Rumor Mill: Is Sony Ericsson planning an Android launch next week?

Sony Ericsson is planning a product launch event Nov. 3, and speculation is mounting that the company will reveal its first phone based on Google's Android platform. The phone, which has been rumored for months, has variously been called the Xperia 10 or X3, and is believed to be running a new user interface from Sony Ericsson, called Rachael. The user interface is thought to be similar to HTC's Sense UI.

[1]A teaser Sony Ericsson website reads: "We're looking forward to November 3rd. We think you should be too."

Sony Ericsson has said that it will launch its first Android phone on Android 2.0. Interestingly, Verizon Wireless is set to announce the Motorola Droid tomorrow, which will run on Android 2.0. Google has not officially announced Android 2.0, but is expected to do so soon.

Recently, Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg said that the company would be expanding its smartphone portfolio, which has led to speculation about how many platforms the company can support (Sony Ericsson has offered Windows Mobile and Symbian phones, as well as those running its proprietary OS).

A Sony Ericsson spokesman declined to comment.

For more:
- see this Sony Ericsson teaser page [1]
- see this Engadget post [2]
- see this Slashgear post [3]
- see this Gearlog post [4]

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Sony Ericsson working on Android 2.0 phones [6]
Sony Ericsson reports $245M loss, but gets new financing [7]
Sony Ericsson taps Nordberg as new chief [8]