Ausdroid
Vodafone’s HTC Magic at “End of life” — No Android 2.1+??
 – May 19, 2010 - 22:55
30 Comments

It has come to our attention that the HTC Magic has been removed from sale on the Vodafone online store (Link). Now take this with the usual dosage of salt, but we’ve been told the HTC Magic is an “End of life” device at Vodafone, meaning that once they run out, it’s gone. With that in mind, it begs the question: “Will Vodafone Magic owners be able to upgrade to Android 2.1 or above?”.

We’ll get in contact with Vodafone to clarify this, but those of you with the Vodafone Magic, you may just be stuck on Android 1.6.

Posted in: Rumours
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Buzz founded Ausdroid in March 2010, and while he has stepped back from active responsibilities around here to focus on his education, Buzz brings us some of our biggest news stories, reviews and latest rumours. We hope to have him... (read more)


  • 4iedemon

    with Motorola Quench out on Optus for $19, HTC Magic becomes obsolete anyway. But at least Magic users can still benefit from the XDA-Dev community.

    • brentos1236

      If they dont update past 1.6. Do you recommend rooting it and putting a 2.1 Build on it. Also anyone got instructions on how to root the HTC Magic and to put a new ROM on

  • Ben

    I have a magic and would love 2.1 I do not think it is ever going to happen. Do I have a case for a refund as I was told when buying the phone it would get future andriod updates.

    • David

      Might be going a tad too far here, but I’m going to speak to the ACCC about this…

      Vodafone did mention on their site that OTA updates would be continually pushed out for the Magic. When the Sense UI update came out, VF customers learnt they could not get it, not long after, the part about OTA updates was removed from the VF website.

      I purchased my Magic based on the fact that VF would push out OTA updates..they did for 1.6, but nothing since.

      • brentos1236

        yes the told me also only just 2 weeks ago when i got mine that i would be getting regular updates over the air and was told to save 50MB of data a month for updates

      • Ben

        i would be very keen on knowing the outcome with your discussion with accc please keep us informed

      • Karl

        I spoke to someone a few days ago at Vodafone about this who told me 2.1 was currently being tested and would be available “around the end of the month”… I won’t be holding my breath

      • John

        David, I signed up to the magic under the same understanding. I saved an image of the now removed vf page stating “Vodafone & Google will push out firmware upgrades to Vodafone HTC Magic customers so that customers will always have the latest software improvements on their device.”

        I have spoken to the ACCC who referred me to consumer affairs. Consumer affairs said, without having read the fine print of my contract, I SHOULD be able to notify Vodafone in writing and terminate my contract early without facing any repercusions as VF have not honoured their side of our agreement.

        I am currently seeking confirmation from VF that the magic will indeed not be updated. This has taken nearly 2 weeks as no one at VF knows anything about it and I keep getting handballed around different departments.

    • John

      Consumer affairs suggested yes but could not be certain without reading the contract.

  • Dave

    more evidence legend is on the way…

    • brentos1236

      yes but there are still people on contract with them. The phone is only a year old on Vodafone. And there is silly people like me that signed the contract for one 3 weeks ago

  • brentos1236

    Lets hope they replace it with a Motorola Milestone. They would be doing themselves a favor if they did as they would have lots and lots of people lining up for it

    • http://ausdroid.net/ Buzz Moody

      I’m pretty sure the Milestone has passed it’s used by date. The HTC Legend _should_ take it’s place any time soon.

      • brentos1236

        Too be really honest I am not fussed with HTC Sense. I like the plain Vanila Android or Motoblur. And i like QWERTY Keyboards :D

      • Unimaginative

        Have to agree; the Milestone has been available in Europe for over 6 months without any rumours appearing in Australia of anyone ever stocking it. Honestly it’s a mixed blessing, re: the whole issue of it being iPhone-ised by Motorola as opposed to HTC who let you do whatever you feel like with their handsets.

  • Dave

    What i don’t understand is why HTC don’t put up the Android updates on there website so it had nothing to do with the carrier and you could up date your phone by manually downloading on your pc?

    • http://ausdroid.net/ Buzz Moody

      They do some times. They usually have both ways available.

      • David

        Not for the Vodafone Magic. They do for the 3 Magic, but you need to provide the serial number in order to download any updates.

  • Lizzi

    I got my phone from ebay and it was a UK Vodafone handset. I was on optus then went to Vodafone Aus and I still haven’t been updated past 1.5. I don’t know enough to root my magic and have given up ever updating my phone. I’ve haven’t even had it for a year and I’m ready to get an iphone.

    I want to manually update but I fear it will never happen.

  • Harry Clyne

    I have this quote from an official press release from Vodafone, dated May 21, 2009.
    “Edward Goff, Head of Consumer Markets, Vodafone Australia, commented: “Vodafone is thrilled to be launching an exclusive version of the HTC Magic. We will offer both the black and white variants to our customers – the white of which is exclusive to Vodafone – and Google branding. In addition, the Vodafone exclusive device comes with Firmware Over-the-Air software which automatically updates handsets with the latest Android software, ensuring our customers always enjoy the best possible user experience.”
    I believe that would be evidence to support grounds for cancelling a contract with Vodafone.

  • joem

    folks, this has made my day. stuck with VF magic and frustrated with 3 panes and dumb look drawer. look here and i have installed with no issues on OS 1.6 and magic. simple as. happy days.
    http://gadgets.apnafundaz.com/2010/06/helix-launcher-for-android-xperia-x10-fix-battery-life-problems-improves-performance/

  • Mick

    It’s now 6 months since the above article was written. Is there a follow up?

    Posted by Buzz Moody on May 19th, 2010 10:55 PM
    “We’ll get in contact with Vodafone to clarify this, but those of you with the Vodafone Magic, you may just be stuck on Android 1.6.”

    • http://ausdroid.net/ Buzz Moody

      I asked them ages ago, and haven’t heard a word about it. They said 2.1 back then but nothing since.

  • John

    I’d be interested to know too. So poor from Vodafone.

  • David

    Hi people!

    Especially John. You said that you saved an image of the website stating “Vodafone & Google will push out firmware upgrades to Vodafone HTC Magic customers so that customers will always have the latest software improvements on their device.”

    Would you be able to post this image somewhere (like http://imgur.com/) so that we can all make our point more easily?

    Thanks a lot!

  • John
  • Ssmohaa25

    thankyoooooooooooooooooooooo

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