We’ve seen Sony Ericsson use Facebook to promote competitions before. We’ve already seen several competitions from them where the prize was the Xperia X10 Android powered smartphone. Now the company are starting a new competition, named Winning Wednesdays. It appears this won’t replace their weekly competition, as the current competition tab has a Sony Ericsson Vivaz up for grabs.

Winning Wednesdays will, as the name suggests lets you win prizes on Wednesdays. To kickstart the program, Sony Ericsson have five Xperia X10 handsets to give away. Like the other competitions, you will need to enter some details and answer a question. This also falls in line with how the previous competition questions are presented. You’re asked one question and you have a choice of three answers. The question this week, instead of asking about a phone feature, is a spot the difference puzzle. There’s only one difference in the picture, so it should be pretty easy to answer the question correctly. Head over to the Sony Ericsson Winning Wednesdays tab here.

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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 When the Android powered handset was released in Europe the phone came with an already outdated Android version, Google Android 1.6, when most other devices had 2.1.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.

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.

A week ago saw the release of Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10 being released in the US. Since the product page went live, when describing the screen, not only did it give the screen size of the device but, also listed it as being a multi touch screen. We’ve previously posted about various people saying it had multi touch and others saying it didn’t until the Sony Ericsson blog officially stated it didn’t.

With the Sony Style page listing it as being multi touch, a lot of people started questioning whether the X10 did actually have multi touch, or if just the US model had multi touch and whether, this was a genuine error on Sony’s part, of if they were misleading customers. After a week of being on sale, the page has finally been adjusted and no longer lists multi touch. Quite a few blogs on the internet sent emails to them regarding the wording on the specs. We don’t know if any received a reply but, Sony obviously took notice.

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Once again, another clone has come out of China. This time in the form of the “X10 Pro”. As you can imagine from it’s name, it’s style will resemble the Xperia X10, as well as the X10 Mini Pro, cutting out the Mini part.

The X10 Pro looks like the Xperia X10 from the front and the back. On the back, it sports a logo similar to the one Sony Ericsson use. The Xperia logo (or AT&T in America’s case) has been omitted from the back cover. Instead it’s replaced with the words “Portable Media Player”. Size wise, it’s more like the Xperia X8, as it features a 3.2 inch display, which is smaller than the real X10, which boasts a 4 inch display. The X10 Pro also features, along with the slide out QWERTY keyboard, a dual sim slot. While the layout may look like Android, it actually isn’t and is a proprietary OS, which has been made to look like Android. For those interested, the handset retails for $118.01 with free shipping from DealExtreme.

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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.

Over at Mobile Cruch, the guys have got their hands on Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10, which has finally been released in the US. What better way to celebrate this than by providing unboxing photos. As you can see from the gallery below, the boxing for the X10 on AT&T is different to elsewhere in the world. For example, in the UK the box looks more like that of an iPhone, rather than a square box. Also the Xperia logo on the back next to Sony Ericsson has been replaced with AT&T. If this bothers you, you can easily cover this with one of the many cases available for the X10.

The rest of the contents of the box look pretty much the same. It isn’t known whether the AT&T model comes with a screen protector on the screen already however. UK models have been found to have one on the screen already, while other markets have one on the screen and in the box. One other thing to note, with the AT&T branded model, the ability to install third party apps has, unfortunately been disabled. Meaning you’re limited to apps from the Android Market. This also limits the amount of keyboard mods you can install as not all are available through the marketplace.

Click the read more link to view the rest of the unboxing photos. Read the rest of this entry »

Sony Ericsson’s first Android powered handset, the Xperia X10 has finally been released in America, after months of it being out in Europe, Canada and elsewhere around the world. Unfortunately, Sony Ericsson haven’t updated the Android firmware on it yet, so it’ll be interesting to see how many consumers actually purchase the handset.

If Android 1.6, with 2.1 promised for late Q3 doesn’t put you off, here’s the details of where you can get the X10 and for how much. Firstly the handset is available on AT&T, so naturally you can purchase it directly from AT&T. The handset will cost you $149.99 up front, along with tying into a 2 year contract. It appears that you will also need to pay an activation fee for the handset. For $349.99 you can purchase the handset without taking a contract out.

Alternatively, you can grab the Xperia X10 from Sony themselves at Sony Style. On the Sony Style website, there is a $70 rebate, making the handset available for $129.99 up front. A better deal than with AT&T direct. This will also tie you into a two year contract with AT&T. The $70 instant rebate is valid until September 19th. Along with grabbing the handset for a lower price, Sony Style are also offering free activation, for both existing and new customers. This offer ends 31st August. If that wasn’t enough to make you place your order for the X10 with Sony Style, they are also throwing in an 8GB microSD card for free. This normally retails for $45. There is also free shipping.

After much waiting and much complaining, O2 have now released the Xperia X10’s latest firmware update. The update can only be done via PC, by either using the Sony Ericsson Update Service or PC Companion. The download is 153.8MB.

The update will take O2 branded X10 owners straight from R2BA016 to R2BA026, missing out R2BA020 which many users assumed would be the one released. While some users will be happy with the choice, many others will wish O2 had stuck with the R2BA020 update. The R2BA020 build is said to be the only version which doesn’t seem to have the WiFi bug present. Unfortunately, R2BA026 brings this bug back. O2 users shouldn’t notice any difference though, as R2BA016 is also said to have this WiFi issue.

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The reservation page for the Xperia X10 has gone live on the Sony Style website. Through the reservation page, you can order the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 on AT&T. While going directly through AT&T, the handset will cost you $149.99. However if you place an order through the Sony Style website, the handset is $20 cheaper at $129.99. This will tie you into a two year contract. The Xperia X10 will be released tomorrow in the US.

Unfortunately, the handset will come with Android 1.6, the same version of Android as the X10 was launched with in other countries around the world. Sony Ericsson have however said, they are working on a late Q3 release for Google Android 2.1, so hopefully we should see the update within the next six weeks. Until then, you can play around with the phone and see why Sony Ericsson are customizing the OS to include the Sony Ericsson UI, which brings in the unique TimeScape and MediaScape applications.

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