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Question about gtab and tech mainstream websites

Why aren't mainstream tech websites mentioning the gtab? It didn't even make it to most of the top 10 lists. Is there a conspiracy to downplay the effectiveness of the gtab once it's rooted and flashed? I've used the update viewsonic provided and even that has made the gtab totally awesome.
I'm just puzzled why the modding and hacking communities are the only ones recognizing the potential and power of this machine. None of the tech websites is mentioning anything about the potential behind this tablet. It's mind boggling. Even viewsonic has decided to stop supporting it. Why?

goodintentions said:
Why aren't mainstream tech websites mentioning the gtab? It didn't even make it to most of the top 10 lists. Is there a conspiracy to downplay the effectiveness of the gtab once it's rooted and flashed? I've used the update viewsonic provided and even that has made the gtab totally awesome.
I'm just puzzled why the modding and hacking communities are the only ones recognizing the potential and power of this machine. None of the tech websites is mentioning anything about the potential behind this tablet. It's mind boggling. Even viewsonic has decided to stop supporting it. Why?
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Cnet, PC magazine, mobile magazine and PC world have. It seems they have Apple stock they are banking on so they are plugging ipad. Notice every other commercial was ipad now its Xoom.
Those type entities like to cattle-herd consumers in certain directions for maximum profitability of those who are paying for advertising on their sites. GTab is a sleeper tab and although they down played it many are still buying as of late in mass quantity. It is selling by word of mouth by satisfied buyers. The very best advertising the kind you don't have to buy. Interesting to watch them change their reviews. Check out cnet for a laugh.

I think primarily because it doesn't come from one of the "big" companies like Motorola, Samsung, or HTC. There wasn't much of a push by Viewsonic advertising wise to put this thing in the spotlight and when it first came out it was lamented for it's poor viewing angles and horrible custom UI. Sure the product has improved immensely since launch by way of updates and custom ROMs but it's hard to shake off that initial impression. Right now many people see it as just another android 2.2 tablet.

It's all about Marketing, I'm sure. The Xoom is a media darling because Motorola has paid lots of money to make sure of that -- ie. the Superbowl commercial.
And Apple's Marketing juggernaut is legendary.

edirector said:
Cnet, PC magazine, mobile magazine and PC world have.
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Yeah, they did a quick review of the gtab when it first came out late last year basically saying it sux and then they haven't said anything else since.
Check out cnet for a laugh.
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What do you mean? I just went to it. Didn't see anything different.

Here's an example of how much the GTAB is ignored
GTAB has had OTG access since Day One, even with the crappy software. The Xoom did not, when it was released.
So, I happened to find an OTG cable in my Bag of Carp and ported the GTAB config changes and init changes to the Xoom. I am not a dev by any means, but it was fairly easy to do, given my experience here - maybe an hour of work to port, test and then release.
The darn thing ended up on Engadget. The ONLY mod I've ever done that's made it to Engadget.
As happy as I was to see it get advertised, I had to scratch my head and wonder why my other mods, which required a LOT more work, and even the rest of the developers here have gotten zero recognition on sites like that. I know gojimi made it to Engadget once, but it was due to his Adam apps that he ported, not his GTAB ROMs.
Maybe the Woot! sale and subsequent $299 sales will finally give the GTablet the visibility it deserves.

I wonder if the larger "mainstream" publications shy away from anything ROM related (and probably root too).
I'm a woot-er waiting for mine still, but from all I've read, TnT out-of-the-box pretty much sucks and you have to be willing to do the flashing, etc to get it to a more useful state. So, since it's not a good tablet without a newly flashed ROM, this isn't really a great device for the general consumer.
That said, I'd think you'd see it get more play on more techy oriented websites that wouldn't be avoiding discussion of ROMs.

roebeet said:
Maybe the Woot! sale and subsequent $299 sales will finally give the GTablet the visibility it deserves.
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They haven't taken any notice of the woot deal, either when it was on, or now, even w the 10k sales in one day. Funny thing is when the Samsung Galaxy players went on sale in Korea, and apparently sold 10k in one day, that made news all over the place. That should tell you everything.
Jim

All journalists have a hive instinct.

