Rogers Update: 911 Fix for Rogers HTC Dream and Magic is Ready

sakian said:

So I went out and picked up an microSD card reader. I'm trying the second part of the update now. I think some people have said that the SD card version doesn't include Sense UI. Can anyone else conform? (Or I guess I'll find out soon)

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I can't compare, since I did only the SD card update, but I believe I have everything advertized. I do have SenseUI at least.

Nicolas Racine

Let me make this clear; Rogers doesn't care about safety. They do, however, care about class action law suits and their shareholders.

nicracine said:

Let's face it, No one, or not many people, at Rogers understand what is a smartphone, and what is Android. If they did, we would not have had to fight for an update, and we would not be caught in this mess.

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This is what frustrates me about the whole situation. Software is a volatile thing and the bigger the code base, the higher the likelihood of bugs. And as time passes, new bugs will crop up for new situations.

Dear Rogers, we are no longer in that era where you get shipped a CD with software that doesn't change until a year or two later when version 2 is ready!!!

Google and T-mobile considered that and said that they were going to send updates OTA -- not just for new version releases but for bug fixes too. That makes sense but sadly I assumed that Rogers had that sense.

The turnaround time to install an update was ridiculous although I really don't think it was malicious. HTC was probably already headed in the direction of making sure their version of Android was locked down -- I doubt that Rogers would know enough about Android to fight for those poor ol' rooters like us, or even know what a ROM was.

I wouldn't care so much about rooting my phone if Rogers hadn't officially come out and said (twice) that they no longer support me and my HTC Dream. Fine then! Let me and my phone be as they want to be then (e.g. rooted with the lastest software I could find.) but don't make this a more difficult process than it already is.

Plus, how do I know if all vulnerabilities are fixed? (e.g. I mentioned earlier the SMS virus/hack that affected Android 1.0, 1.1, and 1.5). Should I expect more urgent updates from Rogers for bugs already fixed in 1.6? Just give us 1.6 dammit!!

Went out to the local rogers store today , screamed at the top of my lungs at the service rep , told the other customers what a horrible wh*re business these guys are running threw my phone and dared them to charge me any contract cancellation fee or bill colllection calls. I have 2 HTC dreams and 1 HTC magic in my family , all we can do now is sit and swear at rogers while these bastards pick and eat their dirty noses.. I am so not going to take any of this sh*t from rogers anymore..

Tahahm said:

Went out to the local rogers store today , screamed at the top of my lungs at the service rep , told the other customers what a horrible wh*re business these guys are running threw my phone and dared them to charge me any contract cancellation fee or bill colllection calls. I have 2 HTC dreams and 1 HTC magic in my family , all we can do now is sit and swear at rogers while these bastards pick and eat their dirty noses.. I am so not going to take any of this sh*t from rogers anymore..

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lol. so when your car has a recall are you going to drive it through the wall of the dealer and tell them they owe you a refund?

Sounds like you need to take your meds. Probably less effort to update the phone, which makes it a much better phone imo.

jeff000 said:

Sounds like you need to take your meds. Probably less effort to update the phone, which makes it a much better phone imo.

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First of all, that comment makes you a prick, so shut up.
Secondly, only the Magic gets any sort of benefit from this forced update, no dream users get anything, other than restored functionality they have before Rogers tried to screw us.

Please be quiet now. kthx.

He's got one point and didn't make it evident, of course. With a whole household on phones that now don't work (assuming he's paying for 3 contracts) he is paying a crapload of money and now has nothing.

But the method and the arguments are way way wrong. wow, I feel dirty after reading that. karma's a biatch ain't it.

dotster said:

I wouldn't care so much about rooting my phone if Rogers hadn't officially come out and said (twice) that they no longer support me and my HTC Dream. Fine then! Let me and my phone be as they want to be then (e.g. rooted with the lastest software I could find.) but don't make this a more difficult process than it already is.

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I "downgraded" from a rooted cyanogen 1.6 Magic... The only thing I really miss is the ability to use MarketEnabler (need root) to purchase paid apps.

I also find bluetooth a little less reliable (than in cy's 1.6)... not sure if there is a difference.

the browser that was in the latest cyanogen is nice - but flashlite and frankly a much smoother implementation of multitouch zoom make this browser on balance ..better.

I have railed on the market issue and have been told it's Google's issue... But I still don't get what the problem is...isn't there money to be made? Devs who need/deserve support... cool apps to be purchased.

sakian said:

So I went out and picked up an microSD card reader. I'm trying the second part of the update now. I think some people have said that the SD card version doesn't include Sense UI. Can anyone else conform? (Or I guess I'll find out soon)

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Yep, it worked. I have Sense UI too. Everything seems to be working well. It seems snappier, but we'll see after I put it under some real load.

