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Android 4.0 Upgrade For Sony Xperia Smartphones Opens a Pandora Box
First time accepted submitter ctrl-alt-canc writes "The udpdate to Android ICS offered for free by Sony to the Xperia smarphone users has caused plenty of troubles. Not only the decision by Sony of not updating Xperia Play phones to ICS caused rage among customers, but those who were lucky to get an upgrade for their smartphones discovered that WiFi connection did not work anymore. Up to now, the only suggestion proposed by Sony to fix the problem is to turn off the encryption, and reboot the smartphone and the access point."
"We just did it to make you open your wi-fi to the world, so everyone can have access using your internet connection! :P
Android is winning.
I was expecting to see a post with hundreds of outraged customers. Not just 1 guy. I feel cheated.
This _is_ Sony, right?... Let's see... rootkits, Playstation network security problems... Nope, not surprised.
If it opened a pandoras box, then all hell on earth would break out.. all manner of terrible things would be unleashed upon the world.
Having a few problems with your phone is not a pandoras box.. at best, you could say it opened a can of worms.
If you need web hosting, you could do worse than here
LT18 WiFi works on LT15
I have an Xperia Arc (LT15) but have flashed on the Xperia Arc S (LT18) without any issues to WiFi.
Has Sony ever been anything but miserable at software?
Didn't we learn our lesson from the last N rounds of user-hostile actions taken by Sony?
Who in their right mind buys Sony gear any more, after them suing their customers, removing advertised features from products after you bought them, root-kitting people's PCs, leaking your private data to the whole world, etc etc?
Seriously? People are STILL buying from Sony? Why on earth would anyone want to encourage their behaviour?
But the worms in my can are too low to escape.
Yeah. Now where is your analogy?
Because android is open.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
Depends on how you look at it I guess. If my Android phone wasn't working, I'd go to the iPhone. To diehard Linux and free software fans that would be tantamount to, "all manner of terrible things would be unleashed upon the world."
It all just depends on your perspective ;-)
Sony sucks at proper software upgrades.
The real problem is that Sony totally blew at testing the WPA stack before release. This isn't altogether hard to fix, but it's time that could be taken away from their next great phone they want you to buy. Android vendors are hit and miss on this upgrade thing. Some vendors are really amazing at providing updates and some just blow. Being able to root one's phone is the only real salvation. So I don't think this deserves the hype to author is putting into this, Sony sucks, is there anyone of us surprised by this? Will they fix it? Who knows, maybe, however this is yet another reminder that this mobile stuff is still pretty new shit. Tread with caution.
Android 4.0 Upgrade For Sony Xperia Smarphones Opens a Pandora Box
It's a smartphone, ffs, and the box is Pandora's.
I'm beyond even thinking about asking Slashdot to edit; I know that's too much to ask for. Could you at least run a fucking spell check?
A barrel of monkeys?
I upgraded mine and im happy as can be. All working nicely :D
When geeks, gamers, and other people who are interested in technology buy from Sony, it's like when a wealthy, 80-year-old Jewish businessman goes to a high-priced dominatrix who will dress up in an SS uniform, shove a ball gag in his mouth, and...
Anyone else got any ideas as to why people keep giving their money to these jackasses?
For the last time... most people don't give a fuck about DRM or any of the other geek culture shit. If people were really so well motivated do you think we'd be in the political situation we've been in the past few decades?
People are lazy ass bitches when it comes right down to it.
My last sony product was PS1.
Sadly, despite them kicking us in the junk all the time, they do make a lot of superior products.
My most recent purchase was a PS3, not for the games, for the bluray player. The first one I bought was complete garbage. And was pleasantly surprised to find I could stream movies from my extensive video library on my computer too.
But that's probably why they're abusive and still around, there are enough people that tolerate the abuse because they otherwise have the best product.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Android is open source. All you have to do is build your own rom
With iOS 4 and some wifi access points. At work I could never get my 3GS to work with ios 3 or 4
a baggie of thunder-monkeys
rewriting history since 2109
Aren't updates from Sony almost always related to shutting off features or disabling jailbreaks or crippling functionality that they perceive as a threat? Has Sony ever released an update (and left it in place) that opened up their products or added some great free feature that was met with applause by customers? What was it?
The real lesson here is to never never purchase any tech with the "hope" that it will be upgraded.
When you buy something, buy the item that has the features that you want. Don't count of the manufacturer's claim that they will update it "soon". Don't count on a community of users to fix problems or provide updates after the manufacturer abandons the product. Carefully consider the product and its features and problems as they exist at the time you purchase the product. Chances are that is what you will end up with for the life of the product.
