Rogers Dream 1.6 Update

[GreatBigDog]

I think that people should stop pointing out that "Maps navigation" is the reason why they need 1.6 or 2.0.

Google Maps navigation will not be available anywhere other than the US for quite a while. The reason for this is simple; Google is not allowed to offer navigations in areas where maps are provided by Tele Atlas. It's part of their agreement. In the US however, they have their own maps with the data collected by the Street View cars. This is why Navigation is not available in Europe either, even though 1.6 is already available to them. (There are, of course, other means to install it, but you won't find it in the market.)

That being said, there are more and more apps that require 1.6 or above. For example: Google Goggles (Visual Search) and the most recent update to Maps (3.3.0) which adds a scale bar, terrain layer, popular categories, a layer button, and a compass arrow.

Sigh.............. One more nail in the coffin for keeping the stock OS on the phone. Rooting is looking better and better every day. I'll still try to exercise my limited patience to wait a little longer.

gbd

 

[jdodds]

Here is a link to the official Rogers Wireless forums: Rogers Community Forums / Phone & Device Support

I will be making an account to ask about Android 1.6.

Hey thanks to everyone in this thread! I have been inspired and have joined the fight. I created an account and added my 2 cents to the Rogers Forums and created my account here.

Next step is to go through their support tier process up to the OotP and the Ombudsman. I will do that when I have a little time, I should get back to work right now though. I will post any new information I get from my calls/emails.

 

[mjschmidt]

K
Thanks bud but I'm fully aware of what the sense ui is, and that it is not 1.6, you basically just repeated exactly what I know, congrats.

@cdstewert: The point was that this thread is about getting Rogers to release Android 1.6, not Sense UI, so your post really belongs in a different thread. None-the-less I did in a way answer your request for "opinions" on it when I stated that, given our problems getting 1.6, it is unlikely we will see Sense UI any time soon.

As for your "congrats" comment, the sarcasm, and suggestion that I wasn't smart enough to know what you were talking about, are unnecessary.

Since your post was just a link and the word "opinions?" there really wasn't much to go on to gauge exactly what you do or do not know, and like I said, this thread is about the update to Android 1.6 from Rogers, not Sense UI, so... congrats for staying on topic.

Please feel free to contribute to this thread (Android 1,6 and Rogers) or more constructively, by contacting Rogers yourself repeatedly like some of the rest of us have.

Regards,

mjschmidt

 

[jimrebello]

I have been wondering and following this thread (among others) for months now. When I bought my Magic, I specifically asked the guy at the Rogers store if Rogers will be supporting this phone, or will they cripple it, given the reputation of Canadian Wireless providers to cripple all of the useful features of phones. He told me they would support it. I know you can trust these guys as far as you can throw them, but Rogers needs to step up.

 

[Klenya]

Does anybody know what is going on with Android phones distributed by Rogers's competitors (read Telus). Are they going to update their Hero or the current situation is common for Canada?

 

[Andy2010]

Does anybody know what is going on with Android phones distributed by Rogers's competitors (read Telus). Are they going to update their Hero or the current situation is common for Canada?

With Hero case maybe abit different because HTC promised to update HERO to 2.0 or 2.1. HTC did not made any promises to Dream/Magic.

 

[mjschmidt]

With Hero case maybe abit different because HTC promised to update HERO to 2.0 or 2.1. HTC did not made any promises to Dream/Magic.

But to clarify, regardless of the version HTC is working on for a phone, the carrier still had to request the update from HTC to give to customers, unless Bell and/or Telus are selling non-branded phones (ie. not modifying the ROM) in which case their customers might get the updates OTA from HTC.

We need to find out from Bell and Telus.

 

[Klenya]

AFAIK HTC promised and actually updated Magic to Android 1.6
I guess HTC Hero from Telus is running 1.5 or maybe I mistaken.

 

[Andy2010]

But to clarify, regardless of the version HTC is working on for a phone, the carrier still had to request the update from HTC to give to customers, unless Bell and/or Telus are selling non-branded phones (ie. not modifying the ROM) in which case their customers might get the updates OTA from HTC.

