the TNT is also horrendous & they want to protect the tap n tap ‘investment’ which is why the source wont be released. They did not ask for my information aside from my first name for the conversation we had. He basically said they were not going to release the source regardless of how many people called. The only way to get it is to sue the company & force them to do so. Obviously, I am not looking to spend more money just to get the source. He knows that, the company knows that & until someone bucks up & hires an attorney, viewsonic doesn’t care.
He did say that they did get a number of calls, he feels for me, he said others have rooted it but tough titties (my summary).
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Thanks for the info.
What I don't understand is why is it that HTC is bound to GPL in that it must release source for its devices even though the majority of HTC devices has the proprietary software, Sense?
I don't think having proprietary software on a device exempts a company from conforming to GPL.
i think they must be new to linux or HTC is very used to dealing with Linux.
The senior tech was sympathetic but was firm in repeating the company plans. Heck their twitter page sais the same exact thing.
It makes me wonder if I should return it.
RichTJ99 said:
i think they must be new to linux or HTC is very used to dealing with Linux.
The senior tech was sympathetic but was firm in repeating the company plans. Heck their twitter page sais the same exact thing.
It makes me wonder if I should return it.
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I agree- without source, the gtab won't be able to experience its full potential especially if Viewsonic thinks anyone likes tapntap. Makes me wonder if I should return mine even though (outside of a few annoyances) I really like the device.
Viewsonic has to release source. Their device is Linux based with a proprietary software user interface just like HTC devices. This is ridiculous.
Before we start, it may appear Motorola and Samsung will be the only ones who will have a Honeycomb product until at least May/June. The reasons being:-
1. Honeycomb supply to manufacturers have been delayed until May/June. I dont know exactly what this means except that the manufacturers I work with cannot get access to Honeycomb for their products (but it may be related to the next rumor).
2. Honeycomb wont be open sourced and a major manufacturer is working with Google on trying to secure licensing.
Sorry I cant be more specific than this. The second rumor contradicts everything Google has done so far, but if I mention the manufacturer involved, it lends weight to the rumor.
Does anyone else have any further information to collaborate/debunk these rumors?
EDIT: When I say Honeycomb wont be open sourced, I meant Google plans to close source it and Honeycomb will require a license.
I'm gonna call BS on all of the above.
#1. New member, first post, no sources or company names given.
#2. Honeycomb SDK is already published. Functional installs of Honeycomb can and have already been built from this.
#3. Licensing means they CANNOT closed source it
Either present us with some evidence, or quit spouting rubbish.
FloatingFatMan said:
I'm gonna call BS on all of the above.
#1. New member, first post, no sources or company names given.
#2. Honeycomb SDK is already published. Functional installs of Honeycomb can and have already been built from this.
#3. Licensing means they CANNOT closed source it
Either present us with some evidence, or quit spouting rubbish.
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^ couldn't put it better myself.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
There is a reason why this is a new account, if it isnt obvious to you.
I am not asking for speculative opinions, I am wondering if there is anyone else in the industry hearing either of these rumors.
Atleast give some sources?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Sorry, the market for real Honeycomb products is actually very small at the moment so any hints will reveal too much. Please, if anyone else has heard anything just PM me.
Small huh? There are plenty of devices coming out quite soon. Acer's Iconia Tab A500, for example, has just had its FCC approval granted and will be out mid-April. That's running Honeycomb, so kinda slaps your "rumours" in the chops about it not being available until June.
FloatingFatMan said:
#3. Licensing means they CANNOT closed source it
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What licence exactly?
FYI Android itself is licensed under the Apache software license, which is a non-copyleft licence.
If Google so chose, they could keep Honeycomb itself closed source, and their only open source requirement would be publishing the source for the linux kernel on shipping devices.
Regards,
Dave
foxmeister said:
What licence exactly?
FYI Android itself is licensed under the Apache software license, which is a non-copyleft licence.
If Google so chose, they could keep Honeycomb itself closed source, and their only open source requirement would be publishing the source for the linux kernel on shipping devices.
Regards,
Dave
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Because they've already released it under open license.
FloatingFatMan said:
Because they've already released it under open license.
