So I was able to get some HTC email addresses. Here is the email I just sent. We'll see how quickly, or if, they respond.
"Dear Mr. Mackenzie,
I am writing to you about the HTC Magic & Dream phones your company produced and sold together with Rogers Wireless to Canadians who were misled into believing they were buying cutting-edge Android phones that would be supported on an ongoing basis, specifically with version 1.6 of the Android OS.
I am a part of a very large and growing group of very angry Rogers customers. We began contacting Rogers and HTC in October of 2009 when it was reported that Android 1.6 was being released OTA (Over the air) to customers in the USA and around the world. We were told by HTC that Rogers was responsible for requesting the update from HTC, and that to that point no request had been made. When we contacted Rogers, we received a number of different responses. We were told the update would be coming at the end of October, then it was the end of November. Some Rogers customer service reps (CSRs) told us we could even download 1.6 right away from the Rogers web site. This, of course, was not true. They were sending us to the bug fix/security update for 1.5.
In November of 2009 many of us elevated the issue to Rogers' Office of the President (OotP). I personally spoke with a woman named Sherry on three separate occasions. She had to bring in her "tier-2" support just to find out from the HTC site whether or not an update was available. (This was before HTC updated their web site to say that there were no plans for an update to 1.6). Sherry assured me that Rogers would be receiving the 1.6 update from HTC by the end of December for "testing and evaluation" and that we might receive the update in the new year.
Late in December many of us were informed by Mr. Brian Szeto of Rogers OotP, and by Mary Pretotto (@RogersMary on Twitter) that the official response from HTC was that HTC had no plans to provide an update to Android 1.6 for the Rogers HTC Magic and the HTC Dream, and that HTC feels that 1.5 is a "reliable and stable" OS that provides "A great customer experience". We were also informed that the misinformation about the nature of the relationship between Rogers and HTC (that Rogers would have to request an update) was traced to one HTC support person who had since been "corrected", and that the members of Rogers OotP who had told us Rogers was getting an update for testing and evaluation were "confused" between 1.5 and 1.6.
The last we have been told by HTC and Rogers, is that Rogers and HTC are working on updates to 1.5 that will "address several issues and provide enhancements to the user experience", and that HTC is "investigating options" regarding 1.6.
As a community of Canadian HTC Android phone owners, we are not happy. Our "user experience" and our opinion of HTC has been extremely diminished as a result of this fiasco. Quite simply, we feel we were misled into buying these phones under the belief that we would be getting the same important OS updates that other users around the world were getting. As recently as Christmas Eve sales clerks were informing customers that if they purchased the Rogers HTC Magic they would definitely be able to get the update to Android 1.6 (this happened to ME so I know it to be true).
Regardless of how wonderful HTC might feel Android 1.5 is, we disagree, and with good reason. Android 1.6 provides many new features and functionality not available in 1.5. Perhaps more importantly, app developers have begun creating apps that require Android 1.6 or above in order to function! That means, simply, that we can not use these apps! It is important to note that if a dev can not make their existing 1.5 apps backwards compatible (when upgrading them for 1.6) those apps disappear from the Android Market Place. Thus is is entirely possible that within a year Rogers Android customers will not be able to download apps! Our phones are becoming obsolete, sir, and you can bet that we would not be buying a new phone from HTC!
We have been made to understand that US customers of T-Mobile received their update to 1.6 directly from Google, because their phones were not carrier branded, but were "Google experience" phones, and thus HTC had nothing to do with it. We also know that HTC modified Android 1.5 specifically for Rogers, and this appears to be the crux of the matter. Any update to 1.6 would require more customization.
There continues to be confusion regarding who is responsible for providing an update. Rogers claims that they have officially asked HTC for an update, but that HTC says they have no plans to provide an update. Conversely we have heard from HTC that it is up to Rogers (the carrier) to request an update, and that Rogers has the final say in whether or not any update is released.
Can you please clarify for us, who is responsible for releasing Android 1.6 to Rogers customers? Why won't HTC supply it to us, or to Rogers? Would Rogers have to pay HTC for an update to Android 1.6? Why won't HTC create the Android 1.6 update for the Rogers HTC Magic & Dream?
As a community we have created a number of online resources, the purpose of which is to insure that potential customers know the truth and can make an informed decision regarding whether or not to purchase an HTC Android phone (or indeed any HTC phone) from Rogers, or any other Canadian carrier. We have a very active forum community, blogs dedicated to the issue, and we are in constant contact with various online media. Already our cause has been reported on by numerous influential technology and cell phone blogs, and a search on Google for the terms "Rogers, Android, HTC Magic, HTC Dream, or 1.6" will uncover very quickly these resources.
Please do not respond to me with canned
PR responses or marketing drivel. Don't insult me with vague promises. We know 1.6 exists, we know it works on these specific phones (Rogers HTC Magic & Dream) because some people have already rooted them to run 1.6. We will continue to do whatever we can online, and by contacting larger media sources, to embarrass HTC and Rogers with the truth until we are provided with an update to Android 1.6. Anything less is just shameless and poor customer service on the part of HTC and Rogers.
Your truly,
Michael Schmidt
I Want My One Point Six - Demanding Android 1.6 for our Rogers HTC Magic & Dream, and LG Eve Phones
http://androidforums.com/rogers/10647-rogers-dream-1-6-update.html"