The HTC TyTN II (also known as the HTC Kaiser, the HTC P4550, and the HTC 8925) is an Internet-enabled Windows Mobile Pocket PC smartphone designed and marketed by HTC Corporation of Taiwan. It has a tilting touchscreen with a right-side slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The TyTN II's functions include those of a camera phone and a portable media player in addition to text messaging and multimedia messaging. It also offers Internet services including e-mail, instant messaging, web browsing, and local Wi-Fi connectivity. It is a quad-band GSM phone with GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, and HSUPA.

HTC TyTN II
ManufacturerHTC Corporation
SeriesHTC TyTN
Availability by regionSeptember 2007; 17 years ago (2007-09)
DiscontinuedSeptember 3, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-09-03)
PredecessorHTC TyTN
SuccessorHTC Touch Pro
Compatible networksQuad band GSM 850/900/1800/1900, GPRS, EDGE
Tri band UMTS 850/1900/2100, HSDPA, HSUPA
aGPS
Form factorSlider
Dimensions112 mm (4.4 in) H
59 mm (2.3 in) W
19 mm (0.75 in) D
Weight190 g (6.7 oz)
Operating systemWindows Mobile 6.1, 6.5 (unofficial); Android (unofficial)
CPUQualcomm 7200 ARM 400 MHz
GPU: Qualcomm Q3Dimension
Memory128 MB RAM
256 MB ROM
Removable storagemicroSDHC, up to 32 GB
Battery1300 or 1350 mAh Lithium-ion polymer battery, user accessible
Rear camera3.1 megapixel
Front camera0.3-megapixel
Display240x320 px, 2.8 in (71 mm), 65536 color LCD, 3:4 aspect ratio
ConnectivityUSB Mini-B
Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
Data inputsQWERTY keyboard and touchscreen

Video driver issues

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Soon after its release to market, reviewers and end users reported the TyTN II's graphical performance was below par. Both 2D and 3D graphics were affected, with notable symptoms being poor video playback and severely low frame-rates when running 3D applications and games.[1][2] The hardware platform (Qualcomm 7200 chipset) suggested that the device was capable of high graphical performance,[3] however the device was consistently outperformed by older HTC devices.

A community of enthusiast developers investigated the cause of the poor performance and concluded that DirectDraw and Direct3D applications were running in software rendering mode only. No hardware acceleration was taking place, and the drivers required to take advantage of the ATI Imageon hardware appeared to be missing.[4]

Many users within the community were dissatisfied by the apparent omission of a video driver that would allow hardware acceleration of graphics, particularly since the device included rendering hardware which was not being used. In an attempt to elicit interest from developers with relevant expertise, the community began raising a bounty which could be offered to any developer (or team of developers) who could solve the problem by enabling hardware acceleration with a homebrew driver.[5] A website was also established to document and publicize the problem, to pressure HTC to provide a fix, and ultimately start a class action lawsuit against the manufacturer.[6]

At least one developer is working to get proper driver support working at HTCClassAction.org.[6][dead link] They have successfully created a driver that enables hardware acceleration under specific circumstances (everything but fullscreen). Right now the driver enables D3D and OpenGL ES. This driver does not solve any 2D drawing problems (GUI and menus). The driver does prove that the TyTN II based devices do in fact have functioning GPU accelerated hardware, and it is enabled. It is also important to note that these drivers only work on ROMs based on Windows Mobile 6.1.

Some developers are now working to enable 2D DDI support for the Polaris, which could lead to support for the Kaiser. They are using files obtained from the G810 ROM(s).

Also, some users have upgraded to the driver present in the Samsung Omnia. This driver also uses software rendering, but it has been properly optimized for the ARM architecture.

Versions

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Besides the branding differences, there are several models of the HTC TyTN II: the KAIS100, the KAIS110, the KAIS120, and the KAIS130. The KAIS110 has no camera; the KAIS100 has a 3.1 megapixel rear-facing camera; the KAIS120 and KAIS130 have a 3.1-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera.

The TyTN II model was sold as:

ROM updates

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The TyTN II shipped with Windows Mobile 6.[clarification needed]

Official updates are available for several versions of the TyTN II, including the AT&T Tilt[20] (WM 6 AKU 0.4.4), the O2 XDA Stellar[21] (WM 6.1), and the Vodafone v1615.[22]

Developers at XDA-Developers have succeeded in porting Google Android and Windows Mobile 6.5 to the TyTN II.[23][24]

Specifications

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Preloaded software

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(Varies by operator)

