As well as the announcement of two new handsets, the Xperia Mini and Mini Pro, Sony Ericsson have also announced a new feature called “Facebook inside Xperia”. Facebook inside Xperia will be on the Xperia Mini and Mini Pro at launch, while other 2011 Xperia models will receive an update to include this new feature. It doesn’t look like the 2010 models will be receiveing Facebook inside Xperia though.

Facebook inside Xperia provides a deeper intergration on your phone with Facebook. With one single login, you can then use this for the Facebook app and Timescape and any other apps that require a Facebook login, as opposed to the current system, where you need to login to Timescape and Facebook app individually. If you sync your contacts, there will now be more info that you can access about your contacts, such as photos, likes and status. You can also sync your calander with Facebook so you can see upcoming birthdays and events.

Other new stuff includes being able to see your Facebook photos in your phones gallery. While listening to music you will be able to “Like” it, which will post it on your wall. Or if you’re stuck for ideas on what to listen to or watch, the Media Discovery widget shows you what your friends have recommended from Youtube, Spotify etc.

While the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is already considered official now, it seems Sony Ericsson will still be holding an official announcement for the gaming handset. Sony Ericsson have dated and provided a time for when they will officially announce the Xperia Play and that day is today, well depending on your time zone anyway. Check the times below to see what time the announcement will start in your time zone:

USA: Sunday 13th February 10:00PST, 13:00EST

UK: Sunday 13th February 18:00GMT

Europe: Sunday 13th February 19:00CET

India: Sunday 13th February 23:30IST

Japan: Monday 14th February 03:00JST

Sydney: Monday 14th February 05:00EDT

So are you ready to play? If so, head on over to the Sony Ericsson Facebook page, click on the “Next Level” link and join the event.

It may be Wednesday but, there doesn’t appear to be a Winning Wednesdays competition from Sony Ericsson this week. Hope is not lost though as they have another competition open. This time it’s for an Xperia X10 Mini. As before the competition is held through Facebook, although not sponsored or endorsed by Facebook. As always you’ll need to enter some personal info so they can contact you if you win. You’ll also need to answer one question, which isn’t as simple or as easy as previous competitions. Although if you’re really stuck, they suggest visiting the WTA page for the answer. You may have to sift through some posts to find the answer though.

This time the question is asking for who won the women’s tennis singles final, at the US Open in 2010. Even if you don’t know, you have a choice of three answers: Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters or Maria Sharapova, as well as the above tip to help you choose the right answer. You have until October 11th to enter.

Sony Ericsson Spain recently reported through their Facebook fan page that the Android 2.1 update would be coming to the Xperia X10 in Week 38. As it’s something that many X10 owners have been wanting to hear, we posted it here shortly after it was published. The post on the Facebook Fan Page is no longer available now though. A look through other posts since then, also doesn’t show anything that could have been posted instead of the original post.

Why the post has been deleted we don’t know. Hopefully this won’t put the release back any more though. Sony Ericsson UK also tweeted about the Android update, which hasn’t been deleted. Hopefully this is just an oversight on Sony Ericsson’s part and not a hint that the release may be delayed.

Last week saw the start of Sony Ericsson’s new “Winning Wednesdays”. This is a weekly competition from Sony Ericsson, carried out on Wednesdays, like the name suggests. Last time the prize was an Xperia X10, something we’ve seen Sony Ericsson offer before.

This week the prize is for a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini. The competition style is the same as before. Spot the difference in the pictures and choose from a selection of three answers. As always, you’ll need to provide some basic information to enter the competition and agree to the terms and conditions of the competition.

The Sony Ericsson Facebook page also has the regular weekly competition, which ends on the 13th of September. This time it’s for an Xperia X10 in Luster White. If white isn’t your color though, it’s very likely that there will be a competition for the black model in a couple of weeks time.

It seems like a while since we had Xperia X2 news to share however, apps developer Brosvision have just posted up their new social panel that has been built specifically for the Sony Ericsson Xperia X2.

Featuring custom launch icons, status updates, auto feed refresh and 3 colour schemes, the SocialLive panel brings Facebook feeds including videos and photos direct to your X2 handset’s homescreen and is available as a free download from the Brosvision site.

Video of SocialLive in action:

Sony Ericsson are offering users from around the world a chance to win the Android powered Xperia X10 in Sensuous Black. The competition ends today but, they may hold another competition soon as it appears they previously held the same competition a couple of weeks ago. To enter the competition you must have a Facebook account and “Like” the Sony Ericsson page. From there they have a tab which takes you to a Sony Ericsson Competition App to enter. All you need to do to enter, is share your first and last name, along with your country of residence. You also need to answer one simple question; Which Xperia X10 feature brings all your music and videos together? To make it even easier, there’s a choice of three options, TimeScape, MediaScape or Face Detection. If you’re one of the lucky winners, Sony Ericsson will send you a message through Facebook with further details on how to claim the handset.

The competition and information is not associated with Facebook.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications International AB and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used for this Sony Ericsson Competition.

For avid Facebooker’s, here’s some good news from Microsoft. Version 1.2 of Facebook for Windows Mobile has been updated. There are two new main features, which most would agree are long overdue. You can now like a post as well as add to the comments. The Facebook app can be updated from the Marketplace. Also if your marketplace app has been updated within the last week, you now have the choice to install the Facebook app to your memory card instead of the inbuilt phone memory. Currently, it’s only available from the US marketplace but, other regions should see the update soon.

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If you haven’t tried the Facebook Panel for the Xperia X1 yet, PhonesReview have posted up a video demonstration of the Facebook Panel.

The video starts right at the beginning with selecting the panel and launching it. The Facebook panel will log you in automatically to your account from there the “bubble bump” screen will appear. The bubble bump display shows yourself and your friends in bubbles, which can be selected. If you select a friend, the panel allows you to send them a message. You can also keep track of who’s updated their profiles lately with the color coded bubbles. A green bubble means that your friend has been active, while a white bubble means they haven’t got any updates.

The video also shows the panel in both portrait mode and landscape mode. You can view the video after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Facebook which has both an iPhone and BlackBerry applications is now moving to another mobile phone using another mobile phone platform. Yes, the latest Facebook conquest is none other than our much anticipated mobile phone Xperia X1 which now have a Facebook panel of its own.

Gigaom is reporting about it, although no official words are available yet from the Facebook blog but the Facebook panel is now available at the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 Developer site.

It will really be interesting to see Xperia X1 owners right now who will install this app and find out how it compares with the iPhone and Blackberry Facebook apps. Would it be as robust and fast loading as the iPhone Facebook app? Hopefully, I get to test this panel when I get my Xperia X1 soon.

Of course, having Facebook as a panel would not really create a big interest among mobile phone users, enough to convince them to get the Xperia X1 despite its high price.