Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 gets Gingerbread

Sony Ericsson is now offering some Xperia X10 owners the chance to upgrade their smartphones to Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

To update the Xperia X10, which was formerly running Android 2.1 Eclair, users need to connect the device to their computers and employ the company's PC Companion software. Over-the-air updates are so far not available.

According to Sony Ericsson, the availability of Gingerbread for user devices "is dependent on operator and/or country," so it cannot provide an "exact date for when the update will be available for you."

Sony Ericsson released the Xperia X10 last year. The device comes with a 4-inch display and 1GHz processor. It has an 8.1-megapixel camera and the ability to record 720p HD video. Last May, Sony Ericsson announced plans to offer Eclair on the device, but that update didn't start rolling out to handsets until October.

At the time, Sony Ericsson didn't plan on bringing Gingerbread to the X10. However, the company said in March that it had "listened to our consumers," and would be bringing the update to the handset, after all.

With the addition of Gingerbread, Xperia X10 owners get Facebook integration across the platform's applications, the ability to use the device as a Wi-Fi hot spot, and tethering. However, users will also lose some features, including the Backup and Restore app and Mediascape. Sony Ericsson also said that contacts and messages saved in the handset's memory will be overwritten.