HTC HD2 – PPCGeeks.com

BREAKING NEWS: WP7 Live Service Security Cracked, FULL HD2 Port Imminent?!?!? – SAY WHAT!

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:46:01 +0000

You heard it here folks! Our friend Da_G at xda-developers.com has found a way to “bypass” or break the Microsoft Live Activation that was holding us back from making roms for Windows Phone 7. With this all possible we can now possibly port to the HD2 and other Fast Windows Mobile devices. Now sadly I doubt the Touch Pro 2 will run it but maybe the Verizon LG Panther could, along with HD2. Mostly just HD2 ports though as it is basically the same phone as the HTC HD7.

Da_G has reportedly been able to bypass the Genuine Advantage Security protection on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7, enabling you to get live services like Xbox, Marketplace and Zune working on an HTC HD2. With the Dark Forces Team, the people behind making the HD2 run Android from NAND memory (natively) and MAGLDR – together have gotten WP7 running on an HD2. The only real challenge here was to get the cloud services that WP7 uses to “phone home to Microsoft with.”

Notable, it was Da_G himself who lamentated on the heavy cloud-based security back in November, stating that:

“Nearly all the major functions on the device operate by shuttling data to and from the “cloud”, presenting different methods to the user for getting their data on to the device. However as these services interact quite a bit with Microsoft’s own servers, they have considerably beefed up the security in this area. Each device contains a “Device Provisioning Partition” or DPP that contains a unique certificate assigned to the device at the factory. Each certificate is verified locally by the device in several places, and also uploaded and verified by the “Cloud” for each transaction. Loading Windows Phone 7 on to a device that did not originally come with the platform would result in having an invalid certificate, and these services will not function properly.”

Well apparently he found a way after being away since Christmas, to bypass the Device Provisioning Partition, so that when WP7 build is eventually released for HD2 it should be almost fully functional!!! The Rom will still need to be booted from RAM loader, as opposed to a direct flash..aka Windows Mobile.

Ok WP7 geeks and developers here if you have not heard this yet: Can you imagine with me for just a second: of running a WP7 device on your HD2? Let’s see here that makes the HD2 the best phone right now for OS choice… Android, Windows Mobile 6.5/6.5x, WP7, MeeGo, and many others that I cannot recall right now. But still amazing work, and if true then possibly see this ROM being cooked for devices like the “old days”. I just can’t wait!!!

Tell me your thoughts and opinions below. I would love to hear the haters, the lovers and the fencers on if this is actually a good thing or not! Please just keep it clean! What about this PPCGeekers, is this even worth while to you? I mean I am already drooling over the possibilities here. Let me know below in the comments section.

Source: pocketnow.com & xda-developers.com

The HD2 now running WP7, WM & Android 2.2

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:05:57 +0000

Thanks to orangekid here at PPCGeeks for directing our attention to this exciting news. XDA Developers have been working hard on successfully getting WP7 to boot on the HD2/Leo. One of their members, Cotulla, linked the video from his twitter account. The video will show you proof of WP7 booting up on the HD2/Leo. (thread here)

You might remember Cotulla as the developer who wrote HSPL for the HD2 so that custom ROMs could be flashed. He has also written a custom bootloader called MAGLDR that can boot Android 2.2 from internal flash instead of an SD card (in progress). MAGLDR (his closed source bootloader) can also apparently boot WP7 which he is working on fully porting it seems, as well as MeeGo and Ubuntu.

Stay tuned for further updates on the porting project!

With that being said, one of the greatest benefits to having this device is being able to run 3+ different operating systems, fluently. Maybe this will lead to developers figuring out ways to make it possible on more than one device. Isn’t this just awesome news? We can definitely see that Orangekid is over excited here at PPCG to be rocking more than one OS effortlessly.

Source: XDA developers & orangekid

Donations For HD2 WP7 Port

Wed, 19 May 2010 17:55:35 +0000

While most of us are CDMA users here, this is still for a good cause. As you probably know, XDA has been working on porting the Windows Phone 7 ROM to the HTC HD2. Da_G has done most of the work on this, but he needs a few things before he can get any further. As most developers know, its difficult to work on something without actually having a device to test it on. So, XDA has started a donations thread for this to try to get Da_G a HD2 and a Trace 32 tool so he can find the JTAG. These are estimated to be about $1400. As of now, the donations total about $630. This is no guarantee that he’ll be able to get a fully working port, but he can’t get any further without these tools.

For those of you who don’t know who Da_G is, he has a good reputation at XDA and is a moderator there. I’ve worked with him back in my Touch Pro days and I can vouch that he’s a good guy. I know he will try his hardest and won’t give up. He’s also the one that has given the GSM community most of their WM6.5 files.