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The latest release of Android released under the Apache Software Licence is Gingerbread - that can't be taken back.
However, anything built on top of that source can be closed source if the developer so wishes, and that includes Honeycomb!
I still expect Google to release Honeycomb under the ASL, but the point it - *they don't have to!*.
Regards,
Dave
Seriously guys,do you really think that in times like these we're living,Google will abandon the idea that made their OS so successful?I highly doubt that...
tolis626 said:
Seriously guys,do you really think that in times like these we're living,Google will abandon the idea that made their OS so successful?I highly doubt that...
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I absolutely agree with you - I cannot fathom any reason for Google to make Honeycomb close source. This rumor (#2) is from a bigger company than the company that provided the first rumor.
Interesting news ! Thanks for the share !
FloatingFatMan said:
I'm gonna call BS on all of the above.
#1. New member, first post, no sources or company names given.
[...]
Either present us with some evidence, or quit spouting rubbish.
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Same as the troll who claimed Samsung were trying to charge networks for software updates yet everyone was willing to believe that...
I'm not arguing that this looks and smells like trolling, merely attempting to highlight that plenty of people round here seem to be quite happy to 'never let the facts get in the way of a good story'.
Sorry to double-post but Engadget has an article on the matter.
Here's a quote from Google:
Android 3.0, Honeycomb, was designed from the ground up for devices with larger screen sizes and improves on Android favorites such as widgets, multi-tasking, browsing, notifications and customization. While we're excited to offer these new features to Android tablets, we have more work to do before we can deliver them to other device types including phones. Until then, we've decided not to release Honeycomb to open source. We're committed to providing Android as an open platform across many device types and will publish the source as soon as it's ready.
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Absolutely no mention of licences.
It does, on the other hand, talk of Honeycomb 'not being ready, which ties in to a lot of reviews and impressions of it as an OS.
Again, I feel this is very similar to the 'Samsung charging for upgrades' rumour - something takes a little bit longer than normal to happen and a minority start making up ridiculous rumours to try and explain it.
Step666 said:
Sorry to double-post but
Here's a quote from Google:
Absolutely no mention of licences.
It does, on the other hand, talk of Honeycomb 'not being ready, which ties in to a lot of reviews and impressions of it as an OS.
Again, I feel this is very similar to the 'Samsung charging for upgrades' rumour - something takes a little bit longer than normal to happen and a minority start making up ridiculous rumours to try and explain it.
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I am not sure whether my post occurred before the Engadget article or not, but this article certainly validates rumor #1. It would be interesting to see how this affects manufacturers who have announced Honeycomb products (one poster mentioned Acer earlier). I know some are launching Gingerbread instead, which isnt ideal.
While the link between the two rumors is subject to interpretation, the two rumors were taken from different sources. The second rumor is less believable (even to me) however, the source is from a significantly larger company.
No, it doesn't validate rumour number one.
You claimed that manufacturers are unable to get a copy of Honeycomb - there's a big difference between Google publicly releasing the source code and passing copies of it to manufacturers.
Do you really think that when Google released Froyo's or GIngerbread's source code that that was the first time HTC, Samsung etc had seen it?
I really don't.
Also, as has been pointed out already, the fact that there are Honeycomb devices coming from a range of manufacturers goes some way to disproving your point.
As for the believability of your rumours, unless you can back them up with any sort of proof, I don't see any reason to believe either of them.
Well the op might be on to something at least. I'm not buying that top tier manufacturers won't be able to get the code as LG and Acer among others are going to be releasing tablets with honeycomb in the coming weeks.
http://www.androidcentral.com/google-not-open-sourcing-honeycomb-says-bloomberg
Thank you so much for this article - this is another source verifying the difficulty of manufacturers getting honeycomb source code. There is no doubt the Tier 1 companies will get preferential access to the code - the question is, who is seen as Tier 1 by Google.
Perhaps in regards to licensing, this may be just a legal formality for companies to get access to Honeycomb at the moment, and it is unclear whether these licenses will cost anything.
Thank you again, this has been a great help. This is a third party source we can use to explain to our clients why we cannot launch honeycomb at the date we promised.
I am glad Google isn't releasing the code so cheap companies can't just stick Honeycomb on crap devices and make it look bad.