Opening a can of worms would mean that there is an open can containing worms. I don't believe that is the situation.
Around a year ago, I was mindlessly surfing the internet (as I often do) when I came across an enigmatic web page. The page, which looked like a warning from my web browser, informed me that I had a virus installed on my computer and that to fix it, I should install a strange anti-virus program that I'd never heard of (which I found peculiar considering the fact that I already had anti-virus software installed on my computer). Despite having reservations about installing it, I did so anyway (since it appeared to be a legitimate warning).
I cannot even fathom what I was thinking at that time. Soon after attempting to install the so-called anti-virus software, my desktop background image changed into a large red warning sign, warnings about malware began making appearances all over the screen, and a strange program I'd never seen before began nagging me to buy a program to remove the viruses. What should have been obvious previously then became clear to me: that software was a virus. Frustrated by my own stupidity, I began tossing objects around the room and cursing at no one in particular.
After I calmed down, I reluctantly took my computer to a local PC repair shop and steeled myself for the incoming fee. When I entered, I noticed that there were four men working there, and all of them seemed incredibly nice (the shop itself was clean and stylish, too). After I described the situation to them, they gave me a big smile (as if they'd seen and heard it all before), accepted the job, and told me that the computer would be working like new again in a few days. At the time, I was confident that their words held a great degree of truth to them.
The very next day, while I was using a local library's computer and browsing the internet, I came across a website dedicated to a certain piece of software. It claimed that it could fix up my PC and make it run like new again. I knew, right then, merely from viewing a single page on the website, that it was telling the truth. I cursed myself for not discovering this excellent piece of software before I had taken my PC to the PC repair shop. "It would've saved me money. Oh, well. I'm sure they'll get the job done just fine. I can always use this software in the future to conserve money." Those were my honest thoughts at the time.
Two days later, my phone rang after I returned home from work. I immediately was able to identify the number: it was the PC repair shop's phone number. Once I answered, something strange occurred; the one on the other end of the line spoke, in a small, tormented voice, "Return. Return. Return. Return. Return." No matter what I said to him, he would not stop repeating that one word. Unsettled by this odd occurrence, I traveled to the PC repair shop to find out exactly what happened.
Upon arriving inside the building, I looked upon the shop, which was a shadow of its former self, in shock. There were countless wires all over the floor, smashed computer parts scattered in every direction I looked, fallen shelves on the ground, desks flipped over on the ground, and, to make matters even worse, there was blood splattered all over the wall. Being the reasonable, upstanding, college-educated citizen that I was, I immediately concluded that the current state of the shop was due to none other than an employee's stress from work. I looked around a bit more, spotted three bodies sitting against the wall, and in the middle of the room, I spotted my computer. "Ah. There it is." Directly next to it was the shop's owner, sitting on the ground in the fetal position.
When I questioned him, he kept repeating a single thing again and again: "Cannot be stopped! Cannot be stopped! Cannot be stopped!" I could not get him to tell me what was wrong, but after a bit of pondering, I quickly figured out precisely what happened: they were unable to fix my computer like they had promised. Disgusted by their failure, I turned to the shop's owner (who I now noticed had a gun to his head), and spat in his general direction. I then turned my back to him as
Any decent brand of canned worms should come thoroughly cooked and peeled and packed in a light worm syrup, with no danger of escape anyway.
Meanwhile my WP7 phone (like all phones running Windows Phone) is up-to-date running silky smooth.
And yet slashdot continues to make posts about how terrible WP is and how great Android is.
I always thought Pandora's box was what she kept between her thighs! :) Her soft, sweet, wet, little pink box...
Seriously though... this doesn't impact me, as I long ago decided Android was shit, just like iOS, realized that tablet computing is a wonderful way to ensure endless headaches and annoyance and frustration, for the privilege of getting to smear a display with fingerprints, sold my Android based junk devices, and went back to using my real computer. My phone is a flip phone, doesn't run either of those POS OS's, and I'm happy to report that when I need my phone to be a phone, that's exactly what it is, not a computer masquerading as a fucking phone. Also, the battery goes over a week without me recharging it. My MP3 player is a separate device, and though because the battery is nothing like as capacious as my phone's, I only charge it about every other day, depending on use.
I am glad I was able to find that there are enough people like me still out there, who don't want all-in-one devices that when one thing goes wrong, you lose ALL your functionality, to make it economical for some companies to continue to produce individual MP3 players, phones that are just phones, etc. Don't believe me? See what happens when one of these people who only have an iPhone or iFad loses his or her device. He or she will also lose his or her shit, because all his or her shit was on the device, and he or she can't do shit without it. Shit.
