Rogers yanks HTC Dream from shelves for urgent emergency call fix
By Chris Ziegler 
posted January 16th 2010 2:07PM
posted January 16th 2010 2:07PM
Some of you Rogers subscribers have probably already taken your carrier up on its offer to upgrade your Dream to a Magic, but if not, pay very close attention here: calling 911 doesn't work right now without making some changes. Basically, there's an issue that prevents emergency calls from being completed if location-based services are enabled, which means you've got to head into Settings and disable GPS -- not an optimal solution by any stretch of the imagination. Rogers and HTC are said to be working on a patch as we speak, but in the meantime, don't expect to waltz into a Rogers store and pick up one of these bad boys.
That's why I hate rebranding. It just brings more bugs and problems.
@Pyronick They deserve the backlash from their decision to delay the release of Android 1.6 for these devices for so long.
Honestly, porting to 1.6 from 1.5 is not hard.
@Pyronick And also, for their consistent refusal to release the kernel source of the Sprint Hero, Droid Eris, and Tattoo (HTC has been violating the GPL for several months now).
@coolbho3000 They don't have to release the source, changes made to Android can be shared back to the community but don't have to be.
Android is pretty unique in this.
@fourthletter The parts of Android that they don't have to release are licensed under the Apache license, which allows the distribution of object code without the source code.
The Linux kernel that Android runs on, however, is licensed under the GNU GPL. HTC is legally obliged to release the kernel source code, which they have continually refused to do.
I got an urgent text message last night (on my Dream) for Rogers/Fido Dream users to disable GPS on the phone immediately or 911 calls won't work. I can't believe it's taken this long for anybody to notice something like this.
@RioRyan It's called natural selection.
@Rohan You mean lack of natural selection
Wait, Canada uses 911 too? News to me. Anyway, hope they fix it. I still don't see the Magic to Dream upgrade path though, even though I have a G1 myself.
@Dafrety More RAM. Magic can't handle Android 2.1; Dream can.
@JakeMG Wait... I thought it was Dream to Magic because the Magic had more RAM so the Magic could handle 2.1...
@JakeMG
actually you both have it backwards, the Magic is the one with more RAM and is going to be upgraded to 2.0/2.1, not the dream...and Rogers is offering a free Magic (plus $50!) to all Dream owners.
@Schmitty338
Ah. Reading is fundie mental then.
@JakeMG It's more of a storage space problem. 2.0 can run adequately, given enough optimization, on a device with 192MB of RAM. Magic has 512MB ROM, while Dream has just 256MB ROM. When you bring Sense in it, though, the extra RAM is needed.
@Dafrety
Uh, yes, we do use 911.
Why is this so surprising?
@Denji
It's not surprising that there is an emergency number, it's that it's 911. I remember looking them up awhile ago and most countries had different numbers.
@Dafrety North American Numbering Plan anyone?
@coolbho3000
"@JakeMG It's more of a storage space problem. 2.0 can run adequately, given enough optimization, on a device with 192MB of RAM. Magic has 512MB ROM, while Dream has just 256MB ROM. When you bring Sense in it, though, the extra RAM is needed."
actually the magic has 288 MB ram and dream has 192 MB, what your talking about is flash memory, so built in storage.
Sometimes 911 depends on a cell phone's GPS signal to assess where the call is coming from in the event that the caller is not sure. While 911 with no GPS is better than no 911 at all, I'd say both are mission critical.
@Level 5 Not all phones have GPS do they?
@Cydoniac In the US, at least, all phones have to have at least AGPS as part of the E911 law. At this point all phones have some form of GPS, although not all 911 centers have the ability to use that.
Surely this is part of the certification procedure? Amazing it took this long to discover the issue.
@scoobydooby
Probably was working until l something else was changed, either 1.6 update or something on the carrier's end.
...and don't call me surely.
They're just now figuring this out?
Maybe they should change the name to HTC Nightmare?
Oh sorry, that was too easy.
Do you know if this is also for current Dreams? Because i have a Dream here in the USA (so i can have ATT 3g) :O
@ibransond Just try it? Keep the GPS on and call 911.
So my $25 TracFone will reach 911, but some smartphones won't?
Is this a new problem? If not how was this never noticed????
@Lubing The Tube
Apparently using an HTC Dream seems to put you in less emergency situations than other phones?
@Lubing The Tube
Maybe no one using the phone called 911 and used GPS at the same time until now.
@jakey
Or maybe they tried but how would we know.....*stares at English G1*
@Lubing The Tube
Imagine you are in an emergency and dial 911 and it doesn't work, would you ever figure out to disable GPS to try without knowing this news? And if it doesn't work would you then later when not in an emergency go around trying 911? (And be charged with frivolous misuse of the emergency system.)
Seems more wondrous that they figured out that GPS/911 link eventually, since it makes no sense whatsoever that one would influence the other.
Does it include rooted phones???? I have a a rooted dream with 2.1 installed. Will this affect me?
I got the text from Rogers last night too.
what's the hype with android anyways..it sucks!
N900 ftw!
I hope this wasn't discovered because someone urgently needed to dial 911 and couldn't... or at least I hope they somehow figured out they had to disable GPS in time to get their call through.
Who is still buyin' the HTC Deam anyway?
I've never had any luck dialing 911 from my cellphone, I've had ATT, Verizon and Sprint (work phones, thank you for giving me the cheapest phone available). I've tried several times over the years to dial 911, I was witness to accidents on the road, but I was never able to get through. I thought it was the nature of cell phones. Has anyone actually gotten 911 through the cellphones?
@xtasi
The official alarm number for cellphones is actually 112, try that the next time.
It's only on GSM networks I read now, still worth a shot, wikipedia quote:
The GSM mobile phone standard designates 112 as an emergency number, so it will work on GSM phones even in North America where GSM system redirects emergency calls to 911 or Australia where emergency calls are redirected to 000. It is one of two numbers (the other being the region's own emergency number) that can be dialed on most GSM phones even if the phone is locked.
How ironic, when you consider the first thing the emergency services are going to do is trace your call anyway. Shame that can't use the location services in some form of phone based app which dials the services and passes your location.
You should test it, get some engadget editors to twirl on a waltz into a NYC store and ask for the phone. And make a video and post it.