Sony's website is slowly ticking down the hours, minutes and seconds until the company's latest product launch, but like all other
Sony teasers in recent memory, there's little real doubt. If references to "X10" peppered through the site's source code left any doubt,
this picture should clear it up -- mark our words, that's an
Xperia X10 underneath the clock. Apparently the four-inch Android smartphone is finally ready for its US debut, though whether it's "smarter" or no will probably depend on
which version of the OS it ships with. Expect an
AT&T launch, and be sure to read
our full review.
Update: As numerous commenters and tipsters have pointed out, Sony hasn't gone to much trouble to hide what's going on -- all you need to do to see the trademark Xperia logo is drop that image into a photo editor and crank up the brightness.
[Thanks, Jason]
posted August 8th 2010 3:03PM
Aw, I was hoping for the next PSP or the PS3 ultra-slim.
@Aguiluz Another slim? I would rather see a PS4
@Aguiluz I love how Sony thinks this is exciting.
They need to create some awesome stuff and get their act together. There's no reason they should take so long to make and release these average phones. This is such old news to anyone who would care and HTC and Moto's offerings have made most lose their interest, I'm sure. The Evo 4G, Incredible, Droid X and Droid 2 have leaked and been released before this thing and this was revealed months and months ago.
Come on Sony.
@Aguiluz
I'd hope for a newer PSP too, but this is Sony... Playstation would be running this if a new PSP was the case.
Plus that's the side of the Xperia anyway.
@Aguiluz
I'd say that the new version of Android is coming out for it or something, themed like it has been though...
@APV
Specially, that's the side profile of my X10i. The only thing exciting about this, is which version of Android is it going to come with. If it is 2.1 or 2.2, the update for Asia and Europe will follow soon, if not on the very same day.
If it is the 1.6.... sigh... SE did it again, crashing its own party.
Honestly, they need to hire better marketers.
@Aguiluz I was hoping for Fatboy Ultra-Slim.
@darkmax
But if it's "smarter" than it most probably comes with a later version of Android.
@Aguiluz
As if anyone needed furthur proof but:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27899383@N03/4873111874/
@Simnol
Yeah, looks like X10.
@darkmax
Sony Ericsson support have stated that 2.1 will be hitting the X10 and X10 mini this month and 2.2 is expected "early next year"
Confirmed improvements for 2.1 include:
HD Video recording as per the Vivaz
UI Improvements
Still taking them way too long though
@MoonWalkerCTE
Why? The PS3 has only been hitting it's stride the last two years. The console has a long life ahead of it and upgrading to the PS4 now would only aggravate consumers.
@supermonkey1890
2.2 early NEXT year??? LOL! Sony has failed once again. By early next year people will be excited about Gingerbread. You'd think they would be busting their arse to get 2.2 THIS year. Oh well. Looks like people were right about Sony and their updates.
@darkmax and developers!
@JONNNathannn
Well is it not as exciting as a new iPhone?
It properly even a better phone than the iPhone (most phones are, but still)
talk about late to the game, Snapdragon is become mainstream, especially with it's underpowered Adreno. A4, Hummingbird, OMAP35xx, or bust
@Plazmic Flame
I'm always excited about gingerbread.
@supermonkey1890 : This month for the x10 mini? really? last I heard it was reported as Q4.
I just got an x10 mini pro; so far it's a great phone (finally, a smartphone at a smart size), but running an antique android version is a bit annoying.
(The other annoying thing; it doesn't seem to be possible to 'copy' plain text from the browser - you can copy addresses and stuff, but not just arbitrary text. But I don't know if a 2.1 upgrade will fix that, because it ought to work in stock 1.6 as well...)
@JONNNathannn
You're very right...however, I'm actually someone who has been waiting for this for a while and have had the option to upgrade but no release news from either AT&T or SE, so this is finally something.
That being said, I do agree with you that Sony missed an opportunity taking this long while other, probably superior, phones have been released...if they want to gain some attention, release this phone with Android 2.2; although, everything I read and hear is that is very unlikely...sigh
@Plazmic Flame
At least they are updating!
