Storm GPU...when will this be unlocked?

bbstorm83 · Thread Author #1 05-04-2009, 12:52 AM

so apparently this phone has an amazing gpu but i beg to differ. i read some other post saying the gpu hasnt been unlocked yet.

umm why is it locked? why make a phone that doesnt even take advantage of its hardware??

love the storm but cmon...im getting sick of installing all these 'leaked' os's and not seeing any improvement on the gpu side.

phrehnck · #2 05-04-2009, 01:10 AM

its not locked. its just sitting in the garage doing nothing cus no one has the keys to it

n0t0ryus1 · #3 05-04-2009, 01:10 AM

Not that I know anything about programming, but from a consumers standpoint is just seems to me that RIM is too uptight about keeping all their phones on the same page in terms of well....pretty much everything. OS wise, all the most recent BBs look similar or identical. All work the same (with the exception of the storm which is slow). All have the same features. This is regardless of the phones hardware.

Maybe if they werent so uptight about it all and stop using the Java platform it would make things easier. Right now, even with .141 it feels very unfinished.

n0t0ryus1 · #4 05-04-2009, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phrehnck

its not locked. its just sitting in the garage doing nothing cus no one has the keys to it

Which means its locked...hence needing the keys.

UrbanGlowCam · #5 05-04-2009, 01:17 AM

Yeah, they should really start using the capabilities of the gpu more. It makes the phone seem so much more stable on the iphone when used. If RIM's going for stability, they should go the same route. I don't think they can. Or maybe there's some type of security issue to it? I dunnoo...

n0t0ryus1, are you really running .191?

n0t0ryus1 · #6 05-04-2009, 01:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanGlowCam

Yeah, they should really start using the capabilities of the gpu more. It makes the phone seem so much more stable on the iphone when used. If RIM's going for stability, they should go the same route. I don't think they can. Or maybe there's some type of security issue to it? I dunnoo...

n0t0ryus1, are you really running .191?

Hehe nope! I wish though...

I just put that there for people to suck up to me and think ima beta tester.

UrbanGlowCam · #7 05-04-2009, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by n0t0ryus1

Hehe nope! I wish though...

I just put that there for people to suck up to me and think ima beta tester.

Haha dangg. I was gettin to that

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

JRSCCivic98 · #8 05-04-2009, 11:04 AM

Some of us don't believe that the Java platform that RIM is using for the OS has the capabilities to make proper use of the full video chipset acceleration hardware.... and probably never will.

Zipster · #9 05-04-2009, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRSCCivic98

Some of us don't believe that the Java platform that RIM is using for the OS has the capabilities to make proper use of the full video chipset acceleration hardware.... and probably never will.

What would be awesome is that if this whole wait for the Verizon OS upgrade was for RIM's Super-Secret OS Department to release a brand-spanking new OS that does take full advantage of the hardware!

I know that's most likely not going to happen. But a guy can dream can't he?

BAGTEVZ · #10 05-04-2009, 11:14 AM

Heres a Block Diagram of RIMS BB Storm

bigman2 · #11 05-04-2009, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRSCCivic98

Some of us don't believe that the Java platform that RIM is using for the OS has the capabilities to make proper use of the full video chipset acceleration hardware.... and probably never will.

This is probably at least 75% of it... At least as things stand right now. Adding in support for this sort of thing would be a not so small bit of redoing the plumbing of the OS. Sort of like adding a bathroom to a house.

I'd say the remaining 25% is almost entirely composed of the fact that it doesn't make good business sense to go to all this time, effort, and expense for one phone. Maybe 2 if you count the Tour. If they did it in a generic enough way, they could probably apply it to future phones, but it's something of a pandora's box. Once RIM opens that door, they will probably never be able to close it again. They will forever after have raised the level of expectations that people have for the BB brand, and be forced into including some kind of a GPU.

When you're looking for a chip that does CDMA, GSM, and native Java bytecode interpretation, your selection is probably pretty slim. Maybe 3-4 options total, tops. The cost of fabbing any kind of microchip is astounding, so it's not a field with a lot of players. Out of all the options available when the Storm was still in the early planning stages, I'm sure the chip that's in there now was probably the best for the money at the time. I'm betting the fact that it had a GPU wasn't even of interest to RIM, it's just one of those extras that you don't care about.

I'm sure RIM will eventually add GPU support to the BB OS, but they're going to do it on their timetable. Aside from games though, there's really very little benefit to having a GPU. It's just one more bit of circuitry putting a drain on your battery.