So as for Sony, I pity the fool who uses anything made by Sony that requires software. The only things made by Sony I'll buy anymore are things like a stereo system, or headphones. I don't (and won't) own a PlayStation or PlayPortable, or whatever they're calling it, a Vaio, or whatever, no matter how much fucking obvious product placement they do with them in movies and TV... I like their stereos, that's about IT.
So good luck y'all, enjoy your fragmented, temperamental, pain-in-the-ass toy computers.
I still buy Sony stuff if it doesn't have any software in it. Otherwise, no fucking way.
Maybe I'm just spoiled by Linux, but it really irritated me that Telus (in Canada) (aka one-third of the oligopoly that controls all cel phones in the country) took months to upgrade my Google branded Nexus S to ICS. Short of rooting the damned thing there wasn't a thing I could do about it.
We've reached a point where phones are becoming computing appliances, and end users shouldn't be held hostage by this sort of nonsense. If a major upgrade is available, I should have the option of installing it now, not when some bean-counter in Toronto decides it can no longer be avoided.
Three Squirrels
For a company that geeks already hate pissing off the customers of your flagship phone and then having that fact announced in the media across the world kind of does fit the definition of all manner of terrible things being unlashed upon their world, the Sony world.
Also this has been common and accepted use of the phrase in the media for a long time now.
Sony should've tested the upgrade a bit more before releasing it.
That said, I imagine users with rooted phones probably have many alternatives to get Wi-Fi working.
Wi-Fi problems are possibly the most common issue in Android (possibily Linux as well, possibly in every OS).
While I imagine it's a pretty big issue for those people who upgraded, I wouldn't be surprised if the fix is pretty straightforward.
Overall, I wouldn't describe it as a "Pandora's Box."
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. --Will
If my Android phone wasn't working
Except is is working, so your observation is really irrelevant.
A few features are buggy, one would have to be openly lying to claim the "phone doesn't work".
I compared Sony to a beautiful but abusive ex a few years ago. You swear you'll never talk to her again but a year goes by and you run into her at the mall and she's looking hot. Dinner seems safe enough. Public place and all. One thing leads to another...
Someone pointed out that /.ers don't know what it's like to have a hot ex and I should stick to car analogies.
I've sworn off Sony a couple of times but then they put out a product with the perfect mix of features and price so I make an exception "just this one time".
hasbeen
stop being a cheap skeezer and get an iphone
No other major manufacturer has committed to delivering ICS to their last range of phones like Sony has. I recently purchased an Xperia mini pro from which I'm typing this post and that was on the basis that it was both cheap and would have ICS support. This came in the form of the upgrade being presented to me the second it synced up with Sonys software.
They support the community as much as they can, releasing beta ROMS for feedback, feedback that lead to the decision to not release ICS for the Play. While it sucks for many Play users, ultimately the decision was made because it would impact the gaming performance too much.
As stated elsewhere this bug occurs on a lot of Android phones, so while ive never been a big fan of Sony corporate I think you could safely call this piece a bit of a beat up.
Sony should just say "it works for me" and tell all the whiners to fix it themselves.
My most recent purchase was a PS3, not for the games, for the bluray player.
Which has a nasty habit of ramping up its power supply fan to take-off speeds about 30 minutes into a movie and staying that way until powered off, sounding much like a vacuum cleaner with a wad a paper stuck in the nozzle. I don't know about you, but that's a killer flaw from where I sit.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Someone needs to get Anonymous pissed off at these fools.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
I swear that MyCleanPC is a piece of shit, MyCleanPC smells so bad that even shit smells better.
Nothing but MyCleanPC can claim the first prize for the most lousiest piece of crap ever created.
I repeat, MyCleanPC is a piece of crap !!!
And I am not kidding !!
At some point we just have to say anyone who is still buying any Sony products deserves everything they get.
It wasn't like they weren't warned.
You are welcome on my lawn.
>Why on earth would anyone want to encourage their behaviour
Sony is now effectively a financial services (insurance) company, so it doesn't matter what happens with hardware. It's kind of a loss leader for them, like the Macintosh hardware at Apple.
The entire flagship HTC One line has similar problems.
I bought one of the very first HTC One V's in our market three months back - in fact my first Android phone/ smart phone as I was waiting for the technology to become a bit mature and the software / hardware to be polished.
I have ABSOLUTELY NO problems with WiFi. There is a "death grip" issue for HTC One X, but that is not a "chip set" or software / hardware / device driver issue.
And I have been following xda forums and HTC One forums and I cannot find any serious issue with WiFi being discussed. So you are seriously misinformed - at least about HTC One Series.
