Hello fellow XDA-ers!
We have a very interesting opportunity here, and we'll need everybody's input on this one:
At our request, HTC America is going to respond directly, interview/Q&A-style, to a set of questions submitted by XDA. The responses are then going to be posted in an Article on the front page of the site will all the other news.
Now, since this is intended to be in the interest of as many members as possible, we want to open the floor to suggestions from anybody and everybody here, for what questions you would love to see answered by HTC!
We'll be accepting ideas and suggestions in the form of replies to this thread, up through 24:00GMT this coming Friday night. Then, the admins and writing staff will go over all of the submissions, and choose the 20 that we think will generate responses and insights most interesting to our members.
We're not so concerned with how you word the questions, it's the idea that matters...just let us know what's on your mind, and we'll take care of getting them "all pretty"
One thing that we'll request is that this thread is used for posts with either direct ideas for questions or follow-up suggestions to questions already posted. For those of us who have a strong opinion about HTC in general (one way or the other), just try to put it in the form of an inquiry...otherwise it'll be better to open a separate thread to discuss those things. Questions about this process are welcome too, or feel free to PM me if you prefer.
I think we have an awesome opportunity here to get some very interesting perspectives on how the company that's behind the reason we're all here operates, particularly in relation to its most passionate customers!!
Now, to get everybody started, I'll submit this first question, courtesy of memeber snarksneeze:
"There are several Linux-based open source ARM operating systems out there, what makes Android so special from an OEM's perspective, that almost every cell-phone manufacturer is jumping at the chance to use it?"
So get to it!! We're looking forward to a lot of creative responses...that's why we wanted to solicit the entire community at XDA for ideas on this, instead of just letting "management" come up with them I know there's as many unique customer perspectives out there as there are members...so let us know what's on your mind, and we'll get answers for as many of them as we can!! There's a good chance this could open the door for similar opportunities with HTC in the future as well, but we want to make the most of this opportunity while we've got it! We're counting on everyone to help make this as awesome as it can be!
NOTE: While these answers will be coming from HTC America, I think it's fine to ask questions with a global scale, just maybe not any directly relating to other specific markets
Ready....set.....GO!!
Questions 2 & 3
To HTC:
2: Do you have plans to launch a hardware keyboard WM device in the mid term?, if so please give us a glimp on what we could expect.
3: Rumours speak about an HTC propietary operating system, what are the chances of this happening?
4: Are you planning on keeping Windows as your primary platform now that Windows Phone 7 is on its way or are you going to switch your focus to android now that it's the only platform that let's you keep your edge over your competitors in the form of the Sense UI?
5: How big a blow was it for you when you found out that Microsoft weren't going to allow customized user interfaces for WP7?
6: Are you planning on letting users choose which mobile operating system they want on future phones(assuming the hardware works under both)?
orb, Toss, thanks a bunch...those are all awesome questions! Much better then what I might come up with lol.
Keep 'em coming people!
Hows this:
7: What are your future plans regarding Qualcomm's new OS Brew, after releasing the HTC Smart?
PurpleLlamaLover: Question number 7 / Please sticky
sirphunkee said:
orb, Toss, thanks a bunch...those are all awesome questions! Much better then what I might come up with lol.
Keep 'em coming people!
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Great effort my friend!
And with the help of all you´ll have the necessary material for making not only one, a series of interviews!!
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Please make it sticky.
PurpleLlamaLover said:
Hows this:
What are your future plans regarding Qualcomm's new OS Brew, after releasing the HTC Smart?
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@all:Let´s not forget to include question number, which be of great help to OP
7. Is HTC ever going to release a device top spec in line with other manufacturers instead of constantly releasing new devices with little or no update in between, one example would be that htc are still releases devices with 5mp cameras!!
8. Is HTC ever going to provide a driver suitable for our devices to improve graphic performance
Maybe try to find out about the next gen processors (ie. dual core) , and when they will be available.
And also,... when will we get a top of the range android device with a hardware keyboard again. A true successor to the G1/Dream. I've never owned one but feel that it is what my Hero is missing.
Thanx guys.
... Also....
What do they think of the developers on here?.... Are they likely to provide more resources to make our dev's jobs a little easier?
Ok awesome, thanks guys...I did really want to get at least a question or two in about what we can look forward to in terms of hardware QWERTY phones of any type.
And yes, I also like the ideas of finding out exactly what their perspective on "us" is, as well as plans for improving specs on flagship models
Toss3 said:
4: Are you planning on keeping Windows as your primary platform now that Windows Phone 7 is on its way or are you going to switch your focus to android now that it's the only platform that let's you keep your edge over your competitors in the form of the Sense UI?
5: How big a blow was it for you when you found out that Microsoft weren't going to allow customized user interfaces for WP7?
6: Are you planning on letting users choose which mobile operating system they want on future phones(assuming the hardware works under both)?
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Click to collapse
Ooooo, I would love to know the answer to those! Put me down as a 'seconder' for these questions.
