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.

While the Satio may be the first of Sony Ericsson’s Entertainment Unlimited range, the handset is actually quite opposite. If you’ve transferred previous photos and music over to your new Satio handset, like I have, depending on how much you transfer, you’ll shortly find that new pictures and videos do not show in the Media section, or on the navigation bar. At first it looks like the phone hasn’t saved the photos but, the files can be accessed through the File Manager. After a look around after experiencing this problem, I’ve find why the photos aren’t showing.

The Satio is limited to 3000 files in the Media section. Meaning once you have more than 3000 files, including music, photos and movies, the newer files will no longer show up unless viewing from the file manager. Sony Ericsson are aware of this and may fix it in a firmware update. Once the latest update is available for branded handsets, I’ll report back on if the limit has been removed, or if we’ll need to wait longer. For now, I suggest removing files you really don’t need on the handset, after backing them up of course.

With the Satio being taken off many UK stores shelves it’s not surprising Sony Ericsson have rolled out an update very quickly. Unfortunately though, the update only appears to be for unbranded handsets. Just Another Mobile Blog reports updating an unbranded Satio, while no update was found for a Vodafone handset, which I can also confirm. Hopefully the update will be available quickly for all Satio handsets. The update has reportedly made the phones respond faster.

While the update has been released, many stores still haven’t put the phone back on the shelves. Although it seems, from further information, the issues only appear to affect the black model, so if you’ve seen the Satio still on sale, like I have, it’s likely the silver version they’re selling. On the same note, the Aino did not get pulled from shelves as confirmed by a Sony Ericsson spokesperson.

If you haven’t got hold of the Sony Ericsson Satio yet, you may have to wait a little longer. Several UK stores have pulled the phone from shelves over software issues and quality concerns. Certain applications will cause the phone to freeze, or shut down when launched. At the moment there isn’t a downloadable fix or firmware update for the handset. If however you’ve already got your Satio and are having problems, some stores are allowing customers to exchange their handset for another model.

The Nokia N97 has also been pulled from shelves leading us to believe it’s a Symbian OS issue rather than a Sony Ericsson build quality problem.