I have received news from a tester of the T-Mobile Ameo, that it will be delayed in its release, due to the Units displaying significant problems in battery drain in connection to the mechanical HDD. Apparently the units will be recalled to HTC to have the HDD replaced with flash memory to overcome the issues encountered by many users. Not sure how accurate this information is, but I personally know and trust the tester in question. Whilst he reports that the X7500 is blisteringly fast, he also states that the battery consumption is so appalling that one would not get through a days use of the unit, and that stated talk time of the X7500 is currently well below what is stated/expected.
He also indicated that HTC are considering recalling all units already sold in their various guises. Suppose we will have to wait and see. Looks like a few months of delay at the least with a probability with the Ameo shipping with WM6 Professional.
After all that waiting. Crying or Very sad Well I'd rather buy a fully functioning bit of hardware. This always was a point of weariness on my behalf due to my experience of the SGH-i300 with a mechanical HDD, which was ultimately one of the main reasons for getting rid of it......power consumption!!
I have recently changed the title of this thread due to fellow member, Wu, pointing out to me that the old title was confusing. Thankyou Wu.
mackaby007 said:
I have received news from a tester of the T-Mobile Ameo, that it will be delayed in its release, due to the Units displaying significant problems in battery drain in connection to the mechanical HDD. Apparently the units will be recalled to HTC to have the HDD replaced with flash memory to overcome the issues encountered by many users. Not sure how accurate this information is, but I personally know and trust the tester in question. Whilst he reports that the X7500 is blisteringly fast, he also states that the battery consumption is so appalling that one would not get through a days use of the unit, and that stated talk time of the X7500 is currently well below what is stated/expected.
He also indicated that HTC are considering recalling all units already sold in their various guises. Suppose we will have to wait and see. Looks like a few months of delay at the least with a probability with the Ameo shipping with WM6 Professional.
After all that waiting. Crying or Very sad Well I'd rather buy a fully functioning bit of hardware. This always was a point of weariness on my behalf due to my experience of the SGH-i300 with a mechanical HDD, which was ultimately one of the main reasons for getting rid of it......power consumption!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HAHA))))
it still not comming to shop, but it recalled)
it is very funny
mackaby007 said:
I have received news from a tester of the T-Mobile Ameo, that it will be delayed in its release, due to the Units displaying significant problems in battery drain in connection to the mechanical HDD. Apparently the units will be recalled to HTC to have the HDD replaced with flash memory to overcome the issues encountered by many users. Not sure how accurate this information is, but I personally know and trust the tester in question. Whilst he reports that the X7500 is blisteringly fast, he also states that the battery consumption is so appalling that one would not get through a days use of the unit, and that stated talk time of the X7500 is currently well below what is stated/expected.
He also indicated that HTC are considering recalling all units already sold in their various guises. Suppose we will have to wait and see. Looks like a few months of delay at the least with a probability with the Ameo shipping with WM6 Professional.
After all that waiting. Crying or Very sad Well I'd rather buy a fully functioning bit of hardware. This always was a point of weariness on my behalf due to my experience of the SGH-i300 with a mechanical HDD, which was ultimately one of the main reasons for getting rid of it......power consumption!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will phone my HTC contact this wednesday and see what he says. He is the senior enginner in HTC Head office so the infor he gives me should be pretty accurate.
For the battery part, i am very happy about it, the user of DOPOD has reported that the battery is very good, personally, i turn on Bluetooth all day, device is connect to 3G 24 hours and the screen is never off. So even when i attach my keyboard to DOPOD, my screen is still on. This allow me to use my device for whole day without charging.
I am very happy about the battery.
With WM6, i thought some member here has report Athena will com with WM6 upgrade when it's available, i think that might be true, because that's what i heard in 3GSM as well.
Ok, i have just spoke to my HTC contact, he say he hasn't hear anything about recalling the HTC device, he wasn't sure about Amoe since that invlove with the T-mobile, but for HTC Advantage, he say there is a delay on the release date, the reason beening ROM not totally complete yet, he say the Rom has some bugs which need to be fix. But it should be out in april sometimes.
Funny enough, he also say last week a senior enginner from DOPOD came by to HTC office to meet with their manager, he is guessing HTC is calling for help from DOPOD, since Dopod have finish their Rom already.
