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.
After a tremendous amount of waiting, X10 owners will finally receive an updated Android OS. When the Android powered handset was released in Europe the phone came with an already outdated Android version, Google Android 1.6, when most other devices had 2.1. Eventually the Xperia X10 was released in America but, still came with the same version of Android. Now users can rejoice as Sony Ericsson prepare to launch Android 2.1 for the X10, X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro.
The actual release date and week will vary for various regions but, according to Sony Ericsson Spain, the update is due to be released in the week 38. This brings us to the 20th to the 26th September. Sony Ericsson UK have also confirmed that the update is due to be released before the end of September, presumably the same week as Spain. One reader from the Xperia X10 blog commented that Sony Ericsson Brazil had also given a guideline for the Android 2.1 release. Unfortunately this is slightly later and is slated for a week 43/44 release. Now all we need is for Sony Ericsson to reveal information regarding the release of Android 2.2 on their handsets.
The next handset to be released in the Xperia range has hit the FCC, which hopefully means we should see a US release soon. On the FCC website, users can view photos of the upcoming Sony Ericsson handset of both the outside and inside. As well as the photos of the Xperia X8, you will also find the user manual for the X8 posted which can be downloaded for viewing.
There’s no new surprises with the handset itself however. The specs remain the same as what we had previously heard. The Sony Ericsson X8 features a 3 inch display, making it in essence a middle sized X10. However the camera is downgraded from both the X10 and X10 Mini and will feature a 3.2 megapixel camera but, this is Sony Ericsson so the camera should still be pretty decent. Unfortunately, it seems that the handset will also ship with Android 1.6 instead of 2.1 which Sony Ericsson have promised will be available for the X10 in late Q3.
Justin Timberlake is a known Sony spokesperson but, he’s also a known BlackBerry user. Recent photos and Twitter updates suggest he’s now ditched BlackBerry for Android. A recent Tweet from the celebrity, said it had come in via Twitter for Android. This left Engadget hunting for photos of the celebrity in possession of an Android phone.
What they dug up, is a photo of Justin Timberlake carrying an Xperia X10, from Sony Ericsson. However, this also led to rumours that Timberlake could have an X10 running Android 2.1 or even 2.2. The Tweet was sent through the Twitter Android application, which is only available on Android handsets running 2.1 or above, which the X10 doesn’t have yet, for consumers anyway. Could Justin Timberlake been have given the celebrity treatment for his handset? While that is possible, it’s more likely that he has more than one handset, or someone manages his Twitter account, which are both more likely possibilities.
The multi touch feature on the Xperia X10, or lack there of has been extensively discussed across the web, from blogs to forums. For a while there was a lot of confusion as to whether Sony Ericsson’s first Android handset, the Xperia X10, featured the multi touch function, which is present in the majority of competing handsets. Sony Ericsson finally confirmed that the Xperia X10, would not get the multi touch feature in a future software, whether an Android update, or a Sony Ericsson update for the phone, as the handset does not have the capable hardware to support multi touch.
In light of this, it seems that Sony US is misleading customers purchasing the Xperia X10. For many, the lack of multi touch has been a major let down and has also put off potential buyers, from purchasing the handset and have took their business to another phone manufacturer. Upon the Sony Style website, in the description of the X10, there’s a section for various features of the handset. In the section where the 4 inch touch screen is being praised, it lists the Xperia X10 has having a 4 inch multi touch screen.
XperiaX10.net have been watching the page since it went live last week and as of yet, the error has not been corrected. They have also contacted Sony but, have received no response yet. Based on what we’ve heard before, it seems likely that this is a typing error on Sony’s part but, it’s sure to leave many owners and potential owners, whether the Xperia X10 will in fact get multi touch, despite previous claims. We’ll keep you updated on whether Sony correct this error or provide an explanation.
We’ve seen it before and no doubt, we’ll see it again, which isn’t a bad thing. Previously Sony Ericsson held a competition through Facebook where users could win an Xperia X10 in black. They then switched to a Vivaz competition and once that finished, they opened another Xperia X10 competition. That time, the winner had the choice of what color handset they got. The page recently showed the latest winner, Hanni Hoffmann from Germany who chose the black X10. During that time, Sony Ericsson also had another competition for the Symbian powered Sony Ericsson Vivaz. That has now finished and once again, Sony Ericsson have posted up another Xperia X10 competition.
This time around, the handset comes in Luster White. Again you need to provide your name and email address, along with your country of residency. The question has also changed once again. This time the question is, “Which application integrates with Timescape™?”. As before, you have a choice of three answers, TimeScape, Alarm Clock or Google Maps. You can enter the competition here.
Sony are once again teasing us with a count down timer for something smart, under the tag line of “Smarter is coming”. The count down timer currently stands at just over 24 hours, at which point we’ll find out what the latest product really is.
Our money’s on the Xperia X10 though. The picture underneath the timer significantly resembles the shape and style of the Android powered handset. We know that the handset will be headed to AT&T sometime in the next few weeks, so it’s very likely it could appear on the SonyStyle website first as an unlocked model. We’ll keep you posted on what the website actually reveals once the timer has run down.
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.
If you didnt get a chance to enter the last competition or were unlucky, Sony Ericsson have another competition where you can win the Android powered Xperia handset. Again the competition is done through Facebook but, not as part of Facebook and you will need to enter a question along with your name and country of residence. The question’s changed this time from asking about the media side of the phone, to the camera side. This question requires you to answer how many faces can the Face Detection feature on the Xperia X10 can recognise at a time. The choices are 5, 8 or 10. This time around, the winners will also get a choice of what color handset, where as previously it was only the black model up for grabs. The competition ends on August 2nd and hopefully the winners should be announced shortly after. However we are still waiting for the previous winners to be announced.
Various readers have tried contacting O2 themselves about the update from Sony Ericsson. With Three finally releasing the update, this has put O2 UK as the last network to support the Sony Ericssons update which improves battery life and there still isn’t an timescale for how long users will have to wait. While looking to see if O2 customers had been made happy yet, I of course found they haven’t, well the UK ones haven’t anyway. Upon further inspection of the situation, it seems that both O2 Ireland and O2 Germany have approved and released the update for the phone, making the wait for O2 UK users seem even more ridiculous. One O2 user send the company a message via Twitter. Unfortunately, all they could say on the matter is that “a new software version will be appearing very soon on the SE site”. To confirm they were on the same wavelength, the user sent a reply asking them to confirm this was the Sony Ericsson update they were talking about and not the Android update. Unfortunately, they haven’t responded to that yet.
I’ve also tried contacting them and have just had a response back, saying it’ll be another week or two and again, to keep an eye on the Sony Ericsson site.
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