[blueskyjunkie]

I haven't heard anyone rant about the Storm's inability to play multiple tones simultaneously. Am I the only one that thinks this is an epic fail? This has risen to the top of my Storm complaints list. I view it as a necessary feature for smart phones (especially ones anticipating huge app stores). Does anyone know if it is a hardware problem, or if RIM can fix it in a future software update?

[acowart]

Hardware issue, CDMA only so it affects 9530 but not 9500.

Edit -- Received more information, both the 9500 and 9530 use the Qualcomm chips, so this may affect both phones.

[blueskyjunkie]

Thanks for the response. That really upsets me that there's no opportunity to fix it :\. That means we will never see any apps with smooth sound. It's gonna be hard to live with this choppy b.s.

[Edeko77]

why did rim make it like this

[BecerraC]

Its not an epic fail. I don't think they ever intended this to be a gaming phone.

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[OriginalCrash]

For the record, I've seen several on here say it's a hardware issue but at least one (and he's pretty active in the third party apps forum) say he thought it was software. As for RIM not expecting this to be a gaming phone? If that's true, then that expectation in itself is an epic fail. The Storm was and is gonna be compared to every aspect of the iPhone, so they should have known games were gonna come into it...

Brian

[acowart]

For the record, I've seen several on here say it's a hardware issue but at least one (and he's pretty active in the third party apps forum) say he thought it was software. As for RIM not expecting this to be a gaming phone? If that's true, then that expectation in itself is an epic fail. The Storm was and is gonna be compared to every aspect of the iPhone, so they should have known games were gonna come into it...

Brian

Basically, every CDMA device RIM has built has had this limitation. In nearly 2 years, they have not fixed it for any of the phones. It's not a Storm issue - it's on every CDMA device they have.

[mike240se]

hmmm, how could it be a hardware issue? arent the 9500 and 9530 identical hardware wise? they both have the same cpu, etc, so i dont see how the cdma variant would be less capable. they should be capable of the same things. i am betting software, i just dont know why.

[acowart]

hmmm, how could it be a hardware issue? arent the 9500 and 9530 identical hardware wise? they both have the same cpu, etc, so i dont see how the cdma variant would be less capable. they should be capable of the same things. i am betting software, i just dont know why.

Some sources I've seen say that the 9500 has a Marvell chip, while the 9530 has a Qualcomm chip. They could be entirely wrong, though - I haven't researched the internals of any devices before.

[blueskyjunkie]

Its not an epic fail. I don't think they ever intended this to be a gaming phone.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Sounds are required for more than just games. This limitation affects almost any app that uses sounds. Everything is going to sound choppy and terrible. As a leading smart phone producer, RIM should have the ability to plan ahead for more than a month and know that if they are expecting to put a huge app store in the Storm's arsenal then they should fix a simple (yet crippling) limitation such as this. Just my two cents.

[anon(96573)]

The 9530 is Single Channel audio and it's just garbage. This seriously limits the amount/quality of apps.

For example we will never see a good multi-touch piano, guitar or any other instrument app. Everything would have to be 1 tone at a time.

Even simple apps are crippled by this like the lightsaber app.

I have ran into this problem a few times already while coding and it drives me crazy.

[LuciferRex]

This is in my opinion probably going to be the worst issue when it comes to these guys making programs

[BecerraC]

That is true. And it is a cdma flaw I believe. After a little research I have to re cant my prior statement.

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[Milamber]

Some sources I've seen say that the 9500 has a Marvell chip, while the 9530 has a Qualcomm chip. They could be entirely wrong, though - I haven't researched the internals of any devices before.

I have a 9500 and it says Qualcomm 3G CDMA

[Milamber]

The 9530 is Single Channel audio and it's just garbage. This seriously limits the amount/quality of apps.

For example we will never see a good multi-touch piano, guitar or any other instrument app. Everything would have to be 1 tone at a time.

Even simple apps are crippled by this like the lightsaber app.

I have ran into this problem a few times already while coding and it drives me crazy.

Look on the bright side you can still code for the 9500

[MaxL]

Its pathetic! And it also effects 9500s. Never buying another blackberry again since RIM can't even figure out a problem like this. I think ill be going back to nokia again, least they can get the simplest things right.