For the battery part, not sure about Ameo, but they have run benchmark on the battery for testing, and the result are very good, but at the end, it will depend on how you use your device.
I have ask him to keep an eye on this info, and will report it here if i hear anything more
All X7500 still being released..too much invested..
I wasn't happy with what I heard and pressed my friend for more info. According to his sources (since Thursday, when I last spoke to him), HTC will now most probably NOT recall the units they have branded for T-Mobile and their Sister company Dopod.
The problem apparently is not so much the consumption side of the HDD (even though it does drain heavily compared to SD cards), but the way the HDD was implemented. It is not very shock proof at all. Supposedly vigorous shaking has resulted in 'knocking the HDD out' as I was told, meaning what exactly is still unclear in the sense that it will either become dislodged or stop functioning.
The problem is the way HTC integrated the HDD into the X7500. Apparently they stripped it down before attaching/soldering and fitting it into the housing, resulting in its physical instability. So not a hardware fault, but a design floor which may cause a hardware fault if the unit should be knocked or even suffer a bump (whilst using GPS) in a bumpy car. And there are supposed to be some hardware issues too, but not severe enough enough to stop its release. So we'll be the paying guinea pigs, while HTC perfect the next model which will definitely come with Flash memory and WM6.
Bottom line is that too much has been invested in the X7500, so its release will go on even it is a few weeks late. Taiwan already sell the Dopod, whilst Netherlands and Germany are already selling the Ameo. T-Mobile UK should be following soon as will the Advantage, but if you're buying.....expect some problems and an updated version by the end of the year, as Sony have plans of releasing a UMPC similar in appearance to the X7500 and HTC will be making serious design changes to their next UMPC-look-alike WM6 device.
mackaby007 said:
I wasn't happy with what I heard and pressed my friend for more info. According to his sources (since Thursday, when I last spoke to him), HTC will now most probably NOT recall the units they have branded for T-Mobile and their Sister company Dopod.
The problem apparently is not so much the consumption side of the HDD (even though it does drain heavily compared to SD cards), but the way the HDD was implemented. It is not very shock proof at all. Supposedly vigorous shaking has resulted in 'knocking the HDD out' as I was told, meaning what exactly is still unclear in the sense that it will either become dislodged or stop functioning.
The problem is the way HTC integrated the HDD into the X7500. Apparently they stripped it down before attaching/soldering and fitting it into the housing, resulting in its physical instability. So not a hardware fault, but a design floor which may cause a hardware fault if the unit should be knocked or even suffer a bump (whilst using GPS) in a bumpy car. And there are supposed to be some hardware issues too, but not severe enough enough to stop its release. So we'll be the paying guinea pigs, while HTC perfect the next model which will definitely come with Flash memory and WM6.
Bottom line is that too much has been invested in the X7500, so its release will go on even it is a few weeks late. Taiwan already sell the Dopod, whilst Netherlands and Germany are already selling the Ameo. T-Mobile UK should be following soon as will the Advantage, but if you're buying.....expect some problems and an updated version by the end of the year, as Sony have plans of releasing a UMPC similar in appearance to the X7500 and HTC will be making serious design changes to their next UMPC-look-alike WM6 device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try to confirm that with my HTC source, i think it make sense, HTC are not too good about writing ROM, that explain why they are asking for help from DOPOD. Anyway, i must say my DOPOD machine is running very smoothly, battery is amazing, and i have successfully change my today screen to total english, therefore i think DOPOD is a better option now for those who don't want the black one.
wu5262 said:
I will try to confirm that with my HTC source, i think it make sense, HTC are not too good about writing ROM, that explain why they are asking for help from DOPOD. Anyway, i must say my DOPOD machine is running very smoothly, battery is amazing, and i have successfully change my today screen to total english, therefore i think DOPOD is a better option now for those who don't want the black one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congrats your ur Dopod wu.
I'm glad you're having no issues with it so far. I'll be getting the Ameo despite its supposed shortcomings + insurance!! So what the hey?!?!
Agreed, HTC are new to ROM building, but they do now own Dopod, so I very much doubt that their ROM will lag behind Dopods especially if Dopod have to help them perfect the HTC ROM.
Who cares anyway? Soon enough we will have access to the most stable and fastest ROM and all versions of the X7500 will run exactly the same, as the hardware is the same.