Sent from my Incredible with the XDA Premium App.
Hey All,
I just got off the phone with VS support ((310) 228-4000) and i was informed that they had a big meeting with the techs and Nvidia yesterday about honeycomb for Gtablet. The rep said that it is coming but not sure what the date is. So that is some good news. I am suppose to get a call back from her either today or tomorrow with a def answer about honeycomb. Also the update servers are going online today or tomorrow according to her and the latest update is 3588.
I also recieved and email from Nvidia and they are looking in to the issue as well.
this is Bruce's response:
Hi – we’re still looking into this, sorry for the delay.
cd112 said:
Hey All,
I just got off the phone with VS support ((310) 228-4000) and i was informed that they had a big meeting with the techs and Nvidia yesterday about honeycomb for Gtablet. The rep said that it is coming but not sure what the date is. So that is some good news. I am suppose to get a call back from her either today or tomorrow with a def answer about honeycomb. Also the update servers are going online today or tomorrow according to her and the latest update is 3588.
I also recieved and email from Nvidia and they are looking in to the issue as well.
this is Bruce's response:
Hi – we’re still looking into this, sorry for the delay.
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Sorry forget to add one thing.. If many people call in to this they might push the release date closer and may release it sooner.
cd112 said:
Sorry forget to add one thing.. If many people call in to this they might push the release date closer and may release it sooner.
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Interesting, given that nVidia has stated they will not put Honeycomb on anything less than Ventana.
While I appreciate your willingness to push this, I still don't see NV helping out. To VS the Gtab is dead, why do they care about pushing NV for HC?
Well, keep in mind. nVidia said they would not be officially supporting HC on Harmony. They then later said that it was up to the Manufacturer. If Viewsonic really told him GTablet will get Honeycomb, I wonder if this means that nVidia will be releasing the driver source to the OEMs to support as they see fit? It's also possible that the Ventana drivers will work on Honeycomb with some modifications, since it sounds like the only difference is in the ancillary components on the board, not the chip itself.
Cautiously optimistic. Until I see a ROM I'm not going to hold my breath.
jerdog said:
Interesting, given that nVidia has stated they will not put Honeycomb on anything less than Ventana.
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Not sure.. It was a shocking news to me as well when the rep Her name is SUE told me that they had a big meeting yesterday about releasing honeycomb for Gtablet and she also mentioned that they were in conference calls with nvidia about it. She said that she doesn't have the full story but she took my number and name and said that if i cant get you this info by today one her engineers will call me tomorrow with the info.
Lets see what happens.
CodeNinja said:
It's also possible that the Ventana drivers will work on Honeycomb with some modifications, since it sounds like the only difference is in the ancillary components on the board, not the chip itself.
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+1. That was exactly my point in the "Look Ahead" thread.
I called in just to ask if honeycomb was coming. hope it helps.
r4ph said:
I called in just to ask if honeycomb was coming. hope it helps.
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What did they say to you if you don't mind sharing.
CodeNinja said:
Well, keep in mind. nVidia said they would not be officially supporting HC on Harmony. They then later said that it was up to the Manufacturer. If Viewsonic really told him GTablet will get Honeycomb, I wonder if this means that nVidia will be releasing the driver source to the OEMs to support as they see fit? It's also possible that the Ventana drivers will work on Honeycomb with some modifications, since it sounds like the only difference is in the ancillary components on the board, not the chip itself.
Cautiously optimistic. Until I see a ROM I'm not going to hold my breath.
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Has there not already been drivers written for Ventana/Honeycomb by nVidia? I guess there has been they just haven't been released to the wild yet?
I too am cautiously optimistic about this...
I would not trust anything that their new CS department says, yet - I have my reasons for that. But I hope I am wrong.
The Nvidia dev forum posted an update yesterday stating that they will stop developing an OS (ie the rom) based on the prior generation tegra 2.
They completely acknowledge the fact that the kernel sources will be provided.
---
Mar 16 2011 at 12:07 AM #1 .NVIDIA is only supporting the Ventana platform for android releases going forward. At the moment we have released Froyo and Gingerbread OS images for Ventana and will release Honeycomb after Google has done so.
