Sony Ericsson Xperia X8: Does Android 1.6 still cut it?
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 is a new touchscreen, Android-powered smartphone, but is it out-of-date before it even arrives?
Here comes the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8, just a day after we covered the new Nokia X5 and X6. Who said there's no originality left in the world of mobile phones?
Names aside, there's very little similarity between Nokia's squared-off youth phone and the new offering from Sony Ericsson. The 3G X8 sports a 76mm (3-inch) capacitive touchscreen with customisable controls in the four corners of the screen. It