My only concern now is the stablility of the HDD.
yes, Dopod is very better than Ameo and advantage
but problem is color it is silver
can paint it and change color to black or change the case?
I change my 7710 from silver to black with changing case
can it do with athena?
tanX
Arya said:
yes, Dopod is very better than Ameo and advantage
but problem is color it is silver
can paint it and change color to black or change the case?
I change my 7710 from silver to black with changing case
can it do with athena?
tanX
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Arya...no disrespect intended, but what are you getting the X7500 for? It just seems that you are comparing so many devices with it, to the point of sounding confused. No device is perfect, nor will Man be able to make one.
You simply have to decide on which device meets your requirements according to market availability. For me it's the Ameo. Other devices due out soon have some specs that equal or better the Ameo in certain areas, but fall short in other areas.
Ameo all the way and if I encounter any of the problems I have been informed of, it will be insured and still under guarantee, so I won't worry unnecessarily.
So my advice to you would be to not think X7500 first, but what are my needs? Then decide on which device best suits you.
Arya said:
yes, Dopod is very better than Ameo and advantage
but problem is color it is silver
can paint it and change color to black or change the case?
I change my 7710 from silver to black with changing case
can it do with athena?
tanX
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ask Indra how to do it. He should be available in the Universal forums.
mackaby007 said:
Arya...no disrespect intended, but what are you getting the X7500 for? It just seems that you are comparing so many devices with it, to the point of sounding confused. No device is perfect, nor will Man be able to make one.
You simply have to decide on which device meets your requirements according to market availability. For me it's the Ameo. Other devices due out soon have some specs that equal or better the Ameo in certain areas, but fall short in other areas.
Ameo all the way and if I encounter any of the problems I have been informed of, it will be insured and still under guarantee, so I won't worry unnecessarily.
So my advice to you would be to not think X7500 first, but what are my needs? Then decide on which device best suits you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is very well say, agree with you there. Let's see if HTC can come up with a stable ROM (with the help from DOPOD). Hopefully they make their ROM right so they don't damage the HDD. After Advantage is out, we can then compare all the ROM and choose the best one and install.
mackaby007 said:
Arya...no disrespect intended, but what are you getting the X7500 for? It just seems that you are comparing so many devices with it, to the point of sounding confused. No device is perfect, nor will Man be able to make one.
You simply have to decide on which device meets your requirements according to market availability. For me it's the Ameo. Other devices due out soon have some specs that equal or better the Ameo in certain areas, but fall short in other areas.
Ameo all the way and if I encounter any of the problems I have been informed of, it will be insured and still under guarantee, so I won't worry unnecessarily.
So my advice to you would be to not think X7500 first, but what are my needs? Then decide on which device best suits you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think and select x7500
i want a POCKET PC with BIG screen
with GPS and GOOD camera
FAST and POWER
with KEYBOARD to type very long SMS
LOUD speaker
with INFRARED
Athena has all of thing except Infrared
I want X7500 for it's color
I don't go for U1000 because it is now chinesse and if it available in English, maybe i get it
Ameo is locket and can't use
but i think now that i comming to get one athena, i get that i like color and ...
the ondy different in their is in COLOR and ROM and MATTERIAL. i think hardware is like eachother and one has problem other has it too
tanX and sorry for my long post
nuclear said:
Ask Indra how to do it. He should be available in the Universal forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why in universal forum?
Changing case of athena in Universal forum?!!!!!!11
mackaby007 said:
I have received news from a tester of the T-Mobile Ameo, that it will be delayed in its release...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is funny, I already own the T-Mobile Ameo for almost two weeks now, even before you posted this.
1. the battery life is pretty impressive for such a device, you can get through a working day with a couple of phone calls and internet surfing/playing around with the unit and the battery still shows 30% power left.
For some people this battery life may not be good enough, for me it is OK since I always charge my phone(s) over night anyway.
2. I "smashed" the Ameo several times on my office desk, on my bed, on my office chair, I carried it around all the time, even running with it in my pocket.
No problems at all with the HDD, especially since it uses a sensor which detects "acceleration"(drops, movements, etc.), so I highly doubt that there would be trouble, even if it isn't mounted properly.
Of course there will be an updated Ameo/X7500 by the end of this year, HTC puts out a lot of new units on the market, I would be surprised if they didn't.
