Yup, even though the specs page lists support for UMTS/HSPA 800/850/900/1700/1900/2100, Sony Ericsson is going to be localising the radios. From the source:

UMTS HSPA 800/850/1900 only available for phones sold in Americas (except Brazil) and Australia. UMTS HSPA 900/1700 not available for phones sold in Americas. UMTS HSPA 1900/2100 available worldwide.

So that means you’ll still be able to find an X10 that works on T-Mobile, just not in this country. You’ll still be able to import if you want to use your expensive handset with T-Mo’s cheap Even More Plus plans. But if you want to have that huge $US880 cost subsidised at all, looks like you’ll be going with AT&T. [Phandroid via Engadget]

No wonder they “desire to have a carrier relationship” to subsidise the price. Sony’s long had a tough time cracking the US market on its own and the X10 deserves better.

Bonus news: Remember how Sony Ericsson’s page said it would arrive this February? Well, it’s now gone back to “to be announced”. Don’t be too concerned if you’ve got your eye on one… it’s still slated to arrive by mid-next year. [New York Times]

Well, rather, I know that it’s definitely something about the phone itself. It’s missing that spark, the emotional drippings of OMG, that say, the Droid has. The X10 is perfectly fine. It’s just that everything outwardly belies the specialness of what’s going on inside. The all plastic-build feels just slightly better than cheap, the shape is kind of awkward unless you have gorilla hands, the design — it all just feels, well, incredibly ordinary.

What stood out in terms of hardware was the screen (at four inches, with a resolution of 854×480, it’s big), and the camera, which borders on amazing for a phone. The extra betaness of the software meant we couldn’t really get a grasp on how deadly the 1GHz Snapdragon processor is, since while things were quite speedy, the phones also froze a lot, apps crashed or wouldn’t start, etc.

Sony Ericsson’s approach to customising Android with its own Nexus interface is mercifully respectful of your boundaries. That is, if you don’t want to use their TimeScape or MediaScape UI for managing your contacts and media (though you probably want to in the latter case), you don’t have to — the default android contacts app is still there. The only thing you can’t escape is all the blue. If you take Windows Media Center and imagine it ported to a phone, that’s pretty much the Xperia X10. But with more “infinite buttons”.

MediaScape actually feels like Media Center, the way it arranges and presents your photos, music and videos. The concept behind TimeScape should be pretty familiar at this point. Everything from a contact, like Facebook, emails, Twitter, photos, text messages, calls, whatever are integrated into a single interface, so you can check their status updates or get a hold of them however you want. That infinite button is what coagulates all of the services into a cohesive contact.

For the most part, I think the Nexus interface works (even as crashy as it was today on these pre-production phones). It’s easy enough to navigate, it stands out against the other custom Android interfaces with lots of bright colours and transparencies and it’s not bad too look at. More than that, you only use it as much as you want. (Some people might want a more complete Android UI overhaul, and that Nexus doesn’t quite deliver.) I don’t see how Sony Ericsson is going to get developers to put out apps just for Nexus, though I’m not sure how much that matters. It’s an example of Android’s potential in the hands of phonemakers who actually know how to design interfaces.

Sony Ericsson’s always had trouble getting their smartphones to crack the US, since they haven’t had carriers footing the bill for phones to make them actually affordable. It seems like they’re trying to make that change with the X10, saying it’s “our desire to have a carrier relationship for this product.” So you might actually get to use one. It still doesn’t set my pants on fire like the Droid did, at least not yet, so I’m not sure how much you actually want to. But maybe it just needs more time.

Example: Sony Ericsson Timescape, the “signature” Nexus app, sounds a lot like HTC’s Sense in that it pulls in a bunch of services like Facebook and Twitter for your contacts, but it’s more straightforwardly organised around timelines, which you can break down by service, events or whatever. There’s also an infinite button. For infinite discoveries.

MediaScape looks uncannily like Windows Media Center, if you stuck it on a phone. It’s actually nice. The camera software is swanky, with facial recognition and tagging like a real Sony camera.

Apparently, it’s not going to be restricted to just smartphones, but could reach some of their more “mainstream” phones. How they’re going to get developers to develop apps for Nexus though, is another question entirely.

The Timescape social networking app and Mediascape multimedia manager finally look like something you might want to get your hands on in February. No price or carrier info has come out yet. And yeah, the super dramatic music at the start of the vid made me laugh, too. [HDBlog via SlashGear]

[Slashgear]

At the event, Sony Ericsson also said that the X10 is just the flagship in a new Android-powered range, and that the Rachael UI will also likely end up on its Symbian phones. Interrresting.

