Rogers to offer HTC Dream owners 'limited time opportunity' to upgrade to Magic
By Sean Cooper 
posted January 9th 2010 12:31PM
posted January 9th 2010 12:31PM
A couple days ago we covered news that Rogers and HTC were going to upgrade the HTC Dream and Magic starting with an enhanced version of 1.5 in the coming weeks. Unfortunately for Dream owners, the upgrade path for that device ends at 1.5, -- as it simply doesn't have enough memory to run 2.1 -- where the Magic will carry on to 2.1 and -- potentially -- beyond. We've now heard that Rogers is looking to offer HTC Dream owners an upgrade path to the HTC Magic, and while the details are unclear as to the when and the how, it seems the price for the hardware shift will be $free. So, now the issue will be if an OS upgrade is really enough to push you off a keyboard and onto a touchscreen, so, do fill us in on what you plan to do. Hopefully this all pans out as it seems it's going to, and if it does, all we can say is: well done Rogers, golf claps all around.
This is a very interesting precedent, one has to wonder whether or not Rogers would have take this course of action if competition hadn't intensified with the arrival of WIND and to another extent Bell and Telus moving to HSPA.
One must admit as much as Rogers seems like its only out there for the money, this was the right thing to do. They should be recognized for making the right decision.
I mean do you see T-Mo going out and telling people that they can trade in their G1s for a MyTouch3G or a Motorola Cliq for free since the G1 might not (or might who knows) get a 2.0 update.
I'll give Rogers props. (But more props to the people for forcing Rogers hand and being proactive like the I Want My One Point Six Blog)
Guaranteed this "free" device comes only with a contract extension of 2-3 years.
losing the keyboard is a downgrade, not an upgrade.
(testing something, ignore)
Dream to Magic? Downgrade not upgrade.
I don't know about you guys, but 2.1 update > Physical Keyboard (a bad one at that).
It's an upgrade.
I have a Dream myself, and love it quite a bit. I want a physical keyboard since some of the software I have needs a keyboard interface. If Rogers allowed an upgrade to something else Android based, then I might bite, but this is pretty much the main feature I wanted on an Android phone. G1/Dream was my choice.
I currently own a Dream and will take Rogers up on their offer to swap for a Magic. I will certainly miss the physical keyboard on the Dream, but with the new software that is being released not supporting the 1.5 Android OS, it’s a choice I am willing to make. If Rogers insists that I extend my contract I will only agree to this if they let me keep my old Dream to root around with in the XDA sandbox.
Many thanks to Mike at Iwantmyonepointsix and Mary at Rogers for making this happen.
Rogers officially announces free upgrade:
http://mobilesyrup.com/2010/01/12/rogers-details-of-the-htc-dream-to-magic-exchange-0-00-but-must-renew-for-3-year-contract/
- The $79 upgrade cost of the device, plus the $35 administration fee are being waived. Customers who choose to take advantage of this offer get a $599 phone for $0 with the renewal of a three-year term from the date of the upgrade (For most customers, this will represent a contract extension of seven months or less).