There are many Android phone's that updates aren't supported with. Makes me wonder why people even like Android... Sure it's "open source*, and awesome if you are a hacker or some crap..." but it's not controlled, and has bipolar device support... etc...
Sony has to modify EVERY firmware milestone with their special UI... Which I have to say is very nice and worth waiting for. And Sony has great quality control, because I have never encountered a bug on my PSP. Yes it's five-year-old software, but it's perfected. Exactly what Sony does.
@APV
(Only open source if it's not locked by the manufacturer/carrier...)*
The picture looks a lot like the screen is showing this http://onlygizmos.com/content/2009/07/sony-android-ui.jpg
@Sony
Please make it a clone of the Galaxy S but with more style and remember to include an LED-Flash!!!!
@supermonkey1890
Aye. SE is taking their own sweet time, on their own road to perdition if they don't wake up.
At least before they become history, throw the Ericsson brand back out.
I miss my Ericssons.... tough as a pocket brick (as heavy too), good for throwing out the window of a moving car and smashing the windscreen of an oncoming one. But that's not all, you can probably pick it back up and still be able to make and receive calls.... those were the bygone days.
@Kangal samsung makes galaxy s
@Plazmic Flame You can't really criticize Sony for taking their time when the majority of the market is doing exactly that. "Early next year", or very late this year, is probably when most Android device owners can expect Froyo to roll out to their phone, officially. I mean, we're already well into the latter half of this year, and only two third-party phones have officially received the update to Android 2.2.
Everyone else is "late September," "late summer," "second half of the year," "Q3 2010," etc. Not to mention the array of phones that will (probably) never see it: Hero, Behold, Moment, Milestone, Backflip, Eris, Devour.
Regarding Gingerbread, please be realistic. With a late Q4 rollout, very few people will see Android 3.0 on their devices prior to May-June 2011.
Does the reflection underneath the product look like Sony's custom Android UI to anyone else?
@Professor Hubert J Farnsworth Now that you say, its surely that crap, why they cant give the stock UI away?
@arash
if this was running 2.2, it'd be super AWESOME. but it'll be 2.1 at most, and most likely 1.6
@Professor Hubert J Farnsworth: That's probably why Engadget is sure it's the X10. If this launches with a non-Froyo based version, it would be a joke.
@Professor Hubert J Farnsworth Yeah it does! New smartphone coming from sony :)
@Professor Hubert J Farnsworth It looks like a reflection of the timescape app.
@kidphat
I don't think it would sell without 2.2, since we are all getting "updated" these days.
Sent from my MotoDroid (STILL 2.1 *sigh*)
@Professor Hubert J Farnsworth Good news, everyone!
@Professor Hubert J Farnsworth
Good eye, it's definitely the X10 UI..... don't know what the heck this is though... if it's another phone, I'm sure X10 owners will be pissed since they're still on 1.6, last time I checked.
If it is a phone, it better launch with 2.2 because Sony has failed yet again to show that it can't release updates in a timely fashion...
@Professor Hubert J Farnsworth
It's PSP with Android!
lol ... I wish.
What carrier will this be for?
@elex360 AT&T
@elex360
If Sonystyle sells it, it's probably unlocked.
@soujisama AT&T is like Uwe Boll, they all know it's bad, yet for some reason, they just keep going to it.
@jubjub bad, but is it the worst carrier out there?
I was hoping for an Xperia tablet.
@opc100
that would be soooo yummy
@opc100
I want an Xperia Android 2.2 phone with PSP integration, access to PSN and just for good measure Walkman as the media player.
Basically, I want what MSFT is trying to do with WP7 but from Sony with Android.
If it still has Android 1.6 & no multitouch then this is a fail.
@Newwales Sony already said the hardware is incapable of multi touch! I don't they'd care to change that.
@Newwales Its August 2010 if they have not changed the display to have multitouch then Sony deserve to fail & lose money.
@Newwales: This is DOA if it's not (at least) Android 2.1 with multitouch.
@Newwales
Let's hope they took a cue from Dell and updated the Android on this thing to at least 2.1.
I thought it was quite old. We already had it like 5 months ago