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[srleadjb]

You guys need to realize NO phone has everything! The I-phone is great for multimedia yet cant even cut and paste or send a picture message (talk about simplest of features.)

I don't know how old you are, I'm 40. Phones have come sooo far in just a few years. Blackberry's had black and wht screens just a few years back. The Storm is amazing in its own right, so is the Iphone, so are Nokia's and Sony Ericssons. None are failures, they just have different targets. I don't have a single game on my phone, yet I do have a PS3 at home. My phone is first for business, then for entertainment. You guys are wasting your breath. Companies will always target different segments and leave out certain features. Its called capitalism, they're not going to give you it all. So my suggestion, enjoy your Storm for what it is and go get an Itouch for your games. My2cents.

[blueskyjunkie]

I agree with your point that the storm targets a different audience than other phones; however, I think my point is still valid that if rim planned to release a huge app store with the storm then they should have foreseen this problem and fixed it. You can't tell me that they planned every app to be business related and not utilize sound.

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[pyroja]

The lack of polyphony does not merely affect games.

As I mentioned in another post, one of the great things the Storm can do is stream audio. Guess what happens when I get a chime for an e-mail? No more audio. It's still streaming along, but it can no longer play audio. I have to put the darned thing in Vibrate mode to enjoy anything that involves audio playing for any amount of time. Fail.

Trust me, I love the Storm, but to trot out your flagship product and market it as a touchscreen multimedia wonder-phone capable of standing on its own among the best the competition has to offer, only to ship it out crippled like this, is a horrendous oversight.

I hope RIM has a sufficient answer for all these issues, because I really want to believe they are capable of making a quality top-end device that can compete across all segments, as opposed to boasting its capabilities and then hiding behind "It's a BlackBerry, it's only meant for BUSINESS users!"

If it was meant just for business users, they why the heck does it ship with a movie trailer for Babylon AD? Why not ship it with an on-board copy of Office Space? Not only would that make sense, it would be entertaining as well.

[blueskyjunkie]

The lack of polyphony does not merely affect games.

As I mentioned in another post, one of the great things the Storm can do is stream audio. Guess what happens when I get a chime for an e-mail? No more audio. It's still streaming along, but it can no longer play audio. I have to put the darned thing in Vibrate mode to enjoy anything that involves audio playing for any amount of time. Fail.

Trust me, I love the Storm, but to trot out your flagship product and market it as a touchscreen multimedia wonder-phone capable of standing on its own among the best the competition has to offer, only to ship it out crippled like this, is a horrendous oversight.

I hope RIM has a sufficient answer for all these issues, because I really want to believe they are capable of making a quality top-end device that can compete across all segments, as opposed to boasting its capabilities and then hiding behind "It's a BlackBerry, it's only meant for BUSINESS users!"

If it was meant just for business users, they why the heck does it ship with a movie trailer for Babylon AD? Why not ship it with an on-board copy of Office Space? Not only would that make sense, it would be entertaining as well.

HAHA I completely agree with you, man! I honestly can't understand how other people are just brushing this off by saying things like "no phone has everything." I understand this, and I can look past the lack of wifi, but this audio channel problem severely CRIPPLES the device. If I had known about this problem within my 30 days, I would have immediately returned the device.

[Hawse771]

The lack of polyphony does not merely affect games.

As I mentioned in another post, one of the great things the Storm can do is stream audio. Guess what happens when I get a chime for an e-mail? No more audio. It's still streaming along, but it can no longer play audio. I have to put the darned thing in Vibrate mode to enjoy anything that involves audio playing for any amount of time. Fail.

Trust me, I love the Storm, but to trot out your flagship product and market it as a touchscreen multimedia wonder-phone capable of standing on its own among the best the competition has to offer, only to ship it out crippled like this, is a horrendous oversight.

I hope RIM has a sufficient answer for all these issues, because I really want to believe they are capable of making a quality top-end device that can compete across all segments, as opposed to boasting its capabilities and then hiding behind "It's a BlackBerry, it's only meant for BUSINESS users!"

If it was meant just for business users, they why the heck does it ship with a movie trailer for Babylon AD? Why not ship it with an on-board copy of Office Space? Not only would that make sense, it would be entertaining as well.

Are you talking about streaming audio via flycast/orb/slacker? Because if you are the problem with the email chime/no audio is a CDMA problem that limits the simultaneous use of Data/voice etc right? I know any incoming call/txt I get when listening to slacker will stop the music because the phone has a priority to stop data and accept SMS/Phone calls etc first.



