UK Sony Xperia Z updates for unbranded phones.

[lostinmusic72]

Could somebody from Sony please explain why thousands of us are now 3 updates behind now regarding firmware updates? 

We are still on 434!

How do we get Sonys attention on this?

[Bodger81]

Got that on watch as well

[lozhedgehog]

YAY - I managed to get a reply from the xperiaGB twitter page.

BOO - what a pathetic answer and I quote (not that I need to, everyone has seen it before)

"All updates are rolled out gradually however we don't have dates as to when each handset will recieve this I'm afraid - Aimee"

Well at least it's a reply I suppose.

I give up now, it's been doing my head in and shouldn't.
Gonna leave it till I get back from holiday at the end of the month and if it ain't arrived by then I'll put it on myself and goodbye UK update schedule

[spencer1620]

Warranties have lots of grey areas. If you flash an "official stock firmware" from say Hong Kong or Spain onto a UK phone it's hardly been approved by Sony for that hand set, so they could easily say you have voided your warranty

[lozhedgehog]

True,

But providing the issue where you need to return it is not a complete phone failure it is possible to "repair" and stick the current approved firmware back on.

Also, by the time any "official" update comes most of our handsets will be out of 12mth warranty any case, mine is nearly half way through that!!!!!

[@5449218201014089]

All phones with the same model number are identical in terms of hardware. So every C6603 firmware has been approved for all C6603 phones. By the way, the only difference between the regional firmwares is the customization package. Sony first prepares an internal completely generic firmware. Regional teams then prepare the customized versions with customization packages (containing region-specific apps and settings). So the generic base system (which contains the kernel, baseband, system files, etc.) is the same for all C6603 firmwares with a certain build number.

[spencer1620]

And is the Flash program approved by Sony?

[@5449218201014089]

Flashtool uses exactly the same methods to flash firmware to your phone as Sony PC Companion and Sony Update Service.

Warranty can only be voided if you do things that may damage your product (like unlocking your bootloader and using custom ROMs, which has the possibility of frying the CPU). Flashing official stock firmware (no matter from which region) cannot damage your phone.

[@5449218201014089]

Someone from the UK told this:

Q: I wonder if it would cause any warranty issues if you flash a stock ROM with a different customization (country/branding) and then send your phone to Sony for repair? Has anyone experience with that?
A: Did it with my Xperia Arc twice, was a Three phone and had generic firmware on. No problems, they don't care at all. But it will be flashed back to what it is supposed to be during the repair.

By the way, warranty is at least two years (EU legislation).

[spencer1620]

Ok that might be true but if you read Sony's T's & C's it always says "may" invalidate your warranty leaves it rather open

[TomGreene]

Spencer is correct may legally means that it is open to Sony to treat the flashing of your phone as an intervention which nullifies the warranty. You could argue that it is not such an intervention as use of generic software etc but it means an extra hassle for you if anything should go wrong with your phone.

Also every should email Sony Custoemr Support directly time to put pressure on. Also use Facebook