We need to find out from Bell and Telus.

I don't think Bell is carrying any android phones.

 

[mjschmidt]

I don't think Bell is carrying any android phones.

Bell is supposed to be launching the Samsung Galaxy on Thursday.

 

[daemonix]

The following page was updated a few days ago. They changed the layout, cleaned it up, and added the Rogers logo. HTC Mobile Phone Support - HTC Magic? (Rogers) - Downloads A sign of things coming soon maybe?

 

[damagedave]

I have read the thread beginning to end. Kudos to Mike, Andy and others for their efforts. I am enlisting to help where I can.

Full disclosure: I have a vested interest in seeing over the counter smartphones function as described with little more effort than the odd update. I have a company that targets mobile devices for live and VoD media. The average user cannot and will not root a phone, so the device must perform the tasks without much intervention.

Rogers et al understand one thing, recurring revenue. A 1% decrease sets off alarm bells in their corridors. This is why all the mobile providers do everything to hook us into 3 year contracts. The churn from one provider to the other impacts that 1%. Sales fluctuation gets attention.

So this is the direction that is needed in order to see that we the consumer are delivered services deserved and well paid for. They should be at least equal to other developed nations. Unless we demand this Rogers and the others are quite content to slow technical advancement until such time as they can determine how best to exploit the consumer. That discussion is for another thread however.

Action = how many votes you have. In this case we vote with our wallet. It may not be practical to "change horses mid stream", so we need to influence those about to make a purchasing decision. We can do this by organizing social networks to post only accurate information. No personal opinions or speculation. With facts, the spotlight will clearly show Rogers as either inept, unconcerned or blatantly misleading the consumer.

I plan on alerting the audience I serve with notice that they should get written guarantees from Rogers before purchasing the HTC device and activating an account. It is unlikely that Rogers will provide such guarantees so at that point the consumer would be wise to question their pending purchase. It has even more impact when we can accurately state, "if Rogers will not provide you a guarantee then there is an alternative" i.e, "don't buy Rogers Dream, get Palm Pre on network X"

If we are able to influence enough pre-purchase evaluations perhaps then we will see some sincere actions from Rogers.

As a start, I will tweet comments alerting anyone who might be considering purchasing an HTC phone with Rogers. I will blog this as well.

If there is interest in this story from CBC or other Canadian media we should be sure to have a clearly defined statement. I believe that Mike has demonstrated his acumen by keeping details clear and concise. Perhaps I can be of assistance in producing the key talking points which could be used by all who plan on disseminating this message. By creating consistent key points this would enable all interested parties to remain effective by staying on topic.

Well; let's see where this goes. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Dave

HTC Dream - Rogers Default.

 

[Andy2010]

I pointed out to RogersMary earlier that claiming most fastest and reliable network and with the lawsuit is a waste of time. No doubt that Rogers has the edge over Telus and Bell when it comes to this new GMS network. What Rogers need to concentrate on is their Service. A true Service from there will make their customers stay and not only that, it will also bring new customers to them. Can you imagine if Rogers would be the first to step up and say "Rogers will update their HTC android phones to firmware 2.0 by early 2010 " ? I am sure everyone will have their jaw dropped and goes "WOW". Being informed is a powerful sales of all.

 

[gnugu]

No doubt that Rogers has the edge over Telus and Bell when it comes to this new GMS network.

Actually, according to this HTC Mobile Phones - Hero TELUS - Overview and this HTC Mobile Phones - Rogers Magic - Overview Rogers Magic has a subset of Telus Hero radios. Both are GSM and I think Telus is using Bell's towers.

So, switching to any of the two is an option and you should be able to keep your device. Will need to SIM unlock though.

 

[GreatBigDog]

I pointed out to RogersMary earlier that claiming most fastest and reliable network and with the lawsuit is a waste of time. No doubt that Rogers has the edge over Telus and Bell when it comes to this new GMS network. What Rogers need to concentrate on is their Service. A true Service from there will make their customers stay and not only that, it will also bring new customers to them. Can you imagine if Rogers would be the first to step up and say "Rogers will update their HTC android phones to firmware 2.0 by early 2010 " ? I am sure everyone will have their jaw dropped and goes "WOW". Being informed is a powerful sales of all.