UPDATE 12 APRIL 2011:
Sorry folks looks like I caused a bit of confusion. Since this is a developer forum my comments
were targeted at Tegra Honeycomb developers and for this we’d like to focus on Ventana. For shipping or production products, customers should contact the device makers directly for OS support plans. They are responsible for the OS shipping on their device.
In relation to our linux kernel git repository, NVIDIA will continue to provide full open-source support for all of our kernel components and will push more of that upstream over time.
Andrew Edelsten
Tegra Developer Relations
NVIDIA Corporation
msignor said:
The Nvidia dev forum posted an update yesterday stating that they will stop developing an OS (ie the rom) based on the prior generation tegra 2.
They completely acknowledge the fact that the kernel sources will be provided.
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But nvidia never develops these roms in the first place, right? they just develop the chipset and drivers?
What does it mean for us that the kernel sources will be provided. Does that mean we'll be able to port Gingerbread and/or honeycomb with hardware acceleration?
sundar2012 said:
But nvidia never develops these roms in the first place, right? they just develop the chipset and drivers?
What does it mean for us that the kernel sources will be provided. Does that mean we'll be able to port Gingerbread and/or honeycomb with hardware acceleration?
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I suspect they develop ROMs for their development hardware. However if what they meant is that they won't be developing any new development hardware ROMs, but will continue to provide driver kernel support to manufacturers, they really screwed up how they worded it.
Indistinctly this sounds like really f***ing good news!!!
sorry for the wording, but Im happy again (I bought mean a week ago)
cd112 said:
What did they say to you if you don't mind sharing.
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Still waiting for a call back.... ... .. .
we MIGHT have actually started something here folks. 1000 whispers = a scream.
Hopefully this is true. I'm not holding my breath though.
From Viewsonic's Twiiter:
Folks- we can't comment on future OS updates to our tablets- too many variables. We'll let you know if updates are available.
16 minutes ago via CoTweet
I guess we'll wait and hope
This is entirely, my opinion.
I consider both good and bad news about Honeycomb and the future updates to the drivers for Harmony all rumors until there's a clear cut answer. Both responses from Viewsonic and Nvidia are not facts since they both seem to be flip flopping their answers.
I consider myself a positive person so I will remain that way while others may not share the same stance. The only thing that both negative and positive people may have in common is that all of our posts are assumptions at this point.
A few months ago, during the whole nVidia Harmony forum post fiasco, there seemed to be a pretty decent campaign by some members of XDA and other forums to get Viewsonic to support their product. That caused them to (at least temporarily) release the 1.2 branch.
This helped push forward ROMs by Roebeet and others. The future looked bright for Honeycomb on the Harmony platform.
Now, after asking a question on their Twitter post today, I am not so sure about Viewsonic's commitment to support a product that still has a lot of potential.
Here is the Twitter timeline:
ViewSonic
What do YOU use your tablet for the most? Tell us on Facebook! on.fb.me/ViewSonicCorp
tomsliwowski
@ViewSonic I'd love to use my GTab for Honeycomb. Are you ever going to support the GTab at all?
ViewSonic
@tomsliwowski The GTablet was never promoted as a Honeycomb product. There are multiple business and technical issues with both nVidia
ViewSonic
@tomsliwowski and Google that prevent later versions of the Android OS from being implemented on the GTablet.
tomsliwowski
@ViewSonic I'm sorry but that is simply not true. Customers of yours on XDA, SlateDroid and TabletROMs have versions of HC running.
ViewSonic
@tomsliwowski There are 3rd party companies that have hacked the device, however, Honeycomb is not support by ViewSonic on the gTablet.
tomsliwowski
@ViewSonic All they need is for you to release Harmony drivers which nVidia already publicly stated they will provide upon request from you
ViewSonic
@tomsliwowski For further support on this matter, please contact the gTablet support team at (310) 228-4000.
Frankly I didn't expect them to reply to me and to offload the blame to their partners that quickly. I know that if they don't put at least a fully working (i.e. minimally buggy) official 2.2 ROM I will not even consider Viewsonic for future hardware purchases.