jimcpl said:
They haven't taken any notice of the woot deal, either when it was on, or now, even w the 10k sales in one day. Funny thing is when the Samsung Galaxy players went on sale in Korea, and apparently sold 10k in one day, that made news all over the place. That should tell you everything.
Jim
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Yeah, the $299.99 16GB iPad from Verizon also made front page news on Engadget this past week.

goodintentions said:
Yeah, they did a quick review of the gtab when it first came out late last year basically saying it sux and then they haven't said anything else since.
What do you mean? I just went to it. Didn't see anything different.
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It moved up a half star.

chrishaw said:
I'm a woot-er waiting for mine still, but from all I've read, TnT out-of-the-box pretty much sucks and you have to be willing to do the flashing, etc to get it to a more useful state. So, since it's not a good tablet without a newly flashed ROM, this isn't really a great device for the general consumer.
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The last OTA actually made it faster and more functional. I would say to anyone getting a new gtab to give the stock a shot for a day or two. I was a totally different experience from when I first picked up a gtab to playing withe the latest OTA at office Max this weekend.
Sent from my Chromatic Magic using XDA Premium App

Apathetic towards Viewsonic (June 2011 update)

1- OTA updater has been broken for six days, now (it started on Monday). This is completely unacceptable, given that this is the ONLY way to get updates from them officially. What if you got the item from Tiger Direct in the last week at $299, and have build 2963 on it? If you didn't go to XDA and fix this manually yourself, you'd be SOOL.
2- The last official firmware was in mid January. We are going on three months since the last stock update. We know there was a UAT that was significantly better than the one in January, but it was never released (and eventually pulled from the TapnTap servers) with a "TBD" for the new ETA.
I'm going to very blunt, and I hope that Viewsonic is reading this. I'm very disappointed in how this is all going down, ESPECIALLY given that you've had a big bump in user numbers in the last two weeks or so. You and I both know this, and yet you can't seem to get your act together, here.
I'm not your developer - you are not paying me, or XDA, to do your support work for you. And we certainly should not be the place to send users to get their stock updates - that's just ridiculous. Please get a meeting together with TapnTap, or whoever you need to, early next week and get them to fix these issues, please. If I were running the show over there, I'd have them on the phone a week ago asking for an ETA ASAP, and updating that web site with details on what's going on and when it will be fixed. Seriously, your web site still talks about the December firmware release (the one, btw, that the poor Tiger Direct users haven't been able to even get, since Monday) - are your web developers asleep over there?
If it wasn't for the user base here in XDA, my device would have probably been wiped and cleaned up right about now, and I would have put this thing up for sale. I actually know at least one dev here in XDA who's already done this. And, as time goes on, I'll be more inclined to do this if you've made the decision to completely abandon this device. Because, to be blunt, this is the perception that I'm starting to get, as the days drag on with no resolution.
I'm not asking for Honeycomb - I just want you to get your current problems fixed and at least get that 1.2 dev branch released. I know you have an account here, so maybe a reply to this thread would set all our minds at ease.
Thank you.
4/11/2011 EDIT -- agree with me and want your voice heard?
twitter: @viewsonic
contact us page: http://www.viewsonic.com/contact/
Phone Number: 866-501-6405 / 310-228-4000. (thanks snapz54 and chili_red!)
4/12/2011 EDIT -- OTA updater is still borked, as of this writing. And the next firmware update, as per their web site, is now "anticipated" in May.
4/13/2011 EDIT -- Even more details on who you can contact (thanks snapz54!): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=12843221&postcount=189 The OTA Updater is still down, but should be up tomorrow (allegedly).
4/14/2011 EDIT -- OTA updater is up, finally. Showing "3588" as the latest, so no new update (this was not a surprise).
4/15/2011 EDIT -- I think it's time to change the title of this post.
6/22/2011 EDIT -- Thread is still alive? 4349 was pulled in mid-April, still no word on an update from them 2 months later. 3588 (from January) is still technically their "latest", as per the OTA updater. I am actually beyone aggravated, I am apathetic at this point.