JDGfromMTL said:

I "downgraded" from a rooted cyanogen 1.6 Magic... The only thing I really miss is the ability to use MarketEnabler (need root) to purchase paid apps.

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Apps not being available for download is big for me too. (Plus 1.6 had a *better* market than 1.5) I miss the newest Google Maps and Goggles.

Issue just popped on Slashdot: Slashdot | Canadian Android Carrier Forcing Firmware Update

Rogers PR will _not_ be happy about this.

jeff000 said:

lol. so when your car has a recall are you going to drive it through the wall of the dealer and tell them they owe you a refund?

Sounds like you need to take your meds. Probably less effort to update the phone, which makes it a much better phone imo.

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My car dealer never threatens me to turn the car in (or install the upgrade) or otherwise they would lock it up within 2 days. Lets say I modify my car and im not interested in the recall , do they come and lock out my ignition?

Atleast be courteous enough to give me a replacement phone or have my phone brought in to a rogers store and get the upgrade done or even have it shipped back for that matter of fact , playing carrot and stick with customers is just about the most horrible way to do business.

And to get back to your thought on the new 'update' , my devices are even better without this update which by the way, is stone age compared to updates developed by cyanogen and the likes.

Inconvenience , Bullying and ignorance for my money and trust. Thanks 'ROBBERS' !!

loconet said:

Issue just popped on Slashdot: Slashdot | Canadian Android Carrier Forcing Firmware Update

Rogers PR will _not_ be happy about this.

Click to expand...

Here is another link: HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource - Rogers Doesn't Care about Safety of Customers

This person reported this problem to Rogers back in September.

Stolen from Howard forums (same link as above) because I feel this is important and worth repeating:

from this:
http://forums.t-mobile.com/t5/Gener...LOUT/m-p/198241


important parts are bolded

ANDROID 1.6 (DONUT) ROLLOUT [ Edited ]

10-01-2009 06:35 AM - last edited on 10-09-2009 04:01 PM by Dominic

The rollout of Android 1.6 (Donut) to T-Mobile's G1 and myTouch 3G customers is now underway, and provides new features and software enhancements. The update also includes an important fix for isolated instances of system reboots after dialing 911. We have worked with Google and HTC on a solution, and the rollout of Android 1.6 is being accelerated to ensure the system reboot fix is rapidly delivered to our customers.

The over-the-air update will be delivered to all G1 and myTouch customers in the coming days. Given the system reboot fix, we strongly encourage all users to install Android 1.6 when prompted to do so.

Regarding new and enhanced features, Android 1.6 includes:

An improved Android Market experience that makes it easier to discover great applications.
An integrated camera, camcorder, and gallery interface.
Updated Voice Search, with faster response and deeper integration with native applications, including the ability to dial contacts.
Updated search experience that make it easier to search various sources, such as browser bookmarks & history, contacts, and the web, directly from the home screen.

Additional details on Android 1.6 can be found at http://developer.android.com/sdk/an...highlights.html

Canadiancow reported the problem to Rogers late September, 2009, T-mobile pushed the update out OTfreakinA OCTOBER 1ST, WTF was Rogers doing?????

Now wait a second.... Didn't Rogers claim that Customer Safety is their number one priority??

sconnelly said:

Here is another link: HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource - Rogers Doesn't Care about Safety of Customers

This person reported this problem to Rogers back in September.

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I posted an article about this Jan 20 here: I Want My One Point Six - Demanding Android 1.6 for our Rogers HTC Magic & Dream, and LG Eve Phones

In summary: If HTC and T-Mobile pushed out this fix Oct 1 2009, why didn't they warn Rogers about it?

If customer safety is Rogers' primary concern, and turning off data insures 911 calls complete as RogersMary keeps telling us, why didn't Rogers turn of data immediately, instead of simply asking us to turn off GPS?

Very interesting! In response to an article on Boing Boing, RogersMary posted this:

Hi, this is Mary w/Rogers. Just wanted to jump in here to clarify a couple of points. Customer safety has been the priority here. As you probably know, we cannot support unlocked or rooted phones because we just can't guarantee how that will impact the device on our network.



We do understand the inconvenience this has caused some of our customers and so Rogers will be automatically crediting each of our Dream and Magic customers with one month of data fees (not including roaming).

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I have bolded part of her comment. This is the first time Rogers (through) RogersMary has characterized this not as a 911 issue, but as an issue of not wanting rooted or unlocked phones on their network!!!

Is this the same as saying they forced us to take the update specifically to block us from rooting our phones?