The donation thread can be found here.

His donation link is here.

If you donate, please reply in the donation thread at XDA with the amount and your transaction ID.

HTC Touch Pro 3 (Or TP2 Mini) Coming In Q3 2010?

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:10:05 +0000

If you remember back in December, there was the T-Mobile HTC leaked roadmap, and on that list was the HTC Tera, which was slated for an April release. Well, it looks like they’re behind schedule, because now rumor has it that it will be a Q3 2010 release and will only have Windows Mobile 6.5 on it. Its rumored to have a 3″ WQVGA resistive touchscreen, dualband HSPA, WiFi b/g, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and GPS/aGPS. It’s based on Qualcomm’s 600MHz MSM7227 chipset with 512MB of ROM and 256MB of RAM, and measures 115 x 53 x 15.5 mm. This could be the Touch Pro 3, or possibly a Touch Pro 2 Mini (similar to the HD Mini). So, with Windows Phone 7 just around the corner, would you buy this phone? We’re thinking most people will wait for Windows Phone 7 to ship.

Source: Slashgear

T-Mobile Dates for HTC HD2 and Motorola CLIQ XT Leaked

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:15:51 +0000

We already knew T-Mobile was getting the HTC HD2 and the Motorola CLIQ XT, but now we have some release dates and tentative pricing. According to the screenshot, the CLIQ XT is coming on March 10th and the HD2 is coming on March 24th. Contract pricing is $139.99 for the CLIQ XT and $199.99 for the HD2.

As we all know, the HD2 has a 4.3″ WVGA screen, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 5MP camera, but may or may not be upgradeable to Windows Phone 7.

The CLIQ XT, also known as the Quench, sports Android 1.5 with MOTOBLUR, a 5MP camera, and a 3.1″ 320 x 480 OLED touch display.

Source: IntoMobile

Rumor: Now HTC HD2 Not Compatible With Windows Phone 7?

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:12:03 +0000

First we heard rumors that the HD2 would be upgradeable to Windows Phone 7, there was even a picture of it (which was determined to be fake). Now we’re hearing that it is not possible to upgrade it because it lacks the three button requirement for WP7. Its not that it lacks the three buttons, it actually has five buttons. They’re also saying it lacks other hardware requirements, but haven’t said what those requirements actually are. They should release some of the hardware requirements later this month at MIX10 Developer’s Conference, so hopefully we’ll have a definite answer by then.

In the mean time, you can always sign the online petition we talked about here.

In other news, Microsoft has confirmed that Windows Mobile 6.5 will be called Windows Phone Starter Edition, so even though Windows Phone 7 is coming out, development shouldn’t stop on WM6.5

Source: APCMag

HTC HD2 Windows Phone 7 Petition

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 13:46:50 +0000

For you HTC HD2 owners out there, there’s been much debate on the Windows Phone 7 upgrade options. The hardware should be able to run it just fine, but will there be an upgrade option available? We’ve heard yes and no, but nothing official from HTC or Microsoft. Now you can voice your opinion in an online petition.

While petitions haven’t necessarily worked in the past with HTC, there’s no reason not to sign it if you want WP7 on the HD2.

You can find it here.

HD2 Running Windows Phone 7 Series

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:59:32 +0000

Windows Phone 7 Series has been spotted running on a HTC HD2. We already knew the HD2 would be able to upgrade to WM7, but someone at MWC10 has snapped a few shots of it in its early form.

Things to note are:
-The device had a current copy of TomTom installed, which launched and ran perfectly fine.
-It ran fast, faster than the HTC HD2 runs on WM 6.5.
-Lastly, the software was multi-lingual out of the box.

Source: WinMo.nl

Slacker Radio From T-Mobile HD2 ROM

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:51:22 +0000

Our forum user TMartin has pulled the cab from the T-Mobile HD2 ROM for Slacker Radio.

It should work good on WVGA devices, but please report back how it works on other resolutions (VGA, QVGA, etc).

Also, Slacker is an internet radio service, available in the US and Canada, so we are not sure if users from other regions can use this app.

You will of course need a free account at Slacker Radio to use this cab.

Download it here!

Why everything is running an ARM A8 Cortex Chip

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:15:35 +0000

In the following months, the mobilephere will be overtaken with several new devices and most of them will be running the same underlying chipset design. As any mobile power user will tell you, support for HD video and hardware-accelerated graphics are must-haves for future devices. What will most of these devices have in common? Several things actually. Nearly all will be based on the ARM Cortex A8 chipset, which means they are running the same basic chip with manufacturer-decided variations and branding schemes.