HTC One V is also a very good phone.
Tat Tvam Asi
What's udpdate? Is there a TCP version? And why bother, as NTP already uses UDP?
Oh, wait, you meant update.....
You should then stop reading /. since it IS FUCKING THE geek culture. Fucking troll.
Tell me what you believe...I'll tell you what you should see.
This why you don't trust the idiots at the cellphone manufactures to do things right.
They just dont care. Go to http://forum.xda-developers.com and get yourself a rooted, deodexed,overclocked
and modded ROM that actually works INCLUDING THE WIFI! I have a Samsung INFUSE(which
isn't even supposed to run Androide 4.0 ICS)......and yet it is running on my Infuse.....
and I've been enjoying Android 4.0 ICS creamy goodness for some weeks now.
The cellphone manufactures are idiots. Educate yourself and upgrade your own phone!
A Pandoras box scenario may not involve the end of the world, but merely bad things we can't really get rid of again.
One contemporary example could software patents. They are there, and if they are ever invalidated, corporations will demand restitution to the point where it could bankrupt the state..
Fragmentation, limited testing, punting the responsibility for OS maintenance to the user base, and did I mention fragmentation? The first comment in this thread I read has a USER burrowing down into the goddamned code to figure out why WiFi isn't working? Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick. A USER!
I'm all for smart users, and all for hackable hardware, but damn, chilluns... this is ridiculous. Next, you'll be launching Android specific GPS satellites using Estes rocket motors. Somethings are best left to larger organizations. Unless, of course, they are done with you once your check clears.
It is beyond me why anyone buys anything Android. Apple may be evil in the eyes of some, but this is the tradeoff. A free OS is worth what you pay.
He writes like a 'tard.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I still buy Sony stuff if it doesn't have any software in it. Otherwise, no fucking way.
What do you think they make that has no software on it?
Personally, it's a decision that I still regret.
I bought an Xperia X10 Mini Pro because it was the only Android device I could find with a slide-out keyboard. The actual Android portion of it has been as fine as you'd expect, but from the Sony side:
1) They've refused to release an official update beyond 2.1. Among other things, this means that it doesn't have the feature of saving apps to memory card- a colossal draw back. There's no technical reason for this, they just don't want to support their old phones.
2) Hardware build quality is poor. The slide-out keyboard sticks and warps the case when you try to slide it.
3) Wifi keeps freezing, and needs to be constantly reset. I've downloaded a 3rd party app which resets the Wifi every time it freezes, but it's not good.
I wouldn't buy a Sony again. Not when what they're basically peddling (Android smartphones) are available from plenty of better companies than them.
I bought my Sony Xperia phone because I wanted a QWERTY slider. All of the other big name manufacturers decided to make exclusivity deals with American telcos for all of their QWERTY sliders. The realistic qwerty choices here in Europe are two Sony phones and one Motorola.
Against my usual tech instinct I've not upgraded to ICS. I'm very happy with the Gingerbread experience to be honest.
How many phones effected? Was it quickly fixed? I updated my Sony Live Wt9i (based on Xperia) and still accessed wifi without problems
Headphones?
It was a joke which was lost on everyone here, including you.
Don't you feel stupid now?
Shit hits the fan after Android 4.0 upgrade on Sony Ericsson Xperia smart phones
If it opened a pandoras box, then all hell on earth would break out.. all manner of terrible things would be unleashed upon the world.
Having a few problems with your phone is not a pandoras box.. at best, you could say it opened a can of worms.
Actually, Pandora's box, when used as a figure of speech, refers to something holding secrets one doesn't wish to reveal to the world at large, ie. this obviously has nothing to do with Pandora's box at all; there are no secrets being revealed here. It's not even a can of worms as that, too, refers to more-or-less the same thing. This is just sloppy work by Sony and there's plenty of other expressions to use for that.
As an aside it is quite astounding that Slashdot editors don't even know how to use popular figures of speech like this properly. Heck, my native language isn't English and yet even I know full-well how to use the expression "opening the Pandora's box."
The versions of anderoid are controlled by the manufacturer of the phone, not google, and they get money for your use of the phone by the carrier, so cutting "free" services is the awnser to upgrade hell.
I have a high quality very solid entertainment center with reinforced glass doors, no sound escapes it. Though I did notice the fan on the PS3 can get loud when the door is open.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
The analogy only works before you start eating them.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
People do care that when you buy Sony, you're almost guaranteed to get the kind of stuff that in some unique Sony way doesn't work with your other stuff.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
If English isn't your native language, it suggests that unlike much of the English speaking populace, you may have actually studied it at some point.