I am trying to come up with an intelligent question, although a lot has been covered by the bright sparks above.
This is a great opportunity. Thank you to those involved.
Franwella said:
Ooooo, I would love to know the answer to those! Put me down as a 'seconder' for these questions.
I am trying to come up with an intelligent question, although a lot has been covered by the bright sparks above.
This is a great opportunity. Thank you to those involved.
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Noted, and thanks for your support! You still have a couple of days, so don't stress yourself...we're anxious to hear whatever you come up with
The removal of the red earpiece on the Evo... was that HTC's choice or Sprint's choice? It was a small visual feature that I was looking forward to and was disappointed to see removed in the final market version.
Sticking with the Evo, why was the choice made to add extra buttons to the on-screen keyboard? From looking at screenshots, they seem like they would impede typing. What sort of UX testing was done to ensure negligible impact to the end user?
Not a question, but thank you for doing away with the proprietary headphone jack. That was something slightly short of a slap in the face of the user.
As a company that primarily handles hardware, where do you stand on the "mobile platform wars"? The iPhone OS, WP7, and Android all have such markedly different business models. What strengths and weaknesses do you see in each? What development and policy changes would you like to see from all the major players?
Android is an OS that develops rather quickly, and one criticism of the Sense UI is that it forces users to lag behind development until a Sense UI update is pushed. How are you going to deal with keeping users OSes up-to-date as you move forward?
-Will the HD Mini be coming to the American market?
-Is it true HTC is considering a take over of Palm?
-Is HTC looking to make its phones better gaming platforms?
perhaps not the most intellectual questions but eh
kaiserII101 said:
-Will the HD Mini be coming to the American market?
-Is it true HTC is considering a take over of Palm?
-Is HTC looking to make its phones better gaming platforms?
perhaps not the most intellectual questions but eh
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I can answer the 2nd one...HTC was indeed one of the 5 bidders for Palm, but HP finally put up more than everybody else and bought the company. Look for WebOS on printers (no joke!) and other HP hardware soon.
That gaming platform question is awesome! I'm dying to know that as well!
Psichi said:
The removal of the red earpiece on the Evo... was that HTC's choice or Sprint's choice? It was a small visual feature that I was looking forward to and was disappointed to see removed in the final market version.
Sticking with the Evo, why was the choice made to add extra buttons to the on-screen keyboard? From looking at screenshots, they seem like they would impede typing. What sort of UX testing was done to ensure negligible impact to the end user?
Not a question, but thank you for doing away with the proprietary headphone jack. That was something slightly short of a slap in the face of the user.
As a company that primarily handles hardware, where do you stand on the "mobile platform wars"? The iPhone OS, WP7, and Android all have such markedly different business models. What strengths and weaknesses do you see in each? What development and policy changes would you like to see from all the major players?
Android is an OS that develops rather quickly, and one criticism of the Sense UI is that it forces users to lag behind development until a Sense UI update is pushed. How are you going to deal with keeping users OSes up-to-date as you move forward?
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Click to collapse
Thank you Psichi...I like them all but especially the one about the "mobile platform wars"
Will HTC in the future write better software and drivers to fully take advantage of the QualComm SoC they are using? For example, the Tytn II was criticized for not having a fully accelerated video/graphics driver (along with each successor after it). The current HTC HD2 and Nexus one have very powerful SoC's with hardware accelerated video codec decoding, will that eventually be taken advantage of by drivers and HTC video players?
Graphically, do you anticipate creating software or drivers that push the full potential of the graphics processing power of the current "Snapdragon" SoC?
(I like to keep my questions device centric).
Another thing I'm wondering about is whether or not they are planning on including an RSS reader into sense in the near future(one of the most important features that is still missing imho)?
My question:-
HTC, will you learn lessons from the continued delays to the new Hero Rom in that development speed needs to be increased and there needs to be better communication with customers/fans
Tapatalk on my Hero
kaiserII101 said:
-Will the HD Mini be coming to the American market?
-Is it true HTC is considering a take over of Palm?
-Is HTC looking to make its phones better gaming platforms?
perhaps not the most intellectual questions but eh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HP already took Palm over...
Firstly, first post, so hi everyone!
I'm wondering what a good, cheap phone is to use as the basis for developing my own Android ROM from very first principles (delete what's already on the phone, and build a ROM from source code). I want to learn from scratch and ultimately work on driver changes (particularly USB/OTG). I have lots of experience of embedded C/C++/assembler programming, but none as yet with smartphones or Android.
I suppose some have "easier" hardware than others, in terms of OS compatibility, availability of drivers, and info on chipsets and specs.
I was thinking of a higher end chinese clone - would that be a good choice? Any ones in particular?
Thanks for any suggestions, and look forward to being around here for a long time.
EDIT: I forgot to mention, USB OTG would be nice, but not critical.
G1/My touch 3g
The Nexus One is Google's Dev phone. Most updates are probably developed on that device first.