Time to get on Twitter
Maybe ask Tom about an article on Viewsonic's commitment to the Gtab, on their own website.
viewsonic.com/company/news/vs_press_release_443666.htm
viewsonic is right on the first part but wrong when they dont provide the drivers
Well, this is a bummer.
Maybe we should be talking to Malata instead of Viewsonic.
Well if you want to make a vow to never buy another Viewsonic product do it now. Here is my hand, I pledge to never buy another Viewsonic product again.
Let's not just vow not to buy, we need to all start calling, emailing viewsonic, make sure you let them know you indend to not only stop buying their products but to also stop reccomending them to friends, family, customers, random people on the street. Let's tie up their phone lines, email and twitter accounts with our vocal displeasure.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I tried this with HP. My Dv6000 laptop was part of a whole batch of bad laptops. Not just dv6000 but a ton of the dv lines. Basically the laptops all overheated and eventually died within 1-2 years of use or less. I called, emailed, did everything and HP basically told me to eff off. I paid $1200 for the laptop as well. Companies suck these days. I will never buy an HP computer ever again because of this. So at least they are losing the customer and I do bad mouth them to people looking at computers because of how bad their customer service is. Google Dv6000 overheat 3 beeps, etc and you'll just see how many people out there had the same problem. HP are crooks.
To who it may concern,,,
The following is a letter that I emailed, faxed, snail mailed and posted on their forum:
I am or should I say was a loyal ViewSonic customer. That was until I learned that ViewSonic would not only release a version of HoneyComb for the GTablet, but that you would also not assist the development community in their endeavors to create at least a working HoneyComb-like OS by releasing the Harmony driver sets per Nvidia. Now I know who ever receives this will probably initially discount this as the ravings of one disgruntled customer. I would ask that you consider the following:
1) I am a techie. As such I enjoy big ticket techie items. I am in the market for a large screen television. Guess who I will no longer consider? You're now probably thinking, "Big deal so we lose one customer."
2) Also consider this, as a techie a lot of my friends and family often refer to my judgement on ALL things technical including purchases of electronics.
3) Oh yeah, I also posted this letter on every forum and blog that I am a member of. At last count we are talking 82 sites world wide.
Good luck in your future endeavors.
Signed,
A former customer
Never Again
Never again, I say, to viewsonic. That company is a rip off, and even if they improved their ethics, I will not buy. As long as I have self respect, I will not give them one cent, because I will not allow myself to be treated like I am worthless and alive only to service those a**'s. Already, I declined to buy a 24" monitor simply because it has the viewsonic brand.
My Pledge - 30 tweets in 30 days @viewsonic, with a msg similar to No customer care, no product support, cant be trusted, never make that mistake again, boycott, boycott, boycott, remember the gTab.
It would be really cool if at least five or ten people on this site joined in with me.
I too thought the same way when i purchased a Gtab. I am now rooted with Alpha Bottle Of Smoke rom and love it! all the honeycomb i want
I went ahead and sent a tweet @ViewSonic as well, asking them if they will ever provide support for a current or future Android OS
Im hoping they will eventually release an update and bring us up to at least gingerbread...
maybe we will get lucky and they will update the GTab with ice cream sandwich...
im expecting nothing though and hoping for something
Swaggasaurus said:
I too thought the same way when i purchased a Gtab. I am now rooted with Alpha Bottle Of Smoke rom and love it! all the honeycomb i want
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Except for hardware acceleration which is a big deal
Sent from my GtabComb using Tapatalk
I think we might be better off hounding Andrew over at Nvidia for the drivers. He didnt want to give out any Google files but it sounded like he could help with the Nvidia stuff. Now that HC is ported maybe he can help with the drivers.
What's a good email address for viewsonic?
we should all just blow them up.
Swaggasaurus said:
I too thought the same way when i purchased a Gtab. I am now rooted with Alpha Bottle Of Smoke rom and love it! all the honeycomb i want
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Does the Bottle of Smoke Rom allow USB access for transferring files and MicroSD card access?
If so, I will definitely check it out.
I had an interesting Chat conversation with Viewsonic technical support this evening. I knew that Viewsonic doesn't handle the tech support of the Gtablet any longer, but didn't want the support guy, Aljhon (I called him AL) to know that I knew that.
