Is there a plan by Sony to upgrade DSC-R1 paticularly its zoom power?

If Sony can mae an immediate upgrade of its zoom to 12 or 14X then DSC-R1 would be perfect alternative for a fixed-lens digicam with DSLR features. Preferably, it would also be helpful if the LCD View size can be made bigger to 2.5" or 3" and a low noise picture quality using ISO 400 and above. If not how can we convice Sony to do the proposed upgrade?

NO news thus far

Hi, I noticed that you haven't marked any replies as the "best answer." Are you still looking for an answer? If so, I recommend you re-submit it on http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com so it will have a better chance of being noticed. These days it looks like most questions are being answered within a few days. Good luck!

Thanks Ben. If you do have feedback yourself, I'd appreciate if you share it us.

Sorry, i think this model marks a dead end, and now 2 years after the announcement of the R1 Sony doesn't have any news for us. I see some reasons in this, because i think that this camera is already as good as a fixed lens camera is going to get for a couple of more years.
Lets talk about the 3" LCD you wanted, this seems technically possible and upgrade feasible. To achieve your requested low noise above ISO 400 the camera is going to need a better sensor. But if you compare the Sony R1 with the other cameras, then you will notice that it already has relatively low noise at ISO 400+800. A new sensor generation and some advancements in noise reduction algorithms might help, but in the end (without a major breakthrough) this is not going to be a lot of progress.
I agree, a more versatile lens would make this camera a killer in the DSLR entry sector. A 24mm-388mm zoom/F2.8-4.8 (14x zoom) - wow. That would be quite revolutionary. The only known SLR size zoom lens which comes even close to this, is the just announced Leica/Panasonic 14-150mm/ F3.5-5.6 ASPH for their DSLR series. This is a 28-300 mm zoom on a DSLR with a 4/3" sensor, weights 520g on it's own, and is about one stop slower (aka darker, less light hits the sensor). But the sensor in the R1 is much bigger than the 4/3" in the Panasonic camera which will require a much larger lense. The current lens technology doesn't seem able to construct such a lense... if it is supposed to be portable. Just think about the ZEISS Apo Sonnar T* 4/1700, which weights 256 kg.

In short, technically a higher resolution (e.g. 12Mp) and a bigger LCD is doable. But an even better lens with more zoom? No way.
From a business point of view? Given the falling prices for entry level DSLRs, there is hardly any profit for Sony in constructing a R2, which would rival it's their DSLR series. Therefore going just by the camera name the Sony R1 is a dead end. Personally i see the Sony DSLR A100 and A700, with their integrated body shake reduction system, as the follow up models of the R1.

Christian