I am going to return mine soon too, even at 299.99 , lack support = nth

Op why did you post this in the dev section
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

roebeet
+1 from Russia

roebeet said:
1- OTA updater has been broken for six days, now (it started on Monday). This is completely unacceptable, given that this is the ONLY way to get updates from them officially. What if you got the item from Tiger Direct in the last week at $299, and have build 2963 on it? If you didn't go to XDA and fix this manually yourself, you'd be SOOL.
2- The last official firmware was in mid January. We are going on three months since the last stock update. We know there was a UAT that was significantly better than the one in January, but it was never released (and eventually pulled from the TapnTap servers) with a "TBD" for the new ETA.
I'm going to very blunt, and I hope that Viewsonic is reading this. I'm very disappointed in how this is all going down, ESPECIALLY given that you've had a big bump in user numbers in the last two weeks or so. You and I both know this, and yet you can't seem to get your act together, here.
I'm not your developer - you are not paying me, or XDA, to do your support work for you. And we certainly should not be the place to send users to get their stock updates - that's just ridiculous. Please get a meeting together with TapnTap, or whoever you need to, early next week and get them to fix these issues, please. If I were running the show over there, I'd have them on the phone a week ago asking for an ETA ASAP, and updating that web site with details on what's going on and when it will be fixed. Seriously, your web site still talks about the December firmware release - are your web developers asleep over there?
If it wasn't for the user base here in XDA, my device would have probably been wiped and cleaned up right about now, and I would have put this thing up for sale. I actually know at least one dev here in XDA who's already done this. And, as time goes on, I'll be more inclined to do this if you've made the decision to completely abandon this device. Because, to be blunt, this is the perception that I'm starting to get, as the days drag on with no resolution.
I'm not asking for Honeycomb - I just want you to get your current problems fixed and at least get that 1.2 dev branch released. I know you have an account here, so maybe a reply to this thread would set all our minds at ease.
Thank you.
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This is an IMPORTANT post!! I think it should be voted to the front page. Viewsonic and for that matter all suppliers should have a commitment to their users/buyers. Our $$$$ is what support them and they should respect the user community. If they want to be selling more they should make what they have work!!!!
Please vote the post to first page, have them take note and take us seriously.
Thank you roebeet!!

roebeet
+1

I suppose if I wanted to keep it stock I'd be mad too, but I purchased this device specifically due to the hardware specs and the decent set of developers here at XDA.
My tab was rooted as soon as the battery was fully charged.
My Moto droid was rooted about a month into ownership and is currently running a gingerbread rom Moto claims the device can't handle (so we can go buy a new one).
What I'm trying to point out is that there is little incentive for companies to spend time and money supporting equipment that is out in the field unless somehing is seriously wrong with it.
Viewsonic's decision to cripple (lack of full market, etc...) the stock device is really similar to VZ's decision to do the same to their phones (bloatware, etc...).
My advice to you is follow the simple instructions posted here and elsewhere on the net and install a custom rom (vegantab 5.1 is a very nice place to start).
It is very difficult to screw up and your device will be all it can be months if not years sooner than it would be waiting for a stock upgrade.

Gumby,
Roebeet is a dev here. He's responsible for the TNT Lite and GADAM ROMs and was involved with Vegan as well. He's concerned about his ability to support us, not the performance of his tablet.
I believe the majority of modders are on TNT Lite because it is the most stable and well-supported ROM available. Viewsonic/TapnTap are making his job difficult. I'm guessing, but Viewsonic/TapnTap are probably stretched trying to deliver their next devices and have basically let GTablet development come to a screeching halt.
This is a shame and will probably cause many of us to look elsewhere for our next slate.

100 % Agree
Roebeet, thanks for bringing this up. I have been discussing this we others this past week. We were wondering exactly the same thing - Where is Viewsonic? They have not put out any updates or updated the website nor given us any information. I personally cannot understand this. They have a great product and could take the lead in the tablet market but are doing nothing.
Thanks for bringing this to everyones attention Roebeet. I am behind you 100%.

