At it again…

For all the good work Sony are doing, getting their 2011 handsets up to scratch by providing ICS etc, they sure have a way of shooting themselves in the foot.

Consider, the £70 LiveSound headset rendered obsolete within 6 months of release and replaced by the SmartHeadset, because the 2012 models use a different type of connector, CTIA instead of OMTP. Strike 1

Next, the 2012 flagship phone, the all-singing, all-dancing Xperia S is released to great fanfare. Except for those who bought the very first batches, which had issues with the curing of glue used in the display and left the phone with an unpleasant yellow tint. More on this here.

Finally, Xperia S users are reporting Sony are refusing to repair handsets that have had their bootloader unlocked. XDA thread here.

Well, I’m completely flabbergasted by this. For starters the legal gumpf around unlocking the bootloader is vague; ” you may void your warranty,” and besides, 99% of users will unlock through the ‘official’ Sony channels. Not to mention the yellow tint is a known problem with the handset, acknowledged by Sony themselves, that it pisses me off to a point I’m almost disappointed I upgraded to another Xperia handset.

Really, it’s riotously unfair on their part to refuse repair on a known issue, based on a technicality and the vague conditions on the unlock page. Boo hiss boo Sony, boo hiss boo.

Update: Pocketnow also running a story here.