I simply wanted to ask him if Viewsonic was planning on releasing any other firmware updates for the stock TNT Firmware.
his Answer:
"Actually, have dedicated department that supports our G-Tablets. We do not have any information for Gtablet here."
"You may contact them directly at 310-228-4000 between 9AM-5PM PST, Monday through Friday."
I know that is US Merchants contact information, and figured he would probably provide it. I expanded my questioning, explaining that I didn't have any issues with the Gtablet and htat it works fine, just htat I was simply wanting to know if the development team had any plans to update the stock firmware any time soon.
"Honestly Mr. Evans, I would really glad to assist you regarding this but I do no have any information here in my resources."
I made the point that the Tablets are still selling, with the Viewsonic name on the back, and the Viewsonic logo shown at startup...
" I am unable to answer your concern because we do not have any information here for Gtablet."
then he just kept barking the "dedicated department" BS to me with US Merchants phone number.
Why was this conversation important? It says, to me at least, that Viewsonic has indeed abandoned this product. Their support team doesn't have "any information" regarding it. If they were planning on providing a stock firmware update, then that informaiton should be available, right? By stating that he doesn't have ANY information, I took it as Viewsonic washing their hands of the Gtablet, and letting it remain at the latest released firmware (1.1.3588).
I informed him that I would never recommend a Viewsonic product to anyone I know...though now, it seems that US Merchants has their stock, and is the only company profitting from Gtablets.
I highly doubt that US Merchants is developing anything, nor even has the resources to request anything that the community wants. Their contact was Viewsonic, and Viewsonic had the contacts.
Gtablet 1.1.3588 is the farthest that this thing will go, with support from it's manufacturer...
Why dont we start a petition and link it to viewsonics forums. Let the world speak. And that makes 10!
DKS1282 said:
Why dont we start a petition and link it to viewsonics forums. Let the world speak. And that makes 10!
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Because petitions don't mean anything if the other side doesn't listen. All VS has to do is ignore us and time will make people forget about us.
Unfortunately, I do not think that the number of disatisfied g-tablet users will affect them globally enough to change their stand.
We got a tablet with similar hardware at a much cheaper price and I would say that you get what you pay for.
If you are interested, there is an opportunity to provide your perspective on ViewSonic's decision to provide support for your G-Tablet device on Facebook.
Search for ViewSonic the go to discussions on the left hand side.
Steve
It may amount to nothing, but at least we have an area to vent where Viewsonic is at least reading it. Granted, it could be (and most likely is) some summer intern that's just posting canned responses to our complaints, but at least that's better than being ignored by their customer service area.
I can't, sorry. Viewsonic blocked me on FB as well as twitter.
I expressed my concerns on the nvidia developer forum. Will on Facebook as well.
Sent from my Flashback HC-TAB using XDA Forum App
Right now, nvidia is pointing its finger at viewsonic saying viewsonic isn't supporting the gtab. Viewsonic is pointing its finger at nvidia saying nvidia won't support the harmony tegra 2 beyond 2.2.
Have you ever called for support and then get redirected endlessly to another line only to go in a big circle and end up where you originally were?
I firmly believe nothing will ever come out of our complaints.
I've mentioned this before elsewhere. Both our acer iconia tab and asus transformer have gotten updates after updates. My g/f's transformer recently got an update for her dock free of charge after customer complaints that the dock was draining battery. Asus engineering team came up with a way to put the dock to sleep when not in use and offered the hardware update free of charge.
Mean while, we have gotten nada from VS in the last 7 months.
goodintentions said:
Right now, nvidia is pointing its finger at viewsonic saying viewsonic isn't supporting the gtab. Viewsonic is pointing its finger at nvidia saying nvidia won't support the harmony tegra 2 beyond 2.2.
Have you ever called for support and then get redirected endlessly to another line only to go in a big circle and end up where you originally were?
I firmly believe nothing will ever come out of our complaints.
I've mentioned this before elsewhere. Both our acer iconia tab and asus transformer have gotten updates after updates. My g/f's transformer recently got an update for her dock free of charge after customer complaints that the dock was draining battery. Asus engineering team came up with a way to put the dock to sleep when not in use and offered the hardware update free of charge.