The fact it is on sale at woot and tigerdirect should be enough clues that viewsonic is moving dev resources away and probably to their next tablet product.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

We aren't waiting for stock updates, the updates just give the devs more goodies to work with.
thank you roebeet, for making it feel like this community has a voice. My other device is a Locked down droid X so I know the feeling of being abandoned and laughed at by the manufacturer of your product. All these companies get a little success, but they quickly forget where they came from. I don't see anyone rushing out to line up for a viewpad and maybe it will stay that way if we continue to voice our opinions and the truth about viewsonic.
I think these companies think they can operate on the standalone GPS model of update frequency, once a year. That is not the world we live in though. I'd say two years is fair support table with a firmware update a minimum of every six months and above all else, CONSTANT OPEN COMMUNICATION WITH THE COMMUNITY THAT DEVELOPS AROUND YOUR PRODUCT.
We will fall off gradually at first, then a bit quicker, then a bit quicker still until there is an avalanche of gtabs on ebay and craigslist. Selling at 40 dollars each and being repursposed and sold as digital frames to the housewives of the world.
You've been warned Viewsonic, this is a direct clear threat. Come to the community or lose your established base and hope for anything more than a bargain bin future.
Think of how many people would have returned this product day 1 without a community, seriously consider that, the number is high. If not for the selfless efforts of people like roebeet. With no where to go, the people give up hope.
So what is it going to be?

Thanks Roebeet, very well stated. They do need to get their **** together. We know right now the product isn't up to par with competition so if they want to compete it better be in the way of support. All we ask Viewsonic, is to keep us informed!

doctorisin said:
Gumby,
Roebeet is a dev here. He's responsible for the TNT Lite and GADAM ROMs and was involved with Vegan as well. He's concerned about his ability to support us, not the performance of his tablet.
I believe the majority of modders are on TNT Lite because it is the most stable and well-supported ROM available. Viewsonic/TapnTap are making his job difficult. I'm guessing, but Viewsonic/TapnTap are probably stretched trying to deliver their next devices and have basically let GTablet development come to a screeching halt.
This is a shame and will probably cause many of us to look elsewhere for our next slate.
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Hmmm... didn't know he was a dev. Appologies, but the main points of my post are still valid (as you also noted in your speculation about their lack of support).
I guess I am wondering what they need to update that is holding up development of anything else? GB roms are out there now (and honeycomb ones won't be far off either) so what froyo fixes are showstopping?

Im_Gumby said:
Hmmm... didn't know he was a dev. Appologies, but the main points of my post are still valid (as you also noted in your speculation about their lack of support).
I guess I am wondering what they need to update that is holding up development of anything else? GB roms are out there now (and honeycomb ones won't be far off either) so what froyo fixes are showstopping?
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dude, do you realize everything you say has no basis in fact? You are telling one of the guys that is our only hope of possibly running honeycomb on the gtab his own future. How do you know we'll get the source code? How do you know it will be usable? How do you know there will be a similar device we can port from? How do you know anything?
the simple answer is you don't. You seem to be arrogant and uneducated on the subject, so kindly back out of this conversation unless you have something relevant to add. You're stealing focus from an important topic.

Im_Gumby said:
..... so what froyo fixes are showstopping?
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How about in sleep mode the gTab sucks up the battery like there's no tomorrow?
Hey Roebeet, I always thought it was SOL? But I do agree with you.

Exactly right, lets not lose focus... The scariest thing to me is that Robert is the originator of this thread. If he feels this way, then we may all be screwed as far as future support is concerned.
@Robeet -thanks for leading the charge and giving us a voice.
@Viewsonic. Please respond to this thread and keep an open dialogue with this community.

seems as if @roebeet got viewsonics attention on twitter?
any contact?

snapz54 said:
dude, do you realize everything you say has no basis in fact? You are telling one of the guys that is our only hope of possibly running honeycomb on the gtab his own future. How do you know we'll get the source code? How do you know it will be usable? How do you know there will be a similar device we can port from? How do you know anything?
the simple answer is you don't. You seem to be arrogant and uneducated on the subject, so kindly back out of this conversation unless you have something relevant to add. You're stealing focus from an important topic.
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You are right... google COULD decide not to release any more source codes.
And you might decide to be less of a tool.
Neither seems very likely.

