Z1 Android 4.3 & 4.4 KitKat News [RELEASED]

[guddu2011]

Last week you probably saw Google announce Android version 4.4; Kit Kat…

We’ve seen lots of questions on our Android upgrade roadmap and equally, we have lots to tell you, so here’s a note on just that…

First up, Jelly Bean 4.3

We’re pleased to tell you that we’ll start rolling Android 4.3 for Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia ZR, Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia SP, Xperia Z Ultra and Xperia Z1 from next month*.

We also mentioned that a few of our products would be jumping software version – so, we can confirm that Xperia T, Xperia TX and Xperia V* will be upgraded to Android Jelly Bean 4.3… also from next month.

And, to Kit Kat 4.4

We’re also happy to tell you about the first raft of Xperia products that we’ll make Android 4.4 Kit Kat available for – they are: Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia Z Ultra and Xperia Z1*.

On that, please stay tuned to the social newsroom and @SonyMobileNews, where we’ll update you with specific info on product upgrade timings & software features as things progress.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to drop them below.

*Software rollouts are a phased process – timings & availability may vary by market / carrier



SOURCE - http://blogs.sonymobile.com/2013/11/07/on-jelly-bean-4-3-kit-kat-4-4/


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UPDATE -

KitKat firmware (14.3.A.0.681) certified for Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z1 Compact

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2686232



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UPDATE 2 -

Android 4.4; KitKat, rolls for Xperia Z Ultra, Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z1 Compact

http://blogs.sonymobile.com/2014/03...eria-z-ultra-xperia-z1-and-xperia-z1-compact/

 

[matheus_sc]

Lets hope to be true, its not hard for that, Android of Sony is very clean.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda app-developers app

 

[ahomad]

I kinda doubt this. android 4.4 should be announced by google later this months, then it is highly unlikely that sony would be able to release it for the Z1 on the 7th of November. But I really wish they can, I even wish they skip 4.3 and focus on 4.4, if we can get it before the end of this year then hell yeah

 

[Morlock O]

I kinda doubt this. android 4.4 should be announced by google later this months, then it is highly unlikely that sony would be able to release it for the Z1 on the 7th of November. But I really wish they can, I even wish they skip 4.3 and focus on 4.4, if we can get it before the end of this year then hell yeah

i think this is very possible... google usually releases the source codes to manufacturers weeks before they officially lunch a new version...

 

[guddu2011]

I kinda doubt this. android 4.4 should be announced by google later this months, then it is highly unlikely that sony would be able to release it for the Z1 on the 7th of November. But I really wish they can, I even wish they skip 4.3 and focus on 4.4, if we can get it before the end of this year then hell yeah

fyi kitkat is already announced and it is going to be released later this month.

manufacturers gets source code before official launch as the guy above me said.

 

[ahomad]

i think this is very possible... google usually releases the source codes to manufacturers weeks before they officially lunch a new version...

fyi kitkat is already announced and it is going to be released later this month.

manufacturers gets source code before official launch as the guy above me said.

I know that this is the case, but this has been the case so long ago (not with android 4.4), yet manufacturers take months before releasing the updates. 4.3 rolled out months ago but you could barely find phones already have 4.3 (apart from note 3 and HTC one) even the SGS4 which used to get updates before anyone else didn't get it yet UNLESS manufacturers already decided to skip 4.3 and focused to get 4.4 faster.

Again I really wish that Sony release 4.4 in November or even earlier (I am not against that, I have the Z1 myself) but as I said before it is highly unlikely.

 

[joslicx]

I know that this is the case, but this has been the case so long ago (not with android 4.4), yet manufacturers take months before releasing the updates. 4.3 rolled out months ago but you could barely find phones already have 4.3 (apart from note 3 and HTC one) even the SGS4 which used to get updates before anyone else didn't get it yet UNLESS manufacturers already decided to skip 4.3 and focused to get 4.4 faster.

Again I really wish that Sony release 4.4 in November or even earlier (I am not against that, I have the Z1 myself) but as I said before it is highly unlikely.

what you say is true but I guess the chasing pack (HTC, LG, Sony) are maybe just realizing the importance of timely updates (that probably was a factor in Samsung's ascendance. HTC lost the android crown because it just lost lots of loyal customers who never saw any updates). Since Hardware is more or less commoditized already, the turf wars are gonna be fought on Software front. Faster updates could be USP and Sony might want to claim bragging rights (porting might be easier/faster for Sony as they are almost stock anyway!

 

[ahomad]

what you say is true but I guess the chasing pack (HTC, LG, Sony) are maybe just realizing the importance of timely updates (that probably was a factor in Samsung's ascendance. HTC lost the android crown because it just lost lots of loyal customers who never saw any updates). Since Hardware is more or less commoditized already, the turf wars are gonna be fought on Software front. Faster updates could be USP and Sony might want to claim bragging rights (porting might be easier/faster for Sony as they are almost stock anyway!