I highly doubt that HTC would "allow" T-Mobile to acquire and sell defective Ameos, T-Mobile could easily make them responsible for defective units and this could cost HTC a lot of money.
I don't say this isn't true but I know how rumours and gossip is travelling the internet and although sometimes there is some truth behind all this talk, I would take it with a grain of salt.
P996 said:
This is funny, I already own the T-Mobile Ameo for almost two weeks now, even before you posted this.
1. the battery life is pretty impressive for such a device, you can get through a working day with a couple of phone calls and internet surfing/playing around with the unit and the battery still shows 30% power left.
For some people this battery life may not be good enough, for me it is OK since I always charge my phone(s) over night anyway.
2. I "smashed" the Ameo several times on my office desk, on my bed, on my office chair, I carried it around all the time, even running with it in my pocket.
No problems at all with the HDD, especially since it uses a sensor which detects "acceleration"(drops, movements, etc.), so I highly doubt that there would be trouble, even if it isn't mounted properly.
Of course there will be an updated Ameo/X7500 by the end of this year, HTC puts out a lot of new units on the market, I would be surprised if they didn't.
I highly doubt that HTC would "allow" T-Mobile to acquire and sell defective Ameos, T-Mobile could easily make them responsible for defective units and this could cost HTC a lot of money.
I don't say this isn't true but I know how rumours and gossip is travelling the internet and although sometimes there is some truth behind all this talk, I would take it with a grain of salt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not the Ameo or Dopod u1000 being push back, it's the HTC Advantage, the Rom they wrote is causing Damage to the HDD. Ameo and DOPOD U1000 don't have this problem
wu5262 said:
It's not the Ameo or Dopod u1000 being push back, it's the HTC Advantage, the Rom they wrote is causing Damage to the HDD. Ameo and DOPOD U1000 don't have this problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh boy...the HTC X7500 is the SAME THING, there is no hardware difference between the X7500 and the Ameo/U1000.
Since the X7500 isn't even on the market yet, all these speculations are what they are...speculations or most likely GOSSIP.
P996 said:
Oh boy...the HTC X7500 is the SAME THING, there is no hardware difference between the X7500 and the Ameo/U1000.
Since the X7500 isn't even on the market yet, all these speculations are what they are...speculations or most likely GOSSIP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, it's not GOSSIP, i was one of the tester for HTC Advantage, i have been notify by HTC that the Rom has serious Bug on HDD handle. I also have contact of one of the most senior engineer in HTC. It has been confirm Advantage is being push back, just don't know how late it will be. If lucky, with the help of DOPOD, they might still get it out on time.
We all know there is no hardware difference, it's the ROM which makes the Advantage being push back........
p.s. mackaby007, you should change the post title, it's making some people confuse.
@P996
P996 said:
Oh boy...the HTC X7500 is the SAME THING, there is no hardware difference between the X7500 and the Ameo/U1000.
Since the X7500 isn't even on the market yet, all these speculations are what they are...speculations or most likely GOSSIP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As nicely as you try to put it P996, what you say implies that either I, or whoever my source is are either foolish in speaking of these things or blatantly lying. It certainly is not gossip, as I have not heard this anywhere else. The fact that you nor anyone else that has bought it and yet hasn't experienced this problem, does not detract that some testers have come to be aware of this design/assembly flaw in the Athena that COULD cause the problems mentioned in my earlier thread and talks had taken place with T-Mobile UK with regards to returning the units (possible recalls for Germany & Netherlands). The fact that this will not be taking place can be attributed to certain facts; i.e.
1) Too much has already been invested in a product that is not guaranteed to go wrong.
2)The Athena is NOT faulty, it' implementation of the HDD unit is subject to vulnerability due to the way it was stripped down and mounted in the overall casing. NOT faulty.....hence NO Recall...Get IT P996??
3) Furthermore I sincerely doubt that you are truthful in your account of how many times or the extent to which you have knocked your brand new device about. Yes I'm implying that you are lying by exaggerating, to prove a point.
4) I'm still getting the Ameo despite the only vulnerability reported to me.
5) I was merely sharing pertinent information to anyone who like me wants to make well informed decisions about future expensive purchases...whether we like the negatives or not.