My bad on the location - I thought I was in General when I posted this.
If a mod could move this, I'd appreciate it.
doctorisin said:
Gumby,
Roebeet is a dev here. He's responsible for the TNT Lite and GADAM ROMs and was involved with Vegan as well. He's concerned about his ability to support us, not the performance of his tablet.
I believe the majority of modders are on TNT Lite because it is the most stable and well-supported ROM available. Viewsonic/TapnTap are making his job difficult. I'm guessing, but Viewsonic/TapnTap are probably stretched trying to deliver their next devices and have basically let GTablet development come to a screeching halt.
This is a shame and will probably cause many of us to look elsewhere for our next slate.
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You nailed it. TNT Lite is basically an extension of stock - it gets updated, in general, when stock gets updated. If Viewsonic development dies, then TNT Lite dies - it's that simple.
We need the vendor to keep on top with updates as there are things that they can do for us, even to this day. UAT 3991 build was a perfect example (before they pulled it) - it's a MUCH better baseline to work off of than 3389 / 3588.
I know many are using the GB mods, and those would survive even if the vendor abandoned the device. But TNT Lite and anything else based off stock would fall by the wayside, and we really don't want that. Options are a good thing.
I want a response from them tomorrow or Tuesday - I don't like how they are treating their userbase right now (which includes me, as I own one) and I think we deserve an explanation and an ETA, at this point. If this happened at my day job, heads would be rolling by now.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about -- Pandigital. Their "Novel" white device was released in May and they are STILL releasing updates to it, to this day. Granted, they are still stuck on Android 2.0, but the fact they they just released an update a few weeks ago is a good sign that they haven't abandoned the device, yet. This is what I'd like to see from Viewsonic.
Im_Gumby said:
Hmmm... didn't know he was a dev. Appologies, but the main points of my post are still valid (as you also noted in your speculation about their lack of support).
I guess I am wondering what they need to update that is holding up development of anything else? GB roms are out there now (and honeycomb ones won't be far off either) so what froyo fixes are showstopping?
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If you lose your XDA devs, then there IS no more development for this product. One dev here has already sold their device, and mine has been relegated as a dev unit since February (which I'm A-OK with, btw). If Viewsonic abandons this product, then the developers will eventually move on. In my case, stock updates are critical to keep TNT Lite relevant - once those are gone, TNT Lite will become stale and die. gADAM can stick around as long as Notion Ink supplies updates, and that remains to be seen as well. So don't think vendor support isn't important, because it actually is.

Well said, roebeet.

Why Viewsonic hates us

Viewsonic announced it's Honeycomb tablet @ 7 inches. Which means they have the HC source code... which means they hate the gtab community.... because we don't get it, even for modding purposes.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/12/viewsonic-7x-shrinks-honeycomb-to-7-inches-for-the-tiny-handed/

They don't hate the Gtab community. Don't try to anthropomorphize a corporation because you will only end up sad and depressed. All Viewsonic wants is to make money by putting out products and then putting out more products. We are numbers, not faces.

Fair enough. I suppose I am a bit idealistic that they would continue to support something older. Perhaps more my frustration is the lack of source code when it could be given... but that it an entitlement mentality I suppose.

forgiventhief said:
Fair enough. I suppose I am a bit idealistic that they would continue to support something older. Perhaps more my frustration is the lack of source code when it could be given... but that it an entitlement mentality I suppose.
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stop caving because one person says something!!!!
and to the user that commented to the OP, thought the info you stated (numbers, not faces) is true, STOP ACTING LIKE IT'S ACCEPTABLE.
To many 300 to 500 dollars is a lot of money and the company has a moral obligation to support it for a reasonable amount of time. This was in no way accomplished by viewsonic. Horrible business ethics and I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER VIEWSONIC PRODUCT. you vote with your purchasing power and viewsonic lost mine, my family's and my friend's votes.
as an aside, I suspect seeing all the progress made viewsonic might try to "save the day" and eventually release something for our g tab honeycomb flavored. I'm not fooled and you shouldn't be either. Your support should be for the devs like roebeet. If your running honeycomb and you haven't donated to him or the adamdevs you should feel worse than viewsonic.
vote with your money, I VOTE FOR OUR DEV COMMUNITY!
(before I get any posts about talking about donation, donation doesn't imply 3,000 dollars. Even if it's only a dollar, it says something.)

