An update for several Sony Ericsson handsets has been released. The update makes it the second update for the Sony Ericsson Satio and Sony Ericsson Aino. The Satio update brings in extra features, which allow you to upload to YouTube and Facebook. You can also shoot widescreen videos with WVGA and watch them in increased resolution (864×480). It’s also possible to connect the phone to gaming systems and home entertainment systems through DLNA. Unfortunately, there’s no information on whether this has fixed any of the ongoing issues with the handset. Let us know if you’ve noticed any differences/improvements after updating.

On may 10^th Sony Ericsson showcased a new version of its innovative Theme Creator tool having increased compatibility. The all new updated version 4.16 is capable of supporting Sony Ericsson phones based on the Symbian platform.  This means, theme creator can also be used with Satio and Vivaz models. This tool will provide rapid creation of themes, much quicker than previously used tools.

• Themes creator to support Vivaz and Satio
• Creation of themes in 4 easy steps

It will be possible to create themes in four easy steps namely background selection, color adjustment, style and sound creation. Additional color effects can be used to obtain precise color tones to fulfil personal taste. Predefined background option will also make this process of creating themes simpler than ever before.

Support has also been added for non Symbian phones, including the Elm and Hazel.

Almost a year after Sony Ericsson announced the Satio, the handset has made it’s way to the US. The Satio has been available since October in the UK and faced many initial launch problems, including being pulled from stores. Hopefully with such a long gap between the US release, all the bugs should have been fixed. Although being almost a year after the announcement, is anyone in the US still interested in the Satio handset? If you are you can pick it up from Sony Style for $650.

The Satio is part of the entertainment unlimited range, bring CyberShot, WalkMan and Smartphone together.

The Satio may just be getting back on it’s feet and in stores again after firmware issues but, the handset is still getting bad press. A recent article on UK handsets shows the the Sony Ericsson Satio has the highest radiation emission compared to other handsets on the market. The Satio has about 1.5W/kg of radiation emission, while the next high emitter handset, comes in at 1.36W/KG, which is the BlackBerry Bold 9700. Of the top 10 highest radiation emitting handsets, four of the ten were Sony Ericsson phones, including the W595, W995 and T715.

Source

The Sony Ericsson Satio may be back on shelves after the firmware update, but many problems still persist. Here I’ll post the known issues and whether they were patched in the update.

• Media limited to 3000 files – Fixed in latest update. Not sure if the limits been removed completely or increased, but I’ve found no problems so far. However, media files are now loading slower after the update.
• Screen is blank when a phone call is received – Problem still persists after update. When I receive a phone call, the display stays black and so I can’t see who is calling me.
• Phone vibrates 5 seconds before ringing – May not be an issue to some, but is causing problems for others, as is counted as a couple of rings from the callers end.
• Lock and unlock – Phone locks and unlocks after the update.
• Pay as You go customers get a zero balance – When using Google Maps, the phone says you need at least x amount of credit to use GPRS (minimum price dependant on network, am using O2 myself). Phone needs to be restarted for the balance to become correct again (have rang up before restart and told I have no credit, upon restart and a balance check, my correct balance shows).
• Facebook App still missing.
• Phone crashes or freezes when certain apps/games are launched. Never had an app make the phone crash or restart but am still having apps freeze the phone for a good minute.
• Home Screen theme – Only the Sony Ericsson home screen themes shows correctly. With the latest firmware, it appears to still be an issue. However restoring all your settings on the phone, should fix it with the latest firmware. Because it didn’t fix it without resetting the settings the issue may crop up again.
• Calls from one contact from different numbers still show one icon, so is unknown where the caller rang from.

Update: In May 2010, Sony Ericsson released a firmware update for the Satio, but reports are indicating that the Satio problems are still persisting, with new issues found in the firmware.

Sony Ericsson have rolled out another firmware update for the Sony Ericsson Satio, which should be available for all handsets. I’ve tested the update on my Vodafone branded handset and the update has been detected and installed. While I haven’t had time to test it fully yet, others have been saying the phone is faster with the update and it fixes the homescreen theme problem, where no shortcuts are being displayed, only the Sony Ericsson home screen theme displays correctly. Sony Ericsson have also rolled out an update for the Aino, which has also been experiencing issues, mostly with the touch screen. While no problems have been reported with the Yari, an update is also to come for the handset. It’s also noted on the Sony Ericsson Update page, that the handset does not need to be backed up, as the update does not affect handset data, but it is of course recommended to do so if possible anyway.

Source

Update, the update has not fixed the homescreen theme problem. Other fixes, or unfixed bugs will be reported.