You may remember it was a week ago when Rogers Mobility stopped HTC Dream sales due to a problem with 911 calls failing when the GPS was enabled. The workaround at the time was to disable GPS service until such time as a permanent fix for this serious issue was available. Needless to say, Rogers customers were not pleased by this news as GPS service is a popular function on smartphones these days.
A week after the announcement of the 911 flaw, Rogers Mobility and HTC have released a software update for this pressing issue. The fix is mandatory for all HTC Dream and Magic users with Rogers Mobility. The official announcement from Rogers was as follow:
A mandatory software update is now available for Rogers HTC Dream and Magic customers to ensure 911 calls can be completed on these devices. These customers need to go immediately to http://www.rogers.com/dreamsoftwareupdate or http://www.rogers.com/magicsoftwareupdate on a PC to download the update. Users of Windows 7 or Macintosh will need to call 1-888-Rogers1 for update instructions. Customers will need to backup any personal items before the update process.
Rogers did recognize the inconvenience that this problem has caused for its subscriber base and as a courtesy gesture, has offered to compensate their affected subscribers with a credit for one month of data fees. Magic users will also be pleased to hear that this mandatory upgrade includes a new Sense UI that supports multitouch functionality.
Via: Android Central
As I am one of the many people that were displeased with Rogers lack of software updates and out dated (reduced functionality) software, I rooted my device and got a ROM that had this 911 issue fixed months ago. I have never had any issues with 911, with or with out GPS. Now this “update” (to fix an issue that was already fixed in all android community distributions) will force users to reinstall Rogers ROM (full of known bugs) and will prevent the phone from being re-rooted and any other operating system from being loaded. Thanks Rogers for totally screwing up a good thing.
Ever since this update my Dream has randomly disconnected from the network. I need to enable then disable Airplane Mode just to make or receive a call.
I held out for the waver (took three weeks for it to accept my serial number) then I got my good old Cyanogen back and now working like a charm.