Sony Ericsson goes Android with Xperia X10
Sony Ericsson has announced its first Android smartphone, the Xperia X10.
Previous handsets in the Xperia line were based on Windows Mobile. However, the X10 runs Google's open-source mobile operating system, with a Sony Ericsson-specific user interface that emphasises the phone's entertainment capabilities.
The X10 is not without its enterprise user appeal, though, as it has support for Microsoft's Exchange email server. This support is generally present in Android handsets that are not Google-branded.
One of the key user interface enhancements that Sony Ericsson has built on top of Android is Timescape, which allows a user to view all their conversations with a contact — Facebook, Twitter, emails and texts — in one view.
The approach to contact management is similar to that implemented by rival Android phone-makers, such as Motorola and HTC.
In the same way that Timescape aggregates conversations, Sony Ericsson's Mediascape application can pull music, videos and photos from the handset, fromYouTube and from the handset-maker's PlayNow store.
The X10 has a four-inch touchscreen with a WVGA resolution of 480 x 854 pixels.
It has an eight-megapixel camera with a light, rather than a flash, to aid photography and video-shooting in dark situations.
Sony Ericsson's first Android phone weighs 135 grams and measures 119 x 63 x 13mm. Inbuilt connectivity options include assisted GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
The X10 will go on sale in the first quarter of next year, in black and white.