I totally agree with you. Sony said they will release faster updates. Sony has advantage here because of the light skin but this is not the only thing, actually it is the least time consuming thing because it doesn't need much optimization and testing, at the end it is mostly an app that you can install to change how the phone look. The problem is to get it to work along with all the features with THIS SPECIFIC DEVICE, they need to test how the software would perform in THIS hardware (mainly chipset and screen and other things). And here is the bigger advantage of the Z1 as it uses the same chip and screen resolution as the nexus 5 (according to rumors), this will definitely help sony to release the new android versions much faster to the Z1 as it will already be optimized and tested. but again I doubt they will release it two weeks after the release of the 4.4 to the nexus devices but I still hope they will.

 

[DeathlessOne]

Guys, have a look here

http://www.xperiablog.net/2013/10/09/android-4-4-kitkat-is-not-hitting-the-xperia-z1-in-november/

 

[TheCraig]

Guys, have a look here

http://www.xperiablog.net/2013/10/09/android-4-4-kitkat-is-not-hitting-the-xperia-z1-in-november/

They don't list any sources either, as far as I am concerned neither "presumption" is correct, OEM's get new android versions months before there even announced so Sony may very well be cooking up Kitkat ready for November.

 

[ascariss]

I don't believe it, if anything I'd expect a 4.3 release in November and a 4.4 in early 2014 hopefully.

 

[DeathlessOne]

They don't list any sources either, as far as I am concerned neither "presumption" is correct, OEM's get new android versions months before there even announced so Sony may very well be cooking up Kitkat ready for November.

If they were, it's time we built a monument for Sony

 

[Untouchab1e]

Highly unlikely.. But if it happened to be the case, Sony deserves a lot of credit. In my opinion they receive too little credit for their contributions to AOSP. But that's another matter

Sent from my Xperia Z1

 

[expertzero1]

Possibly. Google said they want kit Kat for everyone.

Sent from my Sony Xperia Z1 C6903

 

[pshdo]

This is getting old, but anyway here it is again...

Just look at Sony´s smartphone and firmware history m8´s, and you will see that this is never going to happen...
- we are lucky to recive 4.3 in late Q1 or perhaps Q2 of 2014, and after that the Z1 will be abandoned...

IF the rumor really WAS true, Sony would have turned 180 degrees in their business strategy... (and that is not likely, is it now ??)
Becource sony has actually acted that way for years now, at least since Xperia X10...

Sony is in this marked for the money, nothing else...

That is also why the Z1 was shipped with 4.2.2, and NOT 4.3 from the beginning...
- this way Sony can meet Googles demands on major updates, without actually giving YOU anything new...

Just think for 2 sec, about this:
WHY would Sony release a new flagship like the Z1 with only 4.2.2, when it would be just as mutch work for them to release it with the current 4.3 ??
This is also not new for Sony, the X10 was shipped with 1.6...

Sony is NOT stupid, the history repeats it self over and over, and we buy the products anyway...


BTW other Sony "feature" is these:
DON`T be suppriced to find that the Z and other phones is going to get the 4.3 before the Z1, that is actually also normal sony behavior.
DON´T be suppriced if you at last, one day finally will get 4.4 anyway (Q4 2014), that there will be features missing in the new version, that also is normal sony behavior.

 

[Rekoil]

The rumours come from a pretty unreliable source, so I'm not basing any of my analysis on that. Rather based on how close Sonys UI is to AOSP, porting it to 4.3 or 4.4 seems more trivial than it would for HTC or Samsung, considering their much larger deviations from AOSP. But ultimately only time will tell.

WHY would Sony release a new flagship like the Z1 with only 4.2.2, when it would be just as mutch work for them to release it with the current 4.3 ??

Because they've been working on the Z1 for longer than 4.3 has been available and wanted to beat the other manufacturers to market with an S800 phone (note that the LG G2 also shipped with 4.2.2 and is the only other phone with an S800 CPU), there literally is no other plausible explanation, stop being such a downer man. Ultimately 4.2.2/4.3/4.4 doesn't make any difference at all to the average consumer, and in fact, Sony might actually provide a better user experience by sticking to 4.2.2 until the bugs have been ironed out of the new major versions.

They will likely have had a team working on porting their UI to 4.3/4.4 while developing the Xperia Z1, they are just not ready yet.

 

[maxboy]

Maybe you guys dont use to Sony?
Just relax and don't put high hope on update.....(xperia S and TX owner here waiting Z1)


Sent from my LT29i using xda app-developers app

 

[pshdo]

The only for reason for 4.2.2 in Z1, is to claim the amount of major updates without actually give us anything new...
- as i said Sony is NOT stupid, they are in this marked to earn money, nothing else...

stop being such a downer man.

