Sony Ericsson unveiled its first Android phone, and said the device will be the flagship for a family of phones that the struggling handset maker will release in the first half of next year. The device, called the Xperia X10, features a new user interface called UX, which was previously known by the codename "Rachael." The user interface appears to build on many of the advances HTC and Motorola have made with their own custom Android user interfaces. 
With the release of the X10, Sony Ericsson becomes the third handset maker of the world's top five OEMs to release a phone based on Google's Android operating system. The phone runs Android 1.6.
Sony Ericsson's UX user interface features two signature applications: Timescape and Mediascape. Timescape allows users to browse all of their communications with a contact--via photos, emails, texts, Facebook and Twitter--in one view. Mediscape allows users to manage all kinds of content, from their phones, YouTube or Sony Ericsson's PlayNow media portal. Additionally, both of these features can automatically recognize connections among contacts, content and media, Sony Ericsson said. The phone also has an "infinite button," which the company said allows users to see all of their connections with a contact. Further, face recognition software can recognize up to five faces in a picture, and then automatically connects them with the user's social phonebook and all other related communications.
The device runs on a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, has an 8.1-megapixel camera, a 4-inch WVGA touchscreen, WiFi, GPS, 3.5 mm headset jack and comes with an 8 GB microSD card. Sony Ericsson said the Xperia X10 would be available in select markets in the first quarter, but did not specify which markets. The company also did not reveal pricing information.
For more:
- see this release
- see these pictures and specs
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