There are two types of people in the world; those who believe there are two types of people, and those who don't.
There needs to be more restrictions on what type of hardware can be used or they should not allow them to call it android, they should force them to change the name to something that dissolves the tie to the real android phones.
I really want to know what company DOES have good upgrades. The Motorola Atrix I bought last July doesn't have ICS. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 I bought in December doesn't have ICS. Oh sure, I can get unofficial AOKP versions or CM9 versions, but the Samsung doesn't have working camera drivers still.
The Macintosh is so not a loss leader!
The Sony build of ICS isn't really an upgrade over Gingerbread. Some bits run better, others worse and on low end (512Mb) devices it really struggles with RAM. It is worth trying 3rd party builds, without so much Sony crapware ICS feels noticeably faster and smoother.
If you play games, don't do it. ICS broke a significant number of games and we're still waiting for updates. Gameloft and EA seem worst.
does a ROM exist for this phone? does the wifi work on this phones builds?
It wasn't "Sony" when we bought it. It was Sony Ericsson.
I would say the people still buying Sony have an Idée fixe about them.
Like religious nutjobs, fanbois, conspiracy theorists, stalkers, etc
"An idée fixe is a preoccupation of mind held so firmly as to resist any attempt to modify it, a fixation. "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id%C3%A9e_fixe_(psychology)
It's not an official term in case someone has an idée fixe that terms describing psychological conditions Must Be Official.
I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
My Xperia Ray (which I love - try finding a small Android phone with decent camera otherwise) updated to ICS with no problems. But ICS broke the screenshot capability on the long power button press. Now it's nearly impossible to take a screenshot with the case on - you have to press 2 buttons simultaneously. This irritates me on a weekly basis.
I have a high quality very solid entertainment center with reinforced glass doors, no sound escapes it.
Impossible. If heat can escape then sound can escape, unless you have a far more sophisticated setup than I think you have. I believe that our definitions of "no sound" differ. I can practically guarantee that my ears will detect the fan of your PS3 and be annoyed by it whenever the sound track becomes quiet.
A better solution for the videophile is to not use the PS3 as a crappy Blu-ray player, where "crappy" is the only technical term that accurately describes its performance in that regard.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Learn self control. I don't even look at them. Can't buy what you don't know exists.
Uhm, well...
I think there is probably theoretically a way to let heat escape without sound escaping.
* It could have some heat exchangers (but then the pump would make noise).
* It could have a winding baffled pathway out with foam and stuff that absorbs most of the sound on the way.
* Or maybe it just doesn't let out the heat either!
Anyway, I guess it probably is closed on the front and open on the back, so that the sound can escape, but it will be aimed at the wall instead of at you.
I have an x10 Mini Pro and a Mini Pro now.
1a) While it may not consider it a technical reason, there is a lot of work that needs to be done to get 2.3 to run on the x10 mini. Sure you can say that CM have got ROMs, but there are compromises. There was never any promise of 2.2+ on the X10 mini pro.
1b) The specifications were there at the start before you bought it. If the internal memory was a problem, you should have gone for a higher specced option. If you're really distraught, root the damn thing (like I have) and use Link2SD. Even with 2.3 on my Mini Pro, I prefer Link2SD over the native app to SD.
2) Never had an issue with the the keyboard/hardware. If you've bought a 3rd party case, then it's an issue with the 3rd party not Sony. It's hard to have a case for a slider (yes, my mini pro has a case, yes it does stick a little but it's not a Sony issue, it's a form factor issue)
3) This is something that may have some merit. Wi-fi was a little unstable sometimes, but not enough to worry me. Mini Pro is much more stable though, so they have made some progress.
In the end, the mini pro (x10 and new) are quite unique in their price point and size. Not sure where you think there are "plenty of better companies". There aren't many keyboard Androids, and certainly not as small as the mini-pro's.
I for one am a little concerned that there isn't any mini-pro successor in the pipeline at the moment.
I purchased it with the stated promise of the company that it would be upgraded. I actually looked for that official statement before making the decision to buy.
I guess the hope part is hoping that a company would keep its word. But given that its word got me to buy their product, and they broke their word, isn't that fraud?
This could be fun. Small claims court, here I come!
I got burned by HTC. The phone I bought was always way behind on Android versions, and never even got an official upgrade to Froyo, although the guys on Cyanogen had Froyo running on it with no problems.
Across the board, Android phone makers have a horrible history of supporting their phones with the latest OS. Apple looks positively angelic in this respect.
Wasn't "pandora's box" something out of Greek mythology that has nothing to do with speaking english?
I didn't know about the HMZT1 until yesterday. [sigh]