What is most exciting about this chipset is that HD video and hardware-accelerated graphics are now a reality for everybody. As a bonus, this chipset design also meets the ‘required specs‘ that Windows Mobile 7 purportedly has. These specs include-

Quote:

Core requirements:
Processor: ARM v6+, L2 Cache, VFP, Open GL ES 2.0 graphics HW (QCOM 8k, Nvidia AP15/16* and TI 3430 all meet spec)
Memory: 256MB+ DRAM, 1G+ Flash (at least 512MB fast flash – 5MB/s unbuffered read @4K block size)
Display: WVGA (800×480) or FWVGA (854×480) 3.5” or greater diagonal
Touch: Multi-touch required
Battery: Sufficient to meet Days of Use LTK requirements.
Controls: Start, Back, Send and End are required (soft controls allowed as long as they are always present).

Following is a list of each ‘branded ARM A8 processor’ and their specifications. I have also listed an example device known to run that chip (is possible).

Make sure to check out this excellent explanation on the differences between the previous generation ARM 11 chipset and the new ARM Cortex A8 chipset if you want to get dirty with the details of why this is such an advancement in technology.

TEGRA

The Tegra chipset, manufactured by Nvidia, is to support

Quote:

Key features:

720p HD video capture and playback
The lowest power for demanding applications like 720p HD video
3D user interface that enhances browsing and content navigation
Premium HD video playback with NVIDIA® PureVideo® technology
Ability to access visually intensive online applications like mapping and gaming

Known Device- Zune HD

SNAPDRAGON

The Snapdragon chipset, designed by Qualcomm, has the following features-

Quote:

1 GHz CPU
600MHz DSP
Integrated 3G mobile broadband
Support for Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® connectivity
Built-in seventh-generation gpsOne® engine with Standalone-GPS and Assisted-GPS modes
High-definition (720p) video decode, and multiple video codec support
High-performance 3D graphics – up to 22M triangles/sec and 133M 3D pixels/sec
High-resolution up to WXGA (1280×720) display support
12-megapixel camera support
Multiple audio codecs: (AAC+, eAAC+, AMR, FR, EFR, HR, WB-AMR, G.729a, G.711, AAC stereo encode)
Support for mobile broadcast TV (MediaFLO, DVB-H and ISDB-T)
Support for Windows Mobile®, Android, and a number of Linux®-based operating systems
Qualcomm’s hybrid mode alternative solution

Known devices-

Windows Mobile- Acer neoTouch S200 F1, HTC HD2, Toshiba TG01, LG Monaco,
Android- Acer Liquid A1, HTC Dragon, Sony Xperia X3

ARMADA

The Armada chipset, made by Marvell, includes the following features-

Quote:

Scalable CPU core frequency and voltage for power-efficient operation
Tightly coupled DRAM controllers for low latency CPU access while supporting balanced I/O throughput
Hardware video acceleration to offer up to 1080p encode and decode
3D graphics acceleration at up to 45 million triangles per second (MT/s)
Suite of award-winning Qdeo video technology
Wide flexibility in I/Os spanning mobile devices (MIPI DSI/CSI/HSI/SlimBus, mobile DDR), consumer/embedded devices (PCIe, Ethernet, SATA, 5-in-1 card reader, desktop DDR) and generic (SDIO, eMMC, USB 2.0, parallel, and more)

OMAP

TI (the company, not the rapper) will be releasing their OMAP chipset, which will include-

Quote:

All of the devices feature hardware 2D/3D graphics acceleration except for the OMAP3610, OMAP3630/OMAP3640 are capable of 720p HD video playback, according to TI.Ti says all of the OMAP36xx SoCs offer support for XGA displays up to 1024 x 768 pixels, or WXGA displays up to 1280 x 800, and provide composite and S-Video TV output too. The devices include three high-speed USB 2.0 interfaces and one USB 2.0 On-The-Go interface, the company adds.

As you can tell, there are quite a few names to describe the same basic feature set. All and all, it looks to be quite an exciting time for phone launches. With Windows Mobile 7 set to be released sometime later this year, expect a bevy of devices with the ARM A8 chipset to be announced and launched. Already we have seen leaks of a possible HTC HD3 and the HTC Oboe, and more are sure to come!

Sources of information-

Nvidia Tegra Info- Nvidia.com

Qualcomm Snapdragon Info- Qualcomm.com

Marvell Armada Info- Marvell.com

TI OMAP Info- LinuxFordDevices.com

T-Mobile HD2 Gets Spec Boosts

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:29:03 +0000

If you remember, the HTC HD2 is headed to T-Mobile USA, and is rumored to be the only device currently on the market to be upgraded to WM7.

