Anticipation is high for the Sony Xperia Z to make it stateside, but eager consumers might want to wait a little longer.
A new bug has surfaced that causes to Xperia Z to randomly die. Sometimes the phone can be rebooted, but usually it's just done for and needs to be replaced.
Sony says it's already identified the problem and it's working on a fix, but there's no word on when that will be available. In the meantime, the shutdowns don't seem to have anything in common with each other, so there's no way to predict what could trigger one, other than just leaving your phone off until an update is available.
The Xperia Z isn't the first smartphone to experience random shutdowns. The Samsung Galaxy S III had a similar problem when it debuted last year, and that issue was fixed fairly quickly.
But anything that gives a potential buyer pause when considering an Xperia Z could derail Sony's plan to break into the crowed smartphone market, currently dominated by Apple and Samsung.
The Xperia Z is competing with the HTC One and the BlackBerry Z10, both released by companies in similarly dire straits. Samsung is trumpeting its new Galaxy S4, and a new iteration of the iPhone is due out soon.
Sony's best bet is to fix this problem quickly and quietly, and give new phones to anyone who even hints that their phone died.
The Sony Xperia Z features a 1.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 5-inch 1920x1080 pixel display, a 13.1 megapixel camera with 1080p video, 16 GB of internal storage and runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, though Sony has promised a quick upgrade to 4.2. It is waterproof down to a meter in depth for up to half an hour.
Check back for the latest information on the Xperia Z as it becomes available.