The scandal escalates... "Open-Source" phones are just too much for Rogers you say?

I can sort of understand Roger's stance on custom ROMs, however...

I thought Android ran a kernel where it was able to self update, kinda like packages in Ubuntu. I really don't like this idea of having to wipe my phone every time I need to install a patch.

It saddens me too that there's such a heavy opposition within Rogers to let users use a custom ROM. I understand the legal issue with it, however, that's already covered:

1) If something goes wrong, it is not Roger's issue as the issue resides in the phone, not the network. It's like a PC with an ISP. ISP isn't responsible if it's a software issue.

2) HTC's warranty DOES NOT cover ANYTHING to do with software. It's clearly stated. Basically, the liability falls on the Android Development Team. But that would be a radical battle.

Basically, Rogers has no obligation to support these devices whatsoever to begin with. That's fine with me, however, I do not understand why they feel obliged to cripple phones until the USER takes the responsibility to install something MANDATORY to continue usage.

I had an issue years back with Bell and a phone, which required a firmware update to fix. When I went into the store, I was told 3 things:

1) They wouldn't do the update in store
2) I would need to buy the link kit to update
3) I was doing it under my own responsibility, and Bell would not be held responsible if the phone was rendered useless afterwards

I have to give credit to Rogers for trying to distribute this update as effectively as possible, but I feel this situation with Bell is re-occurring. What guarantee do we have that this update will be fully backed by Rogers, and that they will take responsibility for any issues occurred due to this update.

Well, the cat's out of the bag now.

Let's see them try and spin this another way.

sakian said:

So I went out and picked up an microSD card reader. I'm trying the second part of the update now. I think some people have said that the SD card version doesn't include Sense UI. Can anyone else conform? (Or I guess I'll find out soon)

Click to expand...

For Dreams, both the self-SD card method and the SD card they will send you do not contain SenseUI. For Magic, both types of installation include Sense UI.

I wonder if Rogers has no further plans for updates to the current Android phones.

It would be cheaper to claim that due to technical complications, the phones could not be updated (as promised) and as "compensation" they will offer us "discounted" hardware upgrades with a new 3 year plan. That way they lock us in again. This way is more profitable to the company than updating our Androids to 2.x and thereby extending the life of our phones on their tab.

In other words, all this talk about how they listened to us might be B.S.. It is more likely that they had this legally mandated update in the works for a while now. I do not believe they are not as out of touch with their customers requirements as it might appear.

NOTE: I am not trying to villainize Rogers. They are a corporation that answers to their shareholders. Their goal is to maximize profits just like any good corporation. Would Rogers competitors do any different in a similar situation?

sconnelly said:

Take this with a 'grain of salt' but I was speaking with an old colleague in Ontario last night about this whole fiasco (this person works for Rogers). I was half-joking when I ask if this person had the "inside scoop" on what happened and what is happening. This person (careful not to let any identifying info out - just in case) told me that Rogers has no further plans for updates to the current Android phones. Their actual plan is to announce that due to technical complications, the phones could not be updated (as promised) and as "compensation" they will offer discounted hardware upgrades with a new 3 year plan.

In other words, we just got the only update planned for our phones AND it was a legally mandated update NOT because we worked hard to get it.

The idea is that doing it that way is more profitable to the company.

DISCLAIMER: The above is a little bit of reading between the lines.... my friend had to be vague about what was heard (and is not absolutely in the know about what was overheard).

NOTE: I am not trying to villainize Rogers. They are a corporation that answers to their shareholders. Their goal is to maximize profits just like any good corporation. Would Rogers competitors do any different in a similar situation?

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If I were Rogers, I would likely do the same - maximize my profits.

If I were Rogers, I would also try to learn the lesson and see the light. The light here is that the era of selling HW and services is near the end.

Dear Rogers, please change your business plan so we can bring our own hardware and only buy services. Don't punish those who are smarter than you and had their phones upgraded before you even knew that it was possible.

sconnelly said:

Their actual plan is to announce that due to technical complications, the phones could not be updated (as promised) and as "compensation" they will offer discounted hardware upgrades with a new 3 year plan.

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I'd take that. Give me a chance to change my phone without severe ETFs and rogers might actually redeem themselves... If only the got good new phones... Nexus one? Nope. Droid? Nadda. X10? Announced, still not out.

Hmmmm

Some of the things coming out about this whole circus are simply infuriating.

How can a company like this remain in business? Insulting.

BTW, with all the members on this site, Howard forums, etc.... doesn't anyone else know anyone that works for Rogers?

I wish someone could help me validate what I just wrote. Either time or another unbiased leak from Rogers will tell.

I am surprised!