Kitkat update for UK unbranded Z1

[JCXPERIA]

I have a UK Xperia Z1 unbranded phone on O2 and am still waiting for the update to 4.4 KItkat. It's now been over 3 weeks since the update first launched and from looking at the Xperia Update checker I can see that almost all other territories have had the update except for the unbranded version in the UK and 2 or 3 other countries. It would appear that all the UK networks have updated their phones except for T mobile. Does this mean I've got to wait until T mobile have approved the update before Sony rolls it out to their unbranded phones? If so how long is this likely to take and why is it taking T Mobile so long when all the other networks updated about a week ago?

[CamilleKills]

I have paid £570 for my device it was in december and I was hoping for a fast release of Kitkat but I dont think this will happen anytime soon. When I am keep on getting ignored by the customer service. I had an issue with the phone I took it to the store and they decided to send be back to the website to order an appointment for a repair... This is rediculous because it made me put all of the effort of packing the phone and sending it off. 

[JCXPERIA]

Even though there are lots of bugs reported by users who have installed kitkat already I am just baffled as to why they wont just release the update for owners of unbranded phones in the UK. We are now one of only 3 countries in the world which are still waitng for the update, heck it's not just kitkat we're witing for. My phone is still stuck on 290 and there have been at least 2 other updates since that one.

Come on Sony!!! We are aware that there are bugs with kitkat but just make the update available to us so that we at least have the choice whether or not to upgrade our phones. At the end of the day nobody would be forced to upgrade if they didn't want to - it would just be nice to have the option available to us. 

The updates should be available to all your customers. It is completely unfair, not to mention unprofessional to assign a pecking order to your updates which seems to be purely based on which country we live in, where we've purchased the phone from or how much we've spent on the phone.

Get your act together Sony!!!

[Timeover]

For Sony to let down such a huge market like UK is a bad move, really really really bad move Sony!

Your phones are good bad you need to build up a bigger softaware department to keep you customers happy and also manage to deliver the updates to all unbranded phones the day it starts rolling out like other companies do!

[CamilleKills]

I think it is just terrible and I just hate Sony. 

             - Bad customer service

             - Late updates

             - Unfair 

             - Lack of kindness 

             - Scroungy (Keeping the options for Z2 away from us)

             - OVERALL HATE!!!!!!!!

Still no update in UK.

[SwitchTrix]

Originally it annoyed me that UK unbranded (and branded I guess) had been left behind, however, having looked at how many bugs are being reported I am glad we will skip this update and get the next (well in theory anyway).

As for expecting features from the Z2, are you mad? What sort of business would do that? As a business they want you to buy the Z2, like every other manufacturer. Makes no sense to bring the major selling points from a new phone and putting them on the older (slightly cheaper) version.

[SignedAdam]

Are you mad, we expect service with are hardware, bad service means no one upgrading the hardware, unless your a f@@l

Windows XP had longer support than what they give us with these phones, the hardware jump from z1 to z2 is tiny, the camera on the z2, is the same camera on the z1, however the software on the z2 lets it record videos in 4k, that means your happy for your z1 to use half of its hardware, do half of what it can do because you want the next phone to be better ? dont you think your missing the point alittle bit

[JonC1]

My take on this issue is this:

Maybe we dodged a bullet with the initial 4.4.2 KitKat release with all this bugs we're been reading about, however...

...Upgrading is our choice, if we get the chance to do it.  And its the lack of that chance, and the complete flippin' silence from Sony Mobile for the reason why we're not getting that chance that annoys me.  

Just give us a reasonable answer.  And don't treat us like morons.

(Not aimed at the mod's on this forum)

[JCXPERIA]

I'm trying to contact Sony mobile support about this issue as we speak. Will report back with anything I find out... (aint holding my breath)

[JCXPERIA]

I've just finished speaking with an advisor called Daniel. Nice enough guy but didn't really give me any helpful info. He did assure me though that the roll out to unbranded phones in the UK is not restricted by the network providers updating their handsets first... I'm not sure whether I believe that or not. Anyway I've copied in the transcript of my chat below so you can see exactly what the guy said...

Daniel: Thank you for providing me with this information, Please could you confirm which model of phone you have and which network it is on?

John: I have Xperia Z1 C6903. My contract's with o2 but the phone is unlocked/unbranded

Daniel: Thank you for providing me with this information, with regards to the query you posted all updates are a rollout basis and you will be notified when available via the phone itself

Daniel: I hope the information I have given answers your query. Is there anything else I can help you with?

John: It's just that I've noticed that most branded handsets in the UK have received the update already and it's just the unlocked models which are still waiting. In fact the UK is just about the only country in the world which still hasn't updated the unbranded phones. Can you tell me why this is? Most other phone manufacturers update their unlocked phones first before the locked phones.

Daniel: We dont have any information specifically regarding dates for different handsets, the timeframe varies for multiple factors and we cant give a timeframe for each handset uinfortunately

John: A lot of customers in the UK are very upset about this. You only have to look at feedback on the forums. http://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/Xperia-Z1-Z1s/Kitkat-update-for-UK-unbranded-Z1/td-p/624931 We'd just like to know if we're still likely to get the update and if so - any idea when??

Daniel: Theres no reason not to get any scheduled updates but we dont have a timeframe for the updates to handsets unfortunately.

John: Can you at least tell me if the UK unbranded phones have to wait until all the network providers in the UK have approved the update first before we'll get the update? Is this how the system works in the UK?

Daniel: Im not aware of that, updates generally are available for the handsets, in some cases Network locked handsets can be controlled via the network.

John: Ok thanks for your help.

[Timeover]

If waht is said is true, meaning we don't have to wait for carriers, then what's the reason behind us not getting the .136 update?(although I don't mind since it was full of bugs :p)