With that being said...on topic the single chanel audio is an obvious shortcoming for some people. Personally i dont play any game with sound on as it wouldnt be appropriate so it wont really affect me ever (since music/movies dont work the same way). But there is a huge segment of storm owners that want cool games and need more then single channel audio. There are a lot of young people who own storms and this is important to them im sure.

They obviously figured no one would care or something...that or completely forgot about the gaming future. Either way it will still be a successful device...I compare it to lack of MMS/Video/Copy and paste on iphone...is it a deal breaker...nope but its annoying

[blueskyjunkie]

@ Hawse771 - that is a good outlook on it. its still upsetting that it cant be fixed though :\. maybe someone will find a workaround.

[n0t0ryus1]

You guys need to realize NO phone has everything! The I-phone is great for multimedia yet cant even cut and paste or send a picture message (talk about simplest of features.)

I don't know how old you are, I'm 40. Phones have come sooo far in just a few years. Blackberry's had black and wht screens just a few years back. The Storm is amazing in its own right, so is the Iphone, so are Nokia's and Sony Ericssons. None are failures, they just have different targets. I don't have a single game on my phone, yet I do have a PS3 at home. My phone is first for business, then for entertainment. You guys are wasting your breath. Companies will always target different segments and leave out certain features. Its called capitalism, they're not going to give you it all. So my suggestion, enjoy your Storm for what it is and go get an Itouch for your games. My2cents.

Except in the case of the iPhone, its a software issue that can easily be fixed. In the case of the storm, it cannot be fixed due to it being a hardware issue. I agree, why market it as a business/ multimedia device and not have the ability to play my notification chime at the same time as my music is playing? Not to mention how laggy the OS is, it pretty much freezes it in the mean time. Im listening to music...new message...music stops...2 seconds later I hear the chime...2 seconds after that music starts again. Its pretty pathetic and makes it feel rather...I dont know what the word is but something along the lines of cheap.

[pyroja]

I understand the CDMA limitation of being limited to either Voice or Data, but not both.

This is not what I'm referring to. I'm referring to the fact that if I'm playing audio, ANY audio, and an audible notification wants to rear its ugly head, my audio stream gets cut.

Not a Voice/Data issue, but rather one form of audio stomping all over another form of audio issue. It's somewhat annoying. Not a deal breaker, and I'd actualy be willing to be it could be fixed.

Maybe.

My thought was something along the lines of... How hard it would it be to develop a software mixer? Who cares if the hardware can only handle 1 channel of audio if you use software to mix it down beforehand?

The question would be, what kind of taxing effect would that have on the processor? The world may never know...

[Hawse771]

Except in the case of the iPhone, its a software issue that can easily be fixed. In the case of the storm, it cannot be fixed due to it being a hardware issue. I agree, why market it as a business/ multimedia device and not have the ability to play my notification chime at the same time as my music is playing? Not to mention how laggy the OS is, it pretty much freezes it in the mean time. Im listening to music...new message...music stops...2 seconds later I hear the chime...2 seconds after that music starts again. Its pretty pathetic and makes it feel rather...I dont know what the word is but something along the lines of cheap.

Err..why what you say is partially true, you have to hack your iphone to even get the apps that do MMS/Video/Copy & Paste and they are not very streamlined.

While jailbreaking the iphone isnt hard it is a HUGE pita because every update that comes out you have to redo everything. And the new update they just released 2.2.1 STOPS people from being able to unlock the phone for other carriers (atleast in the meantime). While my GF is on ATT this isnt a big deal so we just re-jailbroke it but think of all the people that own iphones that arent with att (there's a lot) they have to stick with 2.2 and not update any further until someone figures out a way around it (if its possible). Most people dont want a hacked iphone (it runs slower and crashes more) so really in essence the iphone still cannot do mms/video/copy&paste. Dont know the % but i would venture to say the majority of iphone owners dont jailbreak their phone.

*disclaimer I dont keep up to date on everything iphone so some things could have changed from a couple weeks ago as far as the unlocking cripple of 2.2.1 One thing is for sure Apple keeps their shiz on lock down as much as possible and it will only get tighter from here (and definitely with future iphones)