You do realize viewsonic just slapped their name on the Malta, right? You're mad at the wrong company.

schettj said:
You do realize viewsonic just slapped their name on the Malta, right? You're mad at the wrong company.
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Doesn't matter, though. As soon as VS slapped their name on it, they've adopted it.
The way VS is treating the gtab is worse than just numbers. They have intentionally ignored it, not giving it any press or anything at all. There isn't even a direct link to the gtab from their main website.
The gtab is doing way better than other "real" VS devices. It's the number 1 seller on amazon for goodness sake. I'm still baffled why VS isn't putting more energy into the gtab. It's like they don't even wanna mention it.

I think it is a way to get more people to move to their ViewPad line and off of the GTab. I will not switch to their new line just because they put 3.0 on it. Our Devs will get a port over to the GTab and it will blow their new line out of the water. Shady tactics if you ask me.

goodintentions said:
Doesn't matter, though. As soon as VS slapped their name on it, they've adopted it.
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But they don't have any code... they have no development resources. They have a brand name. Whooo.
Seriously.

goodintentions said:
It's the number 1 seller on amazon for goodness sake.
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Yes, it was for the week it was on blowout $280 clearance. Look, it's a great bit of first gen tegra2 tablet hardware with a dreadful screen that would make it unsellable at any price other than "half of what everyone else charges".
That's dropping under $200-$225 now, which is probably well below the breakeven point. So enjoy it, and support the hackers hacking away, but forget about any serious support for it from VS. You'll be much happier.

yes, the code for our G-tabs belongs to Malata, but so does the code for the Vega and the Adam. They are rumored to be at least getting official GB roms WITH hardware acceleration. VS is to blame for not providing us with that as well. If they do, but are keeping it hush-hush, I'll change my opinion.
Of course, Vega and Adam are running on the new 1.2 bootloader (always have been). Now VS teases us with an update that they pull, that is on the 1.2 bootlaoder? In essence, VS provided our devs, very briefly, with the tools needed to port any updates from Adam or Vega. So, while not actually giving us what we've requested, they are letting other companies, and third party developers do their work for them.
It may be that Malata has abandoned VS for their lack of support for the G-Tab, so Malata cut them off from future development releases.

snapz54 said:
and to the user that commented to the OP, thought the info you stated (numbers, not faces) is true, STOP ACTING LIKE IT'S ACCEPTABLE.
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I didn't say it's acceptable. In fact it makes me just as mad as it seems to have made you and I have made my opinion on that fact known many times on this board and the Nvidia developer board. I'm just saying that the people who want these updates are currently in the minority. I agree that we should get updates but we have to realize that might not happen. In fact I'd much rather use homegrown software from the fine developers on XDA, Cyanogen, and any other dev website that's working for better things for the Gtab than anything Viewsonic/Malata/Nvidia puts out anyhow.
This whole frequently updated software thing is new to the world. I mean think about Apple and Microsoft. Microsoft updated like once every five years. Apple was better, but in both cases users were made to pay for the updates. Now we buy these devices and expect free software updates indefinetly? Sounds good to me, but what about these companies? Where is the money for them? What incentive to they have to churn out more software at no charge to the customer? I'm just saying that there are two sides to this argument and both should be represented.

adampdx said:
This whole frequently updated software thing is new to the world. I mean think about Apple and Microsoft. Microsoft updated like once every five years. Apple was better, but in both cases users were made to pay for the updates.
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What color is the sky in your world?
The problem with Android is exactly the problem Google is trying to get a handle on....
Fragmentation.
When you leave updates up to the the hardware manufactures, you're guaranteed to screw your customers. Because the only way the HW guys make any money at all is by having the customer buy new hardware to get the shiny new features.
Hopefully Google will be able to beat these guys into submission, but I do feel for them... they thought they were getting in on a great thing with a cheap OS for their hardware, and instead they were turned into commodity manufacturers delivering Google ad revenue to Google. Ah well.