SlashGear points out what Engadget noticed, too: the software running on the pre-production handset shown overnight was sluggish because it’s not yet optimised for the Snagdragon processor. That will no doubt change by the time the phone ships early next year. [SlashGear, ElectricPig, and Sony Ericsson]

XPERIA X10 Specs
Camera
• 8.1 megapixel camera
• Up to 16x digital zoom
• Auto focus
• Intelligent face recognition features
• Geo tagging
• Image and video stabilizer
• Photo and video light
• Send to web (photo and video upload)
• Smile detection
• Touch focus
• Video recording
• Recent shot tray
Music
• Album art
• Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
• Media player
• Music tones (MP3/AAC)
• PlayNow™
• TrackID™
Web
• Bookmarks
• Google™ search (from standby)
• Web feeds
• WebKit web browser
Communication
• Sony Ericsson Timescape™
• Speakerphone
• Vibrating alert
Messaging
• Conversations
• Email
• Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync®
• Picture messaging (MMS)
• Predictive text input
• Text messaging (SMS)
Design
• Auto rotate
• Gesture control
• Picture wallpaper
• Touchscreen
Entertainment
• 3D games
• Media browser
• Infinite button
• Video streaming
• Video viewing
• YouTube™
Organiser
• Alarm clock
• Calculator
• Calendar
• Flight mode
• Infinite button
• Office suite
• Phone book with dialer
• World clock
Location-based services
• A-GPS
• Google Maps™
• Wisepilot™ turn-by-turn navigation* (free trial version)
• *The service may not be available in every market. For more information, go to www.sonyericsson.wisepilot.com
Connectivity
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Bluetooth™ technology
• Micro USB connector
• Synchronisation
• USB support
• Wi-Fi™
Preloaded applications
• Sony Ericsson Timescape™
• Sony Ericsson Mediascape
• Sony Ericsson Home with clock widget
• Sony Ericsson Sync
• Android Market™ Client
• Gmail™
• Google Calendar™
• Google Maps™ with Street View
• Google Media Uploader
• Google phone-top search
• Google search widget
• Google Talk™
• Google Voice Search™
• Network Location Provider
• Set-up Wizard
• YouTube™
Screen
• 262,144 colour TFT touchscreen
• 4.0 inches
• 480 x 854 pixels (WVGA)
• Scratch-resistant
Accessories
In-Box:
• XPERIA™ X10
• Battery
• Stereo portable handsfree
• 8 GB microSD™ card
• Micro USB cable for charging, synchronisation and file transfer
• User documentation
Optional:
• Hi-Fi Wireless Headset with FM Radio MW600
• Car Charger AN300
• Screen Protector ET902
Facts 1)2)
• Size: 119 x 63 x 13 mm
• Weight: 135 grams
• Phone memory: Up to 1 GB
• Memory card support: microSD™
• Memory card included: 8 GB
• Operating system: Google™ Android Donut, version 1.6
• Processor: 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon™ QSD8250
Availability and versions
• Networks
• UMTS HSPA 900/1700/2100
• GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
• UMTS HSPA 800/1900/2100
• GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
• Available in selected markets in Q1 2010
Color
• Sensuous Black
• Luster White

Engadget’s first impressions of the device are that the overall interface is currently more than laggy and that Snapdragon appears to be a killer on battery life, but we have to keep in mind that what was previewed is an early build right down to the software. By the time the phone is ready for stores, the Snapdragon chip, combined with a final build of the UI, should put the X10 among the fastest running phones on the market.

As far as the unpolished UI goes, Sony Ericsson has already put some personal touches on there with Timescape and Mediascape, which aggregate all communication and media, respectively. While those features seem fantastic in theory, the early software build left questions as to just how seamless and smooth they truly are.

There are some things that definitely appear lacking with the X10 which can’t be blamed on the pre-production build, though. For starters, there’s barely any internal memory, though an 8GB MicroSD card is included to remedy that. The big annoyance is the absence of multitouch features such as zoom or rotate. With such a wide touchscreen, it’s a shame to skip out on that.

The gadget itself is curves and good looks, unlike certain other, boxy-looking Android phones. Sadly, aside from those aesthetics, it’s just plain tough to judge the actual device performance from the pre-production build. But as long as Sony Ericsson irons out the issues mentioned, this could be a great treat in the first quarter of 2010.

[Engadget and CNET and Tech Radar]

I like Android and all, but one thing the iPhone absolutely kicks every other smartphone’s arse at is media playback—until now. This video of Sony Ericsson’s “Rachael” Android UI shows its media capabilities, and it looks un-freaking-believable.

Looks like Sony Ericsson borrowed heavily from the Zune HD playbook for this one, but we’re not complaining—the Zune HD has the only media UI that’s capable of competing with the iPhone’s. Let’s count the influences: First is the homescreen, which has a layout very similar to the Zune HD’s QuickPlay menu. Instead of just giving you a boring list of Artists, Albums, and Snoooore, it shows favourites (like the Zune HD’s Pins), Recently Added and Recently Played, not-so-coincidentally the exact same options in the Zune HD menu. Below that you get two options from PlayNow, a kind of Pandora-like Sony store, including Top 30 and Recommendations.

At the bottom of every screen is a crossbar much like the Zune HD’s, but that one’s legitimate Sony—they pioneered that UI with XMB on PS3 and PSP. It’s a great idea, so we’re glad it shows up here as well. Other Zune HD influences? How about the art on the artist and album pages? When selecting Kanye West from the artist list, a photo of his smug little puffy mug shows up on the top of the list of albums, and when selecting his album The College Dropout, the album art pops up above the tracklist—just like on the Zune HD.

Of course, a warning before the video says that this is for conceptual and internal use only (whoops!) so for all we know, Rachael’s media playback won’t look anything like this. But we hope it does—Android’s music playback software is embarrassingly dated and this video shows a level of gloss that frankly blows me away.

In case that was all too long for you? I want this thing. Right now. [SE-Blog via SE-Nse, thanks Scotsboyuk!]