Sony Ericsson Launches Xperia X10 Android Smartphone

Sony Ericsson has joined the growing number of handset makers offering an Android-based smartphone after it launched the Xperia X10, which it says will be the ‘flagship handset’ of its 2010 range.

The Xperia X10 seems to be firmly targetted at those users looking for a more social experience and reinforces Sony Ericsson’s entertainment focus with its handsets. For example it can actually group conversations by person, regardless of whether you’ve contacted them by email or SMS, or even Facebook.

It also includes a music player, as well as a 8.1-megapixel camera (with a flash and smile detection). Its 480- by 854-pixel screen has a touch-screen interface.

With the Xperia X10, Sony Ericsson is touting a platform called UX that it has built on top of Android. The company says that UX creates a unique a way for users to interact with media and communications, particularly through applications called Timescape and Mediascape.

Timescape manages all of the user’s communications with a friend in one place, by combining emails, photos, texts and even Facebook and Twitter information related to that person. Mediascape on the other hand, gathers together music, photos and videos from multiple sources and presents them in an easy-to-interact-with way.

Sony Ericsson describes Timescape and Mediascape as having integrated “intelligence capabilities,” which enables Mediascape, for example, to recognise up to five faces in a photo and associate that photo with other information relating to those friends.

“The XPERIA X10 is a fantastic example of our make.believe philosophy because we are pushing the boundaries of what is possible and demonstrating that anything consumers can imagine, we can make possible,” said Rikko Sakaguchi, EVP and Chief Creation Officer at Sony Ericsson in a statement.

“With the X10, we are raising the bar we have set ourselves with entertainment-rich phones like Aino and Satio by making communication more fun and playful, multiplying and enriching opportunities to connect,” he said.

The device itself measures 4.7 by 2.5 by 0.5 inches, weighs 4.8 ounces and is compatible with GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSPA 900/1700/2100 networks.

There are also the usual connectivity options including WiFi and Bluetooth, as well as A-GPS, , USB support and a full HTML browser. Email, Exchange Active Sync, SMS and MMS are supported.

The X10 comes with an 8GB microSD card which can be upgraded to 16GB, as well as 1GB of in-phone memory. It will be available in Luster White and Sensuous Black.

Pricing and more specific launch details, such as carrier partners, have yet to be announced, although it said X10 will be available sometime in Q1 2010.

The X10 has also managed to impress the analysts.