Quite right, nobody appreciates being treated like a mushroom

(mushrooms are kept in the dark and s**t upon)

gbd

 

[gnugu]

damagedave,
I too am targeting Android users.

If we can draft some article I'm more than willing to put it up on my web site. Although, it seems that my audience is more in US, but may be that might help too.

 

[GreatBigDog]

You know, we need a sticky with all the links that are posted in this thread. It would be nice for new viewers to be able to find all the relevant links quickly.

My latest tweet to @rogersmary

@RogersMary Is there someone at Rogers who I can contact that can answer my question? Or is "I can't discuss...." the only answer I'll get

 

[Andy2010]

On the google while searching for answer. I stumbled across this
nadir.mohamed@rci.rogers.com. If you do google search this email address, it indicates the president & CEO of Rogers.

 

[RatTub]

I really hope that Rogers goes straight to 2.0 even if takes a little bit longer for them to do just that. But, if they are working on 1.6 now and still aren't ready to release it, by the time it is released, I suspect that 2.0 will be much more widespread and Rogers users will, once again, be left behind.

Even HTC's Sense UI is skipping 1.6 and will get a 2.0 (or possibly 2.1) release. If Telus is getting this update and if this happens before Rogers releases 1.6, I think Rogers will be losing a lot of its users. Especially with the Milestone (aka Droid) coming to Telus early 2010 with 2.0.

 

[Klenya]

I really hope that Rogers goes straight to 2.0 even if takes a little bit longer for them.

I doubt it. All indicators suggest that sales of android phones went quite bad for Rogers. At least for HTC brand. I really don't know what is going on with LG Eve.
Actually the fact that prices of devices went sharply down indicates poor sales.
I afraid Rogers made decision to put android on hold. I don't think it will invest to new or existing devices. Now Rogers just waiting for further development with Telus and Bell and only if it positive it may decide to catch a wave and do something with Android.

 

[Andy2010]

I doubt it. All indicators suggest that sales of android phones went quite bad for Rogers. At least for HTC brand. I really don't know what is going on with LG Eve.
Actually the fact that prices of devices went sharply down indicates poor sales.
I afraid Rogers made decision to put android on hold. I don't think it will invest to new or existing devices. Now Rogers just waiting for further development with Telus and Bell and only if it positive it may decide to catch a wave and do something with Android.

That's because Rogers never update their HTC handset for windmobile. That alone already tarnish HTC reputation on Rogers.

 

[Klenya]

That's because Rogers never update their HTC handset for windmobile. That alone already tarnish HTC reputation on Rogers.

I believe this is common Android problem. This is a new approach of mobile phones and carries just not ready for it. They don't understand that people are buying not hardware yet mostly software therefore they don't know how to sell it!

Look at the latest IDC report.

"According to research by IDC, manufacturers and carriers are pushing their Android Phones in Europe but consumers are pushing back:

​

 

[mjschmidt]

You know, we need a sticky with all the links that are posted in this thread. It would be nice for new viewers to be able to find all the relevant links quickly.

My latest tweet to @rogersmary

@GBD: this thread is in the Rogers sub-forum where there are only about 4 threads, so making it sticky won't matter.

@DamageDave: If you read my comment on Jesse Hirsh's blog it is a start for a summary of things, but I would be happy to go through this thread and write up something more akin to an actual news article.

Rogers & Android: When the Carrier is the Bottleneck | Jesse Hirsh

 

[bunhead]

Well I got excited earlier tonight when I recieved an email from rogers stating that they were pleased to announce that I could download Android 1.6 from the support site. I giddily went to the site all the while thinking that <b>WE</b> made a difference. I was quickly disapointed though when I went to the support site and and all that was there was the security update that we all seem to have been pointed to . I have kicked the email back stating that this is NOT the 1.6 upgrade.

I will continue to keep you all posted.

 

[TinBasher77]

Thought I'd check in to see how the progress was going and it looks like we're all just spinning our wheels with this 1.6 thing.

Would a petition help at all?