  • AOL Instant Messenger
  • BlackBerry Connect[26]
  • Brain Challenge
  • Bubble Breaker
  • Business Card Scanner
  • CoPilot Live 7 Sat Nav (Not with O2 UK)
  • Excel Mobile
  • HTC Home
  • Midnight Pool
  • Outlook Mobile
  • PowerPoint Mobile
  • MobiTV
  • Ms. Pac-Man
  • MyCast
  • Solitaire
  • Sprite Backup
  • TeleNav GPS Navigator
  • TeleNav Track
  • Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
  • TomTom Navigator 6 Taster Edition
  • Windows Live Messenger
  • Word Mobile
  • Xpress Mail
  • Yahoo! Messenger

GPS compatibility

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Users of this phone have successfully installed and used other GPS map software applications (such as ALK Technologies CoPilot Live 7, DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2009 Archived 2008-07-23 at the Wayback Machine, Fugawi, Garmin Mobile XT Archived 2008-07-26 at the Wayback Machine, Google Maps Mobile, iNav iGuidance, Intrisync Destinator, Microsoft Live Search Mobile, TomTom, Tracky, and VisualGPS BeeLineGPS), which are either free or cost nothing beyond the original purchase price. The map applications are compatible with the built-in GPS receiver, provided users set the appropriate COM port for the map application (COM4, 4800 baud[27]).

The built-in GPS receiver was intended by some wireless providers to be used preferably with Telenav, which is a service that charges users monthly fees or fees based on the amount of downloaded map data. Telenav can only provide map data in areas where applicable cellular phone services are available and that users must have a data plan with their wireless providers.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Artem Lutfullin. "Mobile-review.com Review of QWERTY-communicator HTC TyTN II". Archived from the original on November 20, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
  2. ^ RPG0; et al. (23 October 2007). "xda-developers Forum - For the people working at HTC". Archived from the original on 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2007-12-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Qualcomm. "MSM7200 Chipset Solution". Archived from the original on 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
  4. ^ omikr0n; et al. (26 October 2007). "xda-developers Forum - D3D or OpenGL ES hardware acceleration for Qualcomm MSM7200". Archived from the original on 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2007-12-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ gthing et all (15 December 2007). "Kaiser Video Driver Bounty". Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
  6. ^ a b "HTCClassAction.org". Archived from the original on May 12, 2008.
  7. ^ "AT&T Tilt(TM) Cell Phone - | Wireless from AT&T, formerly Cingular". Archived from the original on 2008-07-22. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  8. ^ "AT&T- News Room". Archived from the original on 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  9. ^ a b AT&T Tilt for Business | AT&T wireless services Archived 2008-07-21 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ HTC - Touch Phone, PDA Phone, Smartphone, Mobile Computer: Products - AT&T Tilt: Overview Archived 2008-11-15 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "devCentral | Device Detail". Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  12. ^ "Press Release|Emobile Introduces its First Two Voice Handsets "S11HT"(EMONSTER) and "H11T" Pre-order Sale to Start from March 1, 2008 | eMobile". Archived from the original on May 5, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  13. ^ "HTC – Touch Phone, PDA Phone, Smartphone, Mobile Computer: Products – HTC TyTN II: Overview". Archived from the original on 2009-07-18. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  14. ^ HTC: TyTN Series: HTC TyTN II - Ready for business? Archived 2008-07-22 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ O2 – Xda – Device – Stellar Archived 2008-06-09 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ "T-Mobile MDA Vario III Overview - Pay Monthly - T Mobile". Archived from the original on 2008-07-22. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  17. ^ Vodafone v1615 - Business Mobile Phone - Vodafone Business Shop (on Internet Archive)
  18. ^ Vodafone v1615 (HTC Kaiser 120) specifications Archived 2013-03-09 at the Wayback Machine (see also HTC Kaiser page on XDA Developers' wiki Archived 2013-02-26 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ "Téléphone mobile SFR v1615 : SFR". Archived from the original on 2008-09-21. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  20. ^ HTC - Touch Phone, PDA Phone, Smartphone, Mobile Computer[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ O2 – Xda – Software updates Archived 2012-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ Vodafone UK – Help – Software Upgrade Service[permanent dead link]
  23. ^ "Google Android on the HTC Kaiser". 2 June 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-02-28. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  24. ^ "Windows Mobile 6.5 on the HTC Kaiser". 14 March 2009. Archived from the original on 2010-03-09. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
  25. ^ Emobile.jp. "Emobile EMONSTER (SH11) Specs". Archived from the original on 2008-12-24. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  26. ^ HTC - Touch Phone, PDA Phone, Smartphone, Mobile Computer[permanent dead link]
  27. ^ "Efficasoft GPS Utilities - Complete GPS navigation and mapping utilities for Windows Mobile Smartphone". Archived from the original on 2011-09-05. Retrieved 2011-07-16.

Discussion forums

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