With more and more apps being released for the Xperia X1, it’s hard to know what’s worth having and what’s not. While we can’t provide you with a list of apps to stay away from, not yet anyway, Pass the Word have complied a list of the ten must have Xperia X1 applications. The list isn’t exhaustive but does name some top apps, which fills some of the gaps in the key missing elements of the Xperia.

1. Blackstone Keyboard: The Xperia has a slideout keyboard but the touchscreen (Proprietary) Windows Mobile Keyboard is useless without the stylus. I would recommend the Blackstone Keyboard that you can find on the newer HTC devices like the Diamond for easy typing on your screen
2. Clear Temp: A light and invaluable  freeware developed by Vicott Wong that allows you to keep cleaning your device memory of Temp and other files that occupy precious storage space.
3. Custom ROMs: A lot of exciting work keeps getting showcased at the XDA Developer Forum. If you are brave enough to flash your ROM and install an all new ROM head straight to the XDA and choose from a host of options for your Xperia. Look for Custom ROMs developed by senior forum members like itje, gtrab and Kid_DC. You can choose from WM 6.5 previews and Touchflo 3D. You can upgrade to these ROMs at your own risk but most of the ROMs I have tried are extremely stable and actually improve the device performance. These ROMs probably dont belong in a list of apps but are on my 10 because of the all new ‘Xperiance’ factor!
4. Snaptu: Is a Java app that runs on all mobiles that support Java. It is a great app that brings together a lot of must have applications like Twitter, Picasa, Facebook and a Cricinfo widget (Live Scores etc).
5. Xperia Tweak: Handy app developed by Clifford that lets you make small yet useful tweaks like changing the default browser or disabling thread-style messaging.
6. SPB Mobile Shell 3: A huge improvement on the custom WM6.1 interface from SPB, one of the most innovative Win Mo app developers. Costs USD 29.95 (Read review) and has a host of great visual elements
7. Youtube: Now possible on your Win Mo device thanks to a host of innovative Youtube apps. There is a free Youtube Google app and then there is this brilliant app which you can find on XDA
8. Soft Reset: The Xperia’s Soft Reset Button is located rather inconveniently under the back cover. PHM reset is a simple app that allows you to soft-reset without any fuss.
9. SPB Insight: A good RSS reader is a great enhancement; At USD 19.95 SPB Insight is easily the best WM RSS reader I have used. You can also opt for Viigo which is probably the best RSS reader freeware.
10. Palringo: A great freeware that integrates all your chat clients and brings them together on a single app.

Over at the Unofficial Sony Ericsson blog, Michell has tried out the YouTube panel for Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X1. A mini guide on how to use it and what’s needed has been provided.

Not only is the YouTube panel required but also the YouTube application which was originally made for HTC’s Touch HD. The application needs to be installed first, followed by the panel. There have been instances of the panel not working and so the installation file needs to be run. The process also isn’t as simple on non English X1s, but there is a solution available which you can view here.

Once the panel is activated, it will load the YouTube application, which presents you with 25 popular videos, displayed as a list with a thumbnail and link to the video. Scrolling of the list can be operated by using the touch screen and more popular videos can be shown by expanding the list. What videos are shown when you load it up can be changed via a setting. The application has four buttons located at the bottom allowing access to your watched videos history, bookmarked videos, search and an overview of the video list presented when launched. Another button is located at the top of the screen, giving you a program guide, which lets you keep track of your subscribed channels. While watching videos you can bring up an onscreen player menu, allowing you to rewind, fast forward, stop, etc, by tapping the screen.

Michell states that he uses the YouTube panel on his Xperia X1 quite a lot and is quite impressed with it. It’s described as being easy to use, with the ability to change the video quality and makes best use out of the screen resolution of the X1. One downside however is that it can use quite a lot of data so it’s recommended for use on contracts with unlimited data usage or while connected to a WLAN network.

Over at Mobile Tech Addicts, Russ has found that FlashLite works within the Opera browser on the Xperia X1.

FlashLite allows you to play flash content, such as games and YouTube videos directly from the Opera browser.  Russ reports that flash games seem to work fine. He found YouTube to be slighly laggy though. Hopefully future versions of FlashLite will fix this issue.

You can download FlashLite from Modaco, along with other great software for the X1.