Stop being so gullible man.

Ultimately 4.2.2/4.3/4.4 doesn't make any difference at all to the average consumer, and in fact, Sony might actually provide a better user experience by sticking to 4.2.2 until the bugs have been ironed out of the new major versions.

THIS IS FUNNY !
This is actually allmost exactly what S/E responded back in the X10 days, when people was on 1.6, waiting allmost a year for 2.1...
- are you shure you dont Work for them ??

4.3 would give new features, and equally importent, it would let Sony be in the android lead for once, but then they have to give you, at least, also 4.4, and Sony don´t want to do that...
- it is better for Sony´s economy, if we all buy a new phone in a year instead...

But DON`T belive me, PLEACE DONT !
Just read the Sony and S/E history instead, and form your oppinion from that...
- then lets talk...

Dont get me wrong, Sony make fantasic smartphones, i love my sony phones...
Sony just dont update them as mutch as you would expect, and for a good reason...

 

[Rekoil]

The only for reason for 4.2.2 in Z1, is to claim the amount of major updates without actually give us anything new...
- as i said Sony is NOT stupid, they are in this marked to earn money, nothing else...



Stop being so gullible man.



THIS IS FUNNY !
This is actually allmost exactly what S/E responded back in the X10 days, when people was on 1.6, waiting allmost a year for 2.1...
- are you shure you dont Work for them ??

4.3 would give new features, and equally importent, it would let Sony be in the android lead for once, but then they have to give you, at least, also 4.4, and Sony don´t want to do that...
- it is better for Sony´s economy, if we all buy a new phone in a year instead...

But DON`T belive me, PLEACE DONT !
Just read the Sony and S/E history instead, and form your oppinion from that...
- then lets talk...

Dont get me wrong, Sony make fantasic smartphones, i love my sony phones...
Sony just dont update them as mutch as you would expect, and for a good reason...

I don't work for them, and excuse me for potentially being naïve, I'm just saying there have been large changes to the inner workings of Sony recently (look up Kaz Hirais One Sony initiative), nothing is impossible!

 

[Morlock O]

This is getting old, but anyway here it is again...

Just look at Sony´s smartphone and firmware history m8´s, and you will see that this is never going to happen...
- we are lucky to recive 4.3 in late Q1 or perhaps Q2 of 2014, and after that the Z1 will be abandoned...

IF the rumor really WAS true, Sony would have turned 180 degrees in their business strategy... (and that is not likely, is it now ??)
Becource sony has actually acted that way for years now, at least since Xperia X10...

Sony is in this marked for the money, nothing else...

That is also why the Z1 was shipped with 4.2.2, and NOT 4.3 from the beginning...
- this way Sony can meet Googles demands on major updates, without actually giving YOU anything new...

Just think for 2 sec, about this:
WHY would Sony release a new flagship like the Z1 with only 4.2.2, when it would be just as mutch work for them to release it with the current 4.3 ??
This is also not new for Sony, the X10 was shipped with 1.6...

Sony is NOT stupid, the history repeats it self over and over, and we buy the products anyway...


BTW other Sony "feature" is these:
DON`T be suppriced to find that the Z and other phones is going to get the 4.3 before the Z1, that is actually also normal sony behavior.
DON´T be suppriced if you at last, one day finally will get 4.4 anyway (Q4 2014), that there will be features missing in the new version, that also is normal sony behavior.

LOL such a doubter... and it is surprised not suppriced ...

ok let us take a look at Sony's Firmware history:

1. Xperia S(March 2012) launched with GB installed, they released ICS (4.0.4) update around may-june 2012 as promised, then release jellyean 1 year later (may-june 2013)... They actually have released a leaked version earlier at around April 2013 (build .200) so developers can start developing with the jellybean firmware... that is very timely... as expected, they will stop here as Qualcom has stopped supporting the chipset installed in Xperia S... no surprise there.

2. Xperia Z(February 2013) was released with Jelly bean 4.1.2... and then released 4.2.2 mid this year... they also promised 4.3 upgrade around Dec or January...

now lets take a look at Google's release cycle:

ICS 4.0.4 is release on 29 March 2012
JB 4.1.2 is released Oct 2012
JB 4.2.2 is only released Feb 2013

As you can see, Sony has an orderly version release cycle... and they always deliver on their promises... and as you can see after Sony releases a new product, they upgrade it to the latest version 3-4 months later... they are also known to skip versions... (they skipped ICS 4.0.3 and went to 4.0.4)

how much you wanna bet they will release 4.4 on or before Q1 2014?