Mean while, we have gotten nada from VS in the last 7 months.
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Nivida hasn't made a statement sine the April fiasco. I don't rst thatViewonic ever actually spoke wiht anyone at Nvidia regarding drivers. they claim that they did, simply ot shut us up.
The only thing we can do now, is leave negative reviews on as many sites as we can for the potential lack of support for their products. Even just a few people deciding not to urase frm Viewsonic would make difference.
TJEvans said:
I can't, sorry. Viewsonic blocked me on FB as well as twitter.
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well apparantly if you voice your opinion too much they will dete your posts and make is so you cannot post their facebook page anymore. i have been banned for simply asking "I have just one single question for Viewsonic (that i know will be ignored or deleted)..... With the "less than desirable" support i and others have recieved for your GTablet product, why would i spend any more money with you and buy a Ventana??" so now the only place i can post is to the "recomendations" section.
mmenzie said:
well apparantly if you voice your opinion too much they will dete your posts and make is so you cannot post their facebook page anymore. i have been banned for simply asking "I have just one single question for Viewsonic (that i know will be ignored or deleted)..... With the "less than desirable" support i and others have recieved for your GTablet product, why would i spend any more money with you and buy a Ventana??" so now the only place i can post is to the "recomendations" section.
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They banned you for that? Ouch. I'm surprised they haven't deleted my comments yet, then. I figured I was skirting with a ban, but no worries - I'll keep posting there every few days until they do.
roebeet said:
They banned you for that? Ouch. I'm surprised they haven't deleted my comments yet, then. I figured I was skirting with a ban, but no worries - I'll keep posting there every few days until they do.
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thanks... hope someone keeps up the fight!!!
roebeet said:
They banned you for that? Ouch. I'm surprised they haven't deleted my comments yet, then. I figured I was skirting with a ban, but no worries - I'll keep posting there every few days until they do.
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They're not stoopid. You're too high profile to ban. Banning you will cause a fire storm. Just like banning me will cause a fire storm also. And trust me, if I get banned it will definitely go on the front page of my website. And based on how many visitors I get, it will be a PR nightmare for them.
I don't think I will be a blip on their radar, to be honest.
Before their April CS change / support drop / abandonment, I had some pull over there (I think). CS knew me and we had a decent rapport, and I even had the ear of at least one manager over in VS R&D. But something definitely happened in April - I don't know what it was, but my guess is that somebody in middle or upper management looked over the costs and and profit margins for the GTAB, and basically said "cut this one loose". There was a very quick, and very noticeable (at least to me) change in how they treated their GTAB customer base. And, so far, that has not changed yet.
They even had a presence here in XDA, back in December / January. But I haven't seen anyone from VS post here in a VERY long time.
goodintentions/living enzyme, has something happen to your Facebook account? Can't find you on the Facebook campaign page and your posts in the Viewsonic forum has also disappeared. Just want to know if you are interest in being an Admin on the Facebook campaign or can recommend someone here for the job.
I'm having my man period. Very emotionally unstable. Decided to disable my facebook account.
By the way, thanks for condering me. Unfortunately, my life is very busy. My schedule also very erratic. This is not to mention the times I have to sleep on the couch due to monthly biology.
LOL. It's good to have you back.
I had some trouble locating this post. Saw you pop up again on FB and was about to ask again the same thing.
So can you think of any who might be interest in taking over running the campaign? How about this guy/gal? I just never notice him/her before. S/He certainly has the enthusiam.
I feel like I have taken the campaign as far as I can go. Time for some fresh blood.
Keep in mind that there are several layers, here - the one I complain about the most is continued Froyo support. This is also the thing I believe is the most likely to be fixed, especially since there are UAT releases out there, already. It's just a question of the various companies working out their issues and green-lighting it.
The Gingerbread / HC requests are a different animal. The reason why is because it's not just Viewsonic's headache, it's all the other companies that are using a Harmony board, including Notion Ink. NONE of them have source from Nvidia, and none have HC source from either Nvidia or Google. Not that they shouldn't try, of course, but I don't see this happening anytime soon (if at all).