I'd much rather use homegrown software from the fine developers on XDA, Cyanogen, and any other dev website that's working for better things for the Gtab than anything Viewsonic/Malata/Nvidia puts out anyhow.
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But it's these updates that custom rom devs use to get the information they need to make their roms. If we ever get official hardware acceleration it will be bundled into one of the officially released updates. The drivers can then be added to existing roms, or future roms. The bottom line is that we NEED official updates if we are to ever get the G-tablet to reach it's full potential.
Now we buy these devices and expect free software updates indefinetly? Sounds good to me, but what about these companies?
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These companies, namely VS knows that they put out a crap product, in regard to software. In fact, they, at one point, directed their customers HERE for support for their device. They released a product in which the hardware outclassed the software. What we paid for was hardware, plain and simple. only recently have people actually said they're using stock firmware and it doesn't suck. Prior to the latest updates (3588 and later) I would suspect that everyone that bought a G-tablet, including myself, KNEW that they were going to have to flash a custom Rom. Just a few days ago, another 850+ G-tabs were sold on Woot, again. At one point it was the top seller on Amazon. VS has to save a little face and continue to support their software, and yes, provide updates.
Fortunately for VS, Notion Ink seems more interested in updating their product for us...of course, VS had to sneak in the 1.2 dev branch that's shared by the Adam.

some good points have been made, but none of the ones supporting VS have been valid.
slapping your name on something instantly slaps responsibility on you, this "passing the buck" mentality is a big part of whats wrong with the world. Everyone can blame someone else and nothing gets done.
The consequences in some small part are now realized. Myself and others will not support viewsonic in any capacity in the future. Actions like this catch up with you, VS is a horrible company that saw an opportunity to make a quick buck without a moments thought of how it might affect anyone.
stop supporting these type of actions, they are wrong.

snapz54 said:
some good points have been made, but none of the ones supporting VS have been valid.
slapping your name on something instantly slaps responsibility on you, this "passing the buck" mentality is a big part of whats wrong with the world. Everyone can blame someone else and nothing gets done.
The consequences in some small part are now realized. Myself and others will not support viewsonic in any capacity in the future. Actions like this catch up with you, VS is a horrible company that saw an opportunity to make a quick buck without a moments thought of how it might affect anyone.
stop supporting these type of actions, they are wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you bought an $800.00 xoom?

snapz54 said:
stop supporting these type of actions, they are wrong.
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Click to collapse
That would be "don't buy the product"
Since I wanted a device I can experiment with, and didn't want to spend more than $280, this was the only device available.
I bought it knowing what it was. An orphan device with no significant Vendor support.

i thought google said they aren't going to release honeycomb SDK? so doesn't that mean manufacturers are not allowed to release it?
but i guess if we buy the next VS tablet. we can port a honeycomb rom from that to the gtab.

ninditsu said:
i thought google said they aren't going to release honeycomb SDK? so doesn't that mean manufacturers are not allowed to release it?
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You're confusing SDK (Software Development Kit) with Source Code. That said, up to this point, Google has been reluctant to release the Source Code for Honeycomb for - what I can only assume is - the purpose of reducing hardware fragmentation and QA purposes.

schettj said:
What color is the sky in your world?
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Ha! Always good to get a laugh out of these heated discussions. As far as fragmentation goes, I agree. It's a problem that Google created and now they're trying to fix. I'm not sure I can imagine a world where there are several hundred different pieces of tech floating around from different manufactures that all use software provided by a singular, separate company. Oh, wait...that sounds like WINDOWS. He he... I wouldn't dare compare our beloved Google to the likes of Microsoft. Never.

schettj said:
That would be "don't buy the product"
Since I wanted a device I can experiment with, and didn't want to spend more than $280, this was the only device available.
I bought it knowing what it was. An orphan device with no significant Vendor support.
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Click to collapse
Thank you. These things are on clearance for a reason. A lot of people here have unrealistic expectations. Companies don't make money by pouring resources into devices that nobody bought. I remember buying an Atari Lynx back in the day and only had it for about a year before everybody stopped making games for it and they were pulled off the shelves. I never once thought that Atari hated me.

Disappointed at Viewsonic

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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.

