K850 Firmware Overview

K850 Firmware Overview

Each firmware revision listed below contains the fixes listed against that revision plus the fixes of all the firmwares below that entry.

R1CA037
- Released to SE Service Centres around 25/10/07

Bug fixes
- Improved / fixed flash synchronization, preventing photos taken in dark conditions from coming out as very dark or black.

R1CA029
- First release

Bugs
- The flash doesn't always sync with the image capture, leaving dark or black photos in night conditions.
- Play/Pause and FF/RW controls on HPM-82 (or any other remote control?) do not work
- Phone can crash when using HPM-82
- Phone can crash whilst in standby mode, requiring a hard reboot (taking the battery out)
- Corruption of the file system can occur affecting photos, applications etc
- Alarms only produce three beeps on some phones rather than play the selected ringtone.
- Some Video playback is out of sync with the sound
- USB photo transfer can lead to duplicated pictures / removal of other pictures present on the phone
- Video is of lower quality than the K800
- Occasional second or so delay between the vibration of an incomming text/call and screen illumination.
- Audiobook functionaility cannot be accessed
- When you connect the phone via the usb cable, You cant see the ringtone folder
- Phone doesnt support some Mp4 files and doesnt support some jpeg photos.
- On some phones the shutter ocasionally fails to open
- Not all symbols are possible to enter in the email client settings, e.g. not allowing you from adding a : for gmail addresses.
- The zoom buttons both zoom into a picture and change the volume if you are listening to music whilst browsing pictures.
- On some phones, the volume keys do not respond, requiring a reboot to restore functionaility.
- On some phones, adding a birthday to a contact does not give you a chance to add it to the Calendar.

Performance
- JBenchmark 3D LQ: 193
- JBenchmark 3D HQ: 103
- JBenchmark 2: 733
- JBenchmark 1: 4209

Software versions:
EROM: R6A008
LCD: 200708241
Camera: 2.9
Videocall camera: 3.0
Content: PA13
Java: 8.0
Text: AC

Accessing Firmware Information

To find out which firmware revision your phone currently has installed, select Menu > Settings > General > Update service > Software version. For more detailed software versioning information, perform the following:

>*<<*<*

Where <> represents clicking the D-Pad left and right keys respectively.

Sony Ericsson Update Service

The firmware of the K850 can be upgraded either over the air by selecting Settings / Update Service / Search for update or via the more traditional (and potentially cheaper) method of the Sony Ericsson Update Service. In order to use SEUS you will need to have internet access (preferably Broadband) and attach your phone to your PC via the supplied USB cable.

If you run into problems, you may wish to download and install Sun's Java Runtime Environment separately.

If the firmware update fails part way through, retry the SEUS. If the update consistently fails you will need to perform a Master Reset on your phone. It is likely that you will be required to perform a Reset All - a settings reset is unlikely to do the job. It is recommended to use a tool such as MyPhoneExplorer to create a backup of the data on your phone before performing a Master Reset. Note that you will still lose any games, themes or ringtones present in your phone's memory.

SEUS will currently install the following firmware revisions for UK phone brands:

K850
Unbranded UK (CDA102511/2) - R1CA029
O2 UK (CDA102511/41) - R1CA029
Vodafone UK (CDA102511/15) - ?
Orange UK (CDA102511/47) - ?
3 UK (CDA102511/69) - ?
T-Mobile (CDA102511/12) - ?

Third Party Update Services

Third party firmware updates are currently unavailable for the K850.

Drivers

Drivers for all current Sony Ericsson phones can be downloaded from EMMA.

Other Sony Ericsson Firmware Overviews

K800
K750 / W800
K700 / K500
T610 / T630