Sony Ericsson suspends Satio sales
Pulls phone over software glitches
Sony Ericsson has withdrawn its new 12Mp cameraphone, Satio, from sale after only a few weeks of UK availability.
The company told Register Hardware today that “a small number of consumers have experienced software issues” with the phone over here. It isn't known if overseas buyers are experiencing the same problems.
Sony Ericsson has pulled Satio from sale in the UK
SE refused to specify exactly what prompted it to pull the Satio from shop shelves. It would only say that the software woes manifest themselves when owners use certain unnamed applications.
However, online forums have provided Satio owners with space to complain about the phone. “Sudden freezing”, battery problems, “ringtone faults” and software crashes have all been highlighted by a number of the handset users.
One Satio owner known as GregJ said: “Whenever I receive a text message the phone only displays the number and not the person’s name.”
Another Satio owner, Steve Vine, said he is now on his third model and that the phone still displays “bubbles” on pictures captured using the 12.1Mp lens.
Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4 U have removed the Satio from sale “temporarily”, SE told us. Vodafone still has the handset listed for sale on its website.
Sony Ericsson hopes to rectify Satio's sore points quickly and to have fresh, fixed models in store soon, it said. ®
COMMENTS
No more bleeding edge
I've taken the executive decision with new phones - that there is no point paying money to be a beta tester. I've decided that from now on, I'll get a free phone on contract that's about 12 months old, so that the firmware updates are done and stable. Sounds like people are having trouble with the brand new HTC Touch HD2 as well.
I'm sure the Satio (and HD2) will be a great phone... in 3 months time when all the bugs are ironed out. Till then, it sounds like a paperweight. I'll get an N85/N86 now, and this time next year have a look at one of these babies.
Two bad phones in one week
Only days ago it was revealed that the HTC HD2 suffers from a camera defect known as Pink Aura. Now, in the same week, we have Sony Ericsson pulling the Satio.
At least Sony-Ericsson is recalling the Satio, and not continuing to sell defective units. I'm not sure what HTC will do about its HD2.
These forums that you speak of?
A URL would be nice! My girlfriend has just had a Satio on a (it chokes me to say it) 24 month contract. She may be blessed with many charms, but an understanding of technology is not really one of them, so it would be nice to know what to look out for. If I can ask her "does or doesn't your phone do this/that?" at least then I can see if her phone is one with problems, rather than, bless her soul, the missus just thinking the phone is "meant to do that"
Not surprising really...
The quality of SE phones has been going downhill recently... my last one, a K850i, had numerous problems and was exchanged multiple times. Even with the latest firmware it is still prone to the blue ring of death, and all I ever use it for now is texting. When it was my primary phone, I had RSS feeds, emails & websurfing going on it, it would crash daily and need a firmware reinstall almost fortnightly.
Of course SE denied that there was a fundamental issue with the phone, while CPW fobbed me off as well.
Down to the usual standards
Sony-Ericsson seem to have serious product quality issues, and have done for some time. I used to have a P900 then a P910 smart-phone and both of them had the same silly, annoying fault that meant taking it to a phone shop to have it reset several times a week. I was given the P910 to replace the P900 because of the fault...
SE blamed the network; the network blamed SE - either way, I won't be buying SE again.