6) As stated before...(for those too lazy to read through all the Athena posts there aren't that many at present)...T-Mobile UK have not yet released the Ameo and the tester/testers in question are from the UK and extremely well qualified and known to me personally, so I trust what they tell me, but not without question.
7) The point wu raised about HTC's ROM damaging the HDD is a totally separate issue, but confirms that HTC are well aware of problems with their HDD, be it soft or hardware related.
Lastly it is very easy to look at the past posts of every member..therefore if you suspect a persons integrity, you should at least have the decency to check them out before implying that another member is a gossip-monger. Wanker!!
mackaby007 said:
As nicely as you try to put it P996, what you say implies that either I, or whoever my source is are either foolish in speaking of these things or blatantly lying. It certainly is not gossip, as I have not heard this anywhere else. The fact that you nor anyone else that has bought it and yet hasn't experienced this problem, does not detract that some testers have come to be aware of this design/assembly flaw in the Athena that COULD cause the problems mentioned in my earlier thread and talks had taken place with T-Mobile UK with regards to returning the units (possible recalls for Germany & Netherlands). The fact that this will not be taking place can be attributed to certain facts; i.e.
1) Too much has already been invested in a product that is not guaranteed to go wrong.
2)The Athena is NOT faulty, it' implementation of the HDD unit is subject to vulnerability due to the way it was stripped down and mounted in the overall casing. NOT faulty.....hence NO Recall...Get IT P996??
3) Furthermore I sincerely doubt that you are truthful in your account of how many times or the extent to which you have knocked your brand new device about. Yes I'm implying that you are lying by exaggerating, to prove a point.
4) I'm still getting the Ameo despite the only vulnerability reported to me.
5) I was merely sharing pertinent information to anyone who like me wants to make well informed decisions about future expensive purchases...whether we like the negatives or not.
6) As stated before...(for those too lazy to read through all the Athena posts there aren't that many at present)...T-Mobile UK have not yet released the Ameo and the tester/testers in question are from the UK and extremely well qualified and known to me personally, so I trust what they tell me, but not without question.
7) The point wu raised about HTC's ROM damaging the HDD is a totally separate issue, but confirms that HTC are well aware of problems with their HDD, be it soft or hardware related.
Lastly it is very easy to look at the past posts of every member..therefore if you suspect a persons integrity, you should at least have the decency to check them out before implying that another member is a gossip-monger. Wanker!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nicely say mackaby007, agree with you there.
Since i haven't tested the T-mobile Amoe, i don't know anything about it.
The HDD issue HTC Advantage is having is a software problem, to do with how their ROM handle the Micro Drive. So don't worry, when it comes out, it should have no problem, that's what they are working on now.
wu5262 said:
nicely say mackaby007, agree with you there.
Since i haven't tested the T-mobile Amoe, i don't know anything about it.
The HDD issue HTC Advantage is having is a software problem, to do with how their ROM handle the Micro Drive. So don't worry, when it comes out, it should have no problem, that's what they are working on now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Wu. I agree with you completely and I've changed the title of the thread as you advised.
Hi folks
My Touch HD digitiser has gone faulty and its only 6 months old
or at least thats what i thought because the screen was not responding to touch. i am a electronic technical person so not totally naive.
I was using the wonderful NRG roms with no problems whatsoever.
I tried to replace the stock rom and spl before sending it back to HTC, but i had no way of checking it throughly because i could not get it past the calibrate screen.
Htc now want £159.00 to replace the motherboard, and they state the reason as the unit having foreign firmware installed which damaged the motheboard.
now the Htc touch HD was working perfectly apart from the fact that the screen would not respond to touch. and i admit it would run a little warm at times but nothing excessive. It has nerver been dropped. does anyone think that a complete motherboard would need to be replaced because of "foreign firmware"?
Is Htc trying to rip off their customers?
clearly the xda developers are just enhancing an already great product with their releases of wonderful firmware
this is clearly a hardware fault and not software.
please wade in with your opinions
hi, I totally agree with your statement, but if you restored the stock boot loader and then the stock rom you could say that you tried to do and hard reset of the device and because the screen didn't work you were unable of calibrating it. I think they can't prove that you used a different rom.
hope you solve soon.
greets,
Nicola
omniajet13 said:
Hi folks
My Touch HD digitiser has gone faulty and its only 6 months old
or at least thats what i thought because the screen was not responding to touch. i am a electronic technical person so not totally naive.