Now that the HTC product page is live, you’ll see that the US version will come with some nice boosts in its specs compared to the European version currently on the market. It will have 1Gb ROM (up from 512Mb), and 576Mb RAM (up from 448Mb). It will also be coming with a 16Gb microSD card in the box instead of the 2Gb one. Yes, we said it, 16Gb!

Feel free to discuss this in our forums too!

Source: Engadget

HD2 Only Current Device To Get WM7

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:16:07 +0000

According to HTC’s Russian Twitter page, the HD2 is the only device currently on the market that will receive an upgrade to Windows Mobile 7 when its released. The translation is: “for Diamond 2 firmware is not planned. Of the existing communicators on the market, only the HD2 firmware to get WM7“.

Sorry for those Diamond2 and Touch Pro2 owners. I’m sure there will be some leaked ROMs for you guys though!

Source: PocketNow

HTC HD2 Gets Patched Video Drivers w/ 500% Performance Increase

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:00:06 +0000

HTC still seems to be having issues getting good video drivers released for its devices, and the beloved HD2 is no exception. Chainfire from XDA has come to the rescue! Just as we have patched drivers for our Diamonds, Touch Pros, etc., he has released a patched driver for the HD2 that could possibly increase OpenGL performance by 500%!

glBenchmark
Attached are some glBenchmark results of the various patch revisions. Some awesome improvements in the HD and Pro tests, as well as kTriangles/s.

Stock HD2 vs Patch 1.1
GLBenchmark HD ES 1.1: 487% ~ 1598 Frames up from 328
GLBenchmark HD ES 1.1 no GPU Skinning: 502% ~ 1647 Frames up from 328
GLBenchmark PRO ES 1.1: 107% ~ 229 Frames up from 215
GLBenchmark Pro ES 1.1 no GPU Skinning: 157% ~ 625 Frames up from 397
Swapbuffer speed: 496% ~ 556 up from 112
Averages: Lights: 116% ~ 1550 kTriangles/s up from 1350
Averages: Texture Filter: 159% ~ 2150 kTriangles/s up from 1350
Averages: Texture Size: 158% ~ 2150 kTriangles/s up from 1350
Averages: Triangles: 161% ~ 2150 kTriangles/s up from 1350

Apparently its not compatible with all software and is available in two different modes, so be sure to read his thread for all the details.

Source: XDA via WMPowerUser

HTC HD2 Pink Camera Issue Software Related?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:02:45 +0000

If you haven’t heard by now, the HTC HD2 (Leo) appears to have a camera issue where some of them have pinkish spots on the picture, like the example here (thanks to WMPowerUser for the image). At first everyone thought it had to be hardware related and were debating on returning their devices until it was fixed. Now, according to HTC, it may be software related with a hotfix coming soon.

Dear HTC Customers,
We have identified a software issue affecting HTC HD2 cameras.
We take this matter very seriously and already have a patch in a form of a hotfix in development.
This will be released as soon as possible.
Updates for this product will be released via our support pages, and in the case of Network Devices you will normally still be able to apply hotfixes to the device.
The HD2 support page can be found here:
http://www.htc.com/europe/faq_detail…&act=faq&cat=0

Source: WMPowerUser

Best Regards
HTC Customer Care

T-Mobile Getting HTC HD2 Next Month?

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:02:04 +0000

Forum user Unknown Zone posted in our forums a link to an article at ITProPortal stating “…It will also be available on T-Mobile USA by the end of next month”.

We haven’t heard any other information on this, such as a price or a date, but if this is true, along with Project Dark, T-Mobile could be getting quite a few new customers with that plan and phone. Now only if their 3G coverage was on par with the other big 3 carriers. We’ll see if the rumor is true!

New video of HTC’s HD2 shows multi-touch browsing in IE

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:37:24 +0000

There has been a lot of buzz in the past few weeks about the new HTC HD2, also known as the HTC Leo. But a new video displaying the phone reveals multi-touch web browsing in IE, something none of us were expecting. In a video released on techblog.gr it is evident that the multi-touch that we have all been waiting for on WinMo phones may just be around the corner. The video is about 6 minutes long, but at the 2:25 mark you will be able to see the pinch zooming in full effect! Click on the picture below to see the video (language spoken and on device is Greek, but you will get the point!).

Sure, there is some obvious screen lag in other parts of the video, and HTC clearly needs to work on the overall responsiveness of the device, but HTC has plenty of time to work out the kinks and get us another quality product by release time. Which just about everyone is hoping is tomorrow…

Source: EngadgetMobile