First reports on the, now, GPS-enabled HTC Trinity

Did you know you can enable the GPS functionality in the new-generation Pocket PC phone, the HTC Trinity (HTC P3600) with a simple, easy, free ROM upgrade? Did you know the latest ROM upgrade offers a significantly lowered boot-in time and slightly decreased (albeit still very bad) A2DP CPU usage, more wireless icons (E for Edge) and, last but not least, SDHC compatibility? If you didn’t but would certainly enjoy the advantages of the built-in GPS unit and the other goodies of the new ROM, make sure you do the following:

1. download the SSPL-TRIN.zip utility linked in from the first post of this thread (note that you’ll need to register yourself in the XDA-Dev forums to be able to access the file)
2. download the new ROM upgrade from here (Pacific users may also want to give a try to this Chinese source to see if it’s faster)
3. decompress both files. From the first, transfer SSPL-TRIN.exe to your PDA and execute it there, after disconnecting your Trinity from your desktop. You’ll see the standard rainbow-color bootup screen.
4. now, start the large RUU_Trinity_DOPODASIA_WWE_1.23.707.6_6275_1.35.00.11_108_Ship.exe file on the desktop, press the OK / Update / Yes buttons until it gets to flashing the new ROM.

It worked for everyone so far. Note that if there is “Serial†at the bottom third of the rainbow bootloader screen of the Trinity, the desktop PC won’t likely to recognize it. Then, just reset the PDA and, after booting in, just restart SSPL-TRIN.exe. You’ll need to see “USB†for the PDA to be recognized.

Warranty issues

Note that, by upgrading, you MAY lose your warranty, depending on where you've initially purchased your Trinity from. However, as you can flash back a ROM of your operator any time (assuming they DO come out with any publicly available ROM version), this isn’t really an issue most of the time.

Also note that, as SSPL-TRIN doesn’t remove the CID lock (unlike with the older and expensive IMEI-Check service), you won’t have problems with the service folks because of the lack of the CID lock. This is also a huge advantage over the IMEI-Check method.

Advantages

I’ve already listed the major advantages of the new version; most importantly, the enabled GPS functionality. Having GPS support in your phone is just unbeatable. Note that you must use the port COM9:. Also note that you may not want to run for example iGo to find the GPS port automatically because it’ll spend a LOT of time in doing so – just give it COM9: right at the beginning, and you’re all set.

As has already been pointed out, the boot-in time has been significantly reduced between the initial HTC ROM version (1.15.405.5 dated 10/23/2006) and the this one (1.23.707.6, 02/08/2007); according to my tests, it’s 39 seconds now, as opposed to the original 45 seconds. Getting better and better (albeit still can't beat the 36 seconds of the AKU3 HTC Wizard!)

I’ve also made some serious benchmarks with the new version to see whether the problematic areas (digitizer handling, A2DP CPU usage) have been fixed. Unfortunately, they aren’t – read on to see what the problem is!

Acute problems with the HTC Trinity

The excellent XDA-Developers community, lately, has been complaining about two special issues regarding the HTC Trinity, the, in my opinion, best HTC 2.8†Pocket PC right now. Having just received a Trinity myself, I’ve thoroughly scrutinized these problems.

Touchscreen CPU usage issues

(Also see this thread)

Unfortunately, it seems all 2.8†WM5 HTC QVGA Pocket PC phones are particularly sensitive to long-pressing the touchscreen. While none of the other Pocket PC models I’ve tested (HP iPAQ 2210, HP iPAQ hx4700 running WM5, Dell Axim x51v , Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox 720 and the HTC Universal) exhibited any increased CPU usage while constantly keeping the stylus down on the touchscreen, both the 2.8†WM5 HTC Wizard and the HTC Trinity did. The, otherwise, almost-zero CPU usage of gwes.exe raised, on the (non-overclocked) former, to around 17% and about 36% on the latter. This is why, for example, action games like K-Rally or Skyforce (Unlimited) will become next to unplayable when, as is recommended, played with the stylus.

This issue is the same in even the latest (Dopod) Trinity ROM version and should be addressed by HTC as soon as possible. It’s hopefully a driver issue and, therefore, can be fixed in software.

(Note that, again, different HTC phone models exhibit different level of excess CPU usage because of the problem. The new, quick Trinity suffers a lot from the bug, the older, “slow†Wizard suffers a lot less, particularly when it’s overclocked (when overclocked to 240 MHz, games like K-Rally become really enjoyable with the stylus). This, however, doesn’t mean ALL “old†(TI CPU-based) HTC phones fare much better than ALL “new†(Samsung CPU-based) HTC phones – other new, Samsung-based models may behave fat better in this respect.

I really hope HTC really soon addresses this issue as it’s almost completely renders some? several? of their models almost useless for stylus-based action gaming and unnecessarily increases the power consumption.)

A2DP CPU usage issues

Unfortunately, there is another major Achilles’ heel with all Trinity ROM’s released so far: the A2DP CPU usage.

While the built-in A2DP doesn’t consume much CPU cycles in the other HTC phones I’ve tested (for example, on the HTC Wizard, even at the original 195 MHz, it hardly exceeds 30%), the Trinity is an exception. When playing music via A2DP, the CPU usage when used in the default (mono) mode is 52.5%, in stereo mode, 49.5%. (With the original ROM version, the figures were 54% and 51%, respectively – as can be seen, the new version has slightly improved upon the situation, but it’s still much worse than with most other devices.) This is another issue HTC should look into as soon as possible, because it makes the device almost useless as an A2DP player.

(A quick note: the A2DP defaults to mono in this device. If you’re familiar with the Registry and have already read my older A2DP-related articles, you will know HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Bluetooth\ A2DP\Settings\ UseJointStereo also introduced in my article The A2DP support & sound quality & power consumption of the Microsoft and Widcomm BT stack compared; a lot of new A2DP info. With the Trinity, it’s set to 1 by default; you’ll want to change its value to 0.

If you feel unsafe about editing the Registry, you can also use the excellent, free HTweakC tool. I highly recommend it for all Trinity, Wizard and TyTN users.)

Widcomm BT stack compliance?

Unfortunately, as was the case with the original HTC Trinity ROM, neither the Dell Axim WM5 x50/x51 / HTC Wizard nor the HTC Universal Widcomm Bluetooth stacks work with the new ROM. This is very bad news: first, the Microsoft Bluetooth stack as of AKU3 has still bad sound quality with a lot of Bluetooth stereo headphones; second, the Widcomm BT stack would consume considerably less power on the Trinity (I’d say the third of that of the current MS BT stack.)

Verdict

I’m really sorry about HTC’s leaving so bad bugs in the firm- and/or software of this model – the Pocket PC I, otherwise, recommend the most of today’s Pocket PC’s. While upgrading to the new ROM version is HIGHLY recommended for most people, you still won’t be able to play fast-paced action games and should think twice before using the built-in A2DP sound transfer.

Recommended links

My older A2DP-related articles. I also recommend the two reports I’ve posted today about the news: here and here.

UPDATE (02/12/2007): this XDA-Dev thread may be worth checking out for reader feedback.

UPDATE (02/13/2007): this HowardForums thread may also be worth checking out. Note that the thread also mentions HTC will release a ROM shortly, on 02/16 (along with Dopod, which should release another ROM on 02/14); this means owners of the HTC P3600 / Trinity won't need Des' above-explained hack to enable the GPS functionality on their devices.