Viewsonic Taking Jab At HP

I can't believe that ViewSonic took the time to release a very hypocritical statement about how HP "failed" with their webOS and that they (VS) were "dedicated" to their tablets and other products.
http://www.viewsonic.com/company/news/vs_press_release_526560.htm
I want to know what dictionary they got their warped, backwards definition of "dedication" from.
From the article...
"ViewSonic was among the first manufacturers to introduce a tablet solution back in Q4 2010," said Jeff Volpe, president of ViewSonic Americas. "Since that time, we have rolled out more tablet offerings than any other provider, focusing on particular market demands."
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Hmmm, wonder what tablet that was they introduced in Q4 2010? Oh yeah, the one they haven't wanted to support since 3 months after release. Sounds like their experiment failed more than HP's - at least HP was 100% behind their tablet.

Wow, that's rather brazen of them to reference this tablet and dedication in the same breath.

The press release also reads like it was written by a semi-literate intern. Perhaps their company would be doing better if they hired people who could actually read and write?
Tasteless, tactless, inept twits.
I bought the g tablet for the hardware. Viewsonic was an incidental middle man - I immediately flashed one of the community roms after purchasing (before my first full charge, even) and I haven't looked back since. I'll bet that more than 80% of all g tablet users aren't on the stock rom, and couldn't care less about Viewsonic once the warranty expires.
Where, exactly does "dedication" come into it?

All I can say is...
Pot, meet kettle.

JRowe47 said:
The press release also reads like it was written by a semi-literate intern. Perhaps their company would be doing better if they hired people who could actually read and write?
Tasteless, tactless, inept twits.
I bought the g tablet for the hardware. Viewsonic was an incidental middle man - I immediately flashed one of the community roms after purchasing (before my first full charge, even) and I haven't looked back since. I'll bet that more than 80% of all g tablet users aren't on the stock rom, and couldn't care less about Viewsonic once the warranty expires.
Where, exactly does "dedication" come into it?
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Because we want honeycomb or even gingerbread drivers? They aren't pressuring nvidia enough.
Sent from my Flashback HC-TAB using XDA Forum App

It seems to me like all the pressure has come from the community devs, and Viewsonic is only ever motivated by complaints, instead of having a go-get-em, let's deliver the best product we can! attitude. I could be wrong, but tbh I am rather underwhelmed by Viewsonic.

To be fair the letter is titled with "Windows Tablet Solutions". And there was something about a Microsoft partnership... Perhaps that is why the Gtab is a red-headed, forgotten step-child.
Sent from my Flashback 7.2 using XDA Premium App

WOW.
I actually just posted in another thread about the Touchpad, as was comparing the current issues with our own GTAB issues - there are a lot of similarities here. The dead OS, lack of support and future updates, lack of source code for Android 2.3 / 3.0, which will give developers obstacles as far as hardware acceleration and other specific hardware device drivers. The only difference being is that the GTAB does at least run Froyo, wheras the Touchpad cannot run any Android version (yet).
Viewsonic shouldn't even be bringing this up - if anything else, they are lot more similar to HP than they think they are. And at least HP has owned up that they have dropped the support of the product - I even heard that users who purchased the device in the last 60 days (which is all of them) will be getting partial refunds - Viewsonic, you hearing this? At least HP is doing the right thing for their customer base.
EDIT: Just tweak their own words a bit, from their news release. Notice the similarities --
“Viewsonic's move to launch a tablet with an untested and unsupported (from Google) tablet OS appears to have presented a challenge in marketing their tablet solution. The Froyo TapnTap OS, unfamiliar to both consumers and enterprises, complicated the tablet sales process and thus deemed a failed experiment. "

VS has been ignoring all our inquiries. And yet here they are jumping at the first opportunity to take a jab at HP. This proves that they are watching and reading. They just choose not to respond to us.

This statement speaks volumes about Viewsonic. No one should have any doubt about how shady they are now.

Viewsonic's Tablet support is a joke. The fact that they took that jab at HP is completely rediculous. As mentioned before, at least HP did the right thing and has a channel open to their consumers. That's more than Viewsonic has done. And HP is offering to refund the difference between what consumers paid and the clearance price or give them a full refund. That makes me wish I had bought it instead of the GTab. That's something I'll take into consideration when making my next Tablet purchase.