Another thing: this is Chef Central, which is supposed to be a thread for developing roms or rom tweaks / add-ons. Your question should be in "Android General" instead.
Hi all,
Was hoping I could get a bit of help with my dilema!!!
I am due for an upgrade at the end of this month and cannot make up my mind as to which mobile to go for!
Over the last 12 months I have been learning to develop applications for android while on a work placement via my University. I have found this to be a steep learning curve as my Java knowledge was very limited, will I continue? not sure yet...! But, I do like the HTC Desire HD whether developing android apps or not.
On the otherside of the coin.....
Next year (this coming October) I will be learing to develop Windows phone 7 applications while on my third and final year. While I am still a novice with Silverlight and Expression Blend, I have had some considerable experience over the last 2 years writing C# code to develop Windows forms and ASP.Net sites, and have looked into developing for WP7 and feel quietly confident that this will be better than my experience developing for android.
I have never held a WP7 let alone used one and have read a number of negative reviews online about them. However, due to the areas I will be studying next year and my current knowledge I cannot decide on what handset to get, and as my contract will be for 2 years I want to make sure im stuck with the right one!
I havn't got a clue as to which WP7 is the best and am not fixed on the HTC Desire HD either...
I would like to hear from both android and WP7 developers / consumers your views on both OS's and preferred handsets.... from both a developers and a consumers point of view...... Also if there is anything that should be avoided i.e. specific versions of android / WP7 OS's?
Thanks guys!
I recently posted a thread on how I can start programming geared towards the mobile platforms.
I would like to develop apps for more than one mobile platform. However I just have access to an Android device (SE Xperia X10), iPhone 4, and an iPad 2.
Smartphones are not like candies, that you can go pickup at a cheap store.
I mean how and where can I and other people who want to develop apps for specific platforms get free phones for testing and using the apps we develop?
The emulator that is included with the SDKs are not always the best way to test.
Any suggestions? All help is appreciated
EDIT: Forgot to mention that recently Windows Phone called over WebOS developers to develop applications on the WP platform, and Windows gave the developers free devices. But there are not many WebOS devs out there..
The best and fastest way to require a "demo" phone is doing the following.
Just get in touch with the companies that are creating the phones.
Explain your development and give them a nice overview on what your app is, what it does and how things go.
Make sure you don't demand a phone but wish to test run it on certain specific devices with key features that are a "+" in your app.
I think you'll have a chance to receive a demo phone.
Btw don't expect you'll be able to keep that phone forever.
I recently contacted HP to request an Elite-book from them for business usage.
Explained the plans and deals and after a few days i received one.
I need to return it by end of this year.(aawww )
Did same thing for some phones for my company
I think it depends on what you wanna test and how high your requirements are.
Also i think it's best to mail on behalf of someone working in the industry or on behalf of a company.
They had my company info in case of argument.
Sites like XDA got enough rep to request them and be trusted.
Individual guy asking for a phone is "50/50" chance. (depends on the person processing your mail and your info & app your working on)
One thread is enough: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1237030
Hey guys I just wanna ask you a quest :
Do you believe Samsung, or other brands just like HTC or maybe LG, would have been as successful as they are now...if they had no Android OS in their devices?
IMO I guess the answer is : NO WAY. Hardware is not the only essential thing, and I really believe Software (instead of hardware) has made the REAL difference
I'd like to know what do the world think about that
Sent from my Xoom on Tiamat
I think they've all been spamming the Marketplace with countless devices which are, at best, clones of every other device out there and are selling devices on the strength of pure numbers alone. Basically a brute force approach.
If Android had never been created, each Manufacturer would still be pushing out twenty Windows Mobile clones every year instead, and then that platform would still be dominating the Market. (Fruity products aside.)
hardware and software go hand in hand...
hardware makes the phone and gives it the capabilities that we all want...
but without good software to go along with that then the phone is useless...
if android had never come along there would be something else to take its place. maybe windows phone would be more popular, maybe webos would be bigger than ever...maybe ios would rule the world...whatever...
i think a better question would be if android hadn't come along which current os do you think would be the most used on devices?
Not so sure: IMO, Android is a great competitor do iOS, which was one of the main drivers of smartphones in the market with its App Store and rich functionality (when I had an N-Gage, I already enjoyed tons of community apps, but had no market)
Would they go far with Windows Phone 7? Maybe. But not with Windows Mobile, which was iOS' competitor at that time.
I'm pretty sure the brands you mentioned would be selling with success even if Android didn't exist.
They are industrial giants (samsung especially), which can invest huge amount of money on development. Some say they lack imagination, but I must say I'm impressed by the pace they keep improving our techno gadgets.
The real thing is what would the smartphone world look like without android.
I owned a bada smartphone and every time I was using it I felt a chain around my neck, hands and feet...
We've been really lucky with the path smartphone took: android is free, android is open-source.
Industry may provide the fittest and strongest bodies, but it is we, the people, who provide the SOUL and let the magic happen.
I find this pretty amazing