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.

[Slashgear]

As if the last round of specs weren’t enough to get you excited, now it’s looking like that 8 MP camera and massive touchscreen will be powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Don’t worry, even though this unit is running Android 1.6, 2.0 should be included by the time the X3 is released.

Whether or not it will be underclocked like the Liquid is still up in the air. Even if it is, it could another Android phone running Snapdragon. That’s a good thing. [P4DA via GSM Arena via Electronista via Ubergizmo]

The hard specs: 3.2-inch WVGA touchscreen, 8.1MP camera, HSPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, TV-out. And, oh yes, the panels custom interface on top of Windows Mobile is back, though refined, as we saw earlier. It’ll be out later this year for 699 euros (AU$1195), so um, not cheap if it ever comes to Australia. [Computerbild]

The current buzz regarding the Sony Ericsson Xperia is mostly related to the rumoured, Android-running Xperia X3. But what about the X2? Oh, well here’s what looks to be a video of its UI in action.

The Windows Mobile 6.5 skin is a bit choppy (but that’s to be expected in this preview build), though you should start watching around 2:30 for some of the more impressive animations in the clip, including some interesting tiling eye candy. But I’m not getting too excited. I mean, we’re talking an update to a phone that didn’t really impress us in the first place. And the monikers X2 and X3 remind me of the X-Men movie trilogy, which honestly can’t be helping. [via Engadget]

The X2 is expected to get a hefty, if not groundshaking, guts upgrade from the X1, with a 3.5-inch WVGA screen, 512MB of RAM, a faster processor, an 8.1-megapixel camera and, for god’s sake, finally, Windows Mobile 6.5. Spec updates like this are always welcome, but I’m not so sure about the new styling: Sleek lines and a deceptively thin-looking angular design were strong points for the X1, so it’s disconcerting to see a blobbier, altogether fatter-looking X2. Of course, none of these things will matter if Sony Ericsson continues to blindly price this line into oblivion. No word on that front, unfortunately. [XDA via BGR]

The first thing that jumps out here, aside from the phone’s tastefully designed brushed aluminium shell, is Windows Mobile 6.5’s finger-friendly visage: indication—though not confirmation—that this’ll be one of the first wave of major 6.5 handsets, alongside previously-announced hardware from HTC. But above all, this means no Android, probably. Oh well!

The keyboard has a distinctive look too, bearing more resemblance to a full-size PC keyboard than a mobile phone keypad. Hopefully the changes are strictly aesthetic, seeing as the previous model’s keypad was one of its strongest points. Sadly, the original source isn’t saying a whole lot about his device beyond what we can observe for ourselves, so for now, we simply gaze. [jjlifeblog via BGR]

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 spyshots we saw earlier this month got a little more meaty today as someone has allegedly leaked the mobile’s official specifications.

The specs present a slight increase over the pricey Xperia X1. Here they are from the mobile-review forums:

* 8.1mpx auto focus, VGA @ 30fps (MP4 HQ)
* 3.5 inch WVGA OLED (increased from 3.0 from X1)
* GPS, aGPS
* 3.5 mm headphone jack
* Accelerometer
* Faster processor
* 512 RAM
* Custom Windows Mobile 6.5
* XPERIA Panels are modified with plenty of innovative features (PS3 functionality)
* Upgrading to Windows Mobile 7 is supported by Xperia panels

Forums being what they are, this far from official. But, like I said, if they pan out then this is a bit of a boost from what users experienced with the X1. Hopefully this time around they won’t experience the associated price tag too. [mobile-review via BGR]