I was using the wonderful NRG roms with no problems whatsoever.
I tried to replace the stock rom and spl before sending it back to HTC, but i had no way of checking it throughly because i could not get it past the calibrate screen.
Htc now want £159.00 to replace the motherboard, and they state the reason as the unit having foreign firmware installed which damaged the motheboard.
now the Htc touch HD was working perfectly apart from the fact that the screen would not respond to touch. and i admit it would run a little warm at times but nothing excessive. It has nerver been dropped. does anyone think that a complete motherboard would need to be replaced because of "foreign firmware"?
Is Htc trying to rip off their customers?
clearly the xda developers are just enhancing an already great product with their releases of wonderful firmware
this is clearly a hardware fault and not software.
please wade in with your opinions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately HTC can legally stand by their clauses with foreign software on device as having a cooked rom on device voids warranty. I know you tried to restore back stock, but you couldn't tell and if appears they have still found your NRG rom on device.
However they are hiprocrites as this does not affect the motherboard and they are just lOoking for any excuse to void warranty which unfortunately you provided.
I believe others have been in your shoes before and posted similar threads. Try searching for these and see if they can shed any light.
but how can they get away with that?
If you buy a computer (which is what the Touch HD effectivly is), then you are entitled to use any operating system you whsh. wether it be Linux, Windows or Apple MAC. and if you develope a hardware fault then this cannot invalidate your warranty???
I dont get it? also how can they say it needs a new motherboard when it is clearly the digitser which has gone wrong?
omniajet13 said:
but how can they get away with that?
If you buy a computer (which is what the Touch HD effectivly is), then you are entitled to use any operating system you whsh. wether it be Linux, Windows or Apple MAC. and if you develope a hardware fault then this cannot invalidate your warranty???
I dont get it? also how can they say it needs a new motherboard when it is clearly the digitser which has gone wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe someone else asked this same question in another thread, though which one I have no idea. They asked similar question about how does HTC get away with this and I believe (if my memory bank is working) they wrote a letter to them and where able to still get it under warranty (don't hold me to this though) as they argued a new rom wouldn't affect digitizer. Possibly worth having a search for if you can find it.
omniajet13 said:
Htc now want £159.00 to replace the motherboard, and they state the reason as the unit having foreign firmware installed which damaged the motheboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That Sucks.
A friend of mine had a similar problem,
He had a broken microphone,
and HTC sent a similar letter =>
You'll probably find that the digitizer is on the motherboard. Looking at it, it doesn't look like it can be separate. (Where would it fit?)
It does run a bit hot sometimes and heat is bad as you would know.
I have just read the warranty information and it states that the warranty is limited to the hardware as originally supplied,and makes no mention of any software or operating system. and by the very nature of the product it was made for installing third party software, operting system of choice ect.
in fact it reads " this limited warranty applies only to the hardware components of the product as originally supplied and does not apply to any software or other equipment".
I will persue this and post the outcome
Unfortunately "Software" and "Firmware" are two separate things. While you can install any operating system on your computer, that software isn't a part of the hardware.
In the case of smart phones (windows mobile phones), the operating system is Firmware, and not software. The difference here is that the Firmware is PART of the hardware. Similarly the bios rom on your computer is part of the motherboard hardware. To clarify, software is interpreted and run by hardware. On the other hand, firmware operates the hardware which is why changing to an unapproved firmware also means altering the hardware.
Unfortunately they have this clause in the warranty because you CAN destroy your hardware with a malicious rom, just like you can fry your harddrive, cpu and stuff with a malicious rom on your computer bios. You can have umpteen viruses or malicious 3rd party apps on your device and nothing it does can harm the hardware because it doesn't actually change how the hardware itself works. Firmware is different in that it changes internally how a piece of hardware works and in doing so, can damage it.
I do agree though, that in this case they're looking to void the warranty, but the truth is that the money they loose on one device under warranty must be covered by the profits made by 20+ other sold units (remember, revenue can just go towards warranties).
Hey man, you play the game, sometimes you lose. I took my phone apart, fallowed the factory service manual to the letter but I knew there was a good chance they would notice the missing "void" stickers and I had to pay for the repair ( for the problem that was there before I took it apart). I took it apart and that voids the warranty, so is life...