I'd be satisfied with a new fully released and supported Froyo stock ROM, at this point. It would show that Viewsonic and their vendors are still supporting their users - it wouldn't make a big impact here since we modded their ROMs already, but a released 1.2bl that "stuck" would at least push development into that direction even more.
roebeet said:
The Gingerbread / HC requests are a different animal. The reason why is because it's not just Viewsonic's headache, it's all the other companies that are using a Harmony board, including Notion Ink. NONE of them have source from Nvidia, and none have HC source from either Nvidia or Google. Not that they shouldn't try, of course, but I don't see this happening anytime soon (if at all).
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Nickos over at Slatedroid share a similar view as this. To the best of your knowledge, is NVIDIA deliberately withholding Gingerbread or it just so happen that people on Harmony are more interest in getting Honeycomb/tablet OS? Has Notion Ink mention anything about bringing GB to the Adam?
Notion Ink had a GB alpha, but it has the same hardware acceleration issues as CM7. I believe they've since scrapped that and have concentrated on Honeycomb.
I honestly don't know what's going on, but my best guess is that Nvidia doesn't want to put in the resources to support GB on Harmony (no matter what they say in writing). The reason why I feel this way is because there are several vendors affected, and I suspect that Notion Ink, in particular, would want these drivers. But this is only a guess.
It's also possible that Notion Ink is beholden to another company to lean on Nvidia - perhaps Flextronics? We know that Viewsonic has this issue, but not sure about NI. There's a lot about this whole sorry mess that I don't really understand, to be honest.
roebeet said:
Keep in mind that there are several layers, here - the one I complain about the most is continued Froyo support. This is also the thing I believe is the most likely to be fixed, especially since there are UAT releases out there, already. It's just a question of the various companies working out their issues and green-lighting it.
The Gingerbread / HC requests are a different animal. The reason why is because it's not just Viewsonic's headache, it's all the other companies that are using a Harmony board, including Notion Ink. NONE of them have source from Nvidia, and none have HC source from either Nvidia or Google. Not that they shouldn't try, of course, but I don't see this happening anytime soon (if at all).
I'd be satisfied with a new fully released and supported Froyo stock ROM, at this point. It would show that Viewsonic and their vendors are still supporting their users - it wouldn't make a big impact here since we modded their ROMs already, but a released 1.2bl that "stuck" would at least push development into that direction even more.
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As usual, Roebeet, I believe you've nailed it. I realize margins in this stuff is pitiful but it's hard to believe Viewsonic hasn't seen they've done the hard parts already in gearing up a staff to do a Tegra tablet. Get a better screen and be the full featured kindle fire of the line. I think all the 500+ tablets will fail unless they get much more functional, but the 200-300 market is there for the taking if a decent company went after it. Kindle fire and the plethora of manufacturers will make it hard to win, but it is winable. In their defense, I must admit, it all looks like a losing proposition until the field gets trimmed a bit.
And, supporting a full blown Froyo would be a great support step.
Thinking maybe things may change for the better for the gtab once ics source code is released. Hoping we can see that on the gtab with some support from nvidea. I'm just guessing that the reason why HC wasn't released or supported on the gtab was because the source for HC never was released. i know the devs will have better progress with ics since they will have the source with it then they did with HC so I believe one way or another we will get ics on the gtab and hopefully get the support from nvidea or viewsonic back
Sent from my MB855 using XDA App
jbuggydroid said:
Thinking maybe things may change for the better for the gtab once ics source code is released. Hoping we can see that on the gtab with some support from nvidea. I'm just guessing that the reason why HC wasn't released or supported on the gtab was because the source for HC never was released. i know the devs will have better progress with ics since they will have the source with it then they did with HC so I believe one way or another we will get ics on the gtab and hopefully get the support from nvidea or viewsonic back
Sent from my MB855 using XDA App
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IThe source code of gingerbread was released also and we still couldn't have a GB rom with hardware acceleration and camera working, so I really dont think that having the source code of ICS will help so much .
Our last hopes are the devs who are working in the development of a fully functional kernel for HC, if they can do it for HC for sure they could do it with ICS...but I'm not too optimisic
Enviado desde mi GT-I9000 usando Tapatalk