The last time we saw anything of the Xperia X8, previously known as Shakira, it was on the FCC website, which showed several photos of both the inside and outside of the phone, as well as having the manual on hand to download. We now know, thanks to Engadget, that the handset is due to be released in the US soon. Despite the Xperia X10 being updated to Android 2.1 this month, the Xperia X8 will still come with Android 1.6, which is currently the Android OS version for the X10, X10 Mini and Mini Pro. A Sony Ericsson rep has however said that they will be updating the X8 to Android 2.1 as well and this should happen some time in Q4.

Engadget managed to get a hands on with the handset. While it’s smaller than the X10, Engadget found the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 to be rather chunky. The X8 on display came in white but, will be available in other colors, with interchangeable covers when it’s released. While there isn’t a specific time line, we do know it will be soon and that it will cost less than $300 on launch for an unlocked model.

The very lucky girls over at Chip Chick have got their hands on the recently announced Xperia X10 from Sony Ericsson. For those who missed the news, the Xperia X10 is in fact what was dubbed the X3, codename Rachael. The handset is due to be released February 10th, making the girls even luckier.

The handset is the first Android phone from the company and appears to have the best UI compared to other released or announced Android handsets. Enhancements have been made for multimedia by using MediaScape interface instead of Android’s built in media player., which is sure to make use of it’s 4 inch display. Display resolution is an impressive 800 x 480.

Other changes over the Android interface, include the Nexus interface, which includes MediaScape and TimeScape, which can be set as the homescreen integrating various social sections, such as Facebook, contacts, emails, Twitter etc as floating stacks. Other changes and customizations include a Nexus widget and a built in blue theme. Hopefully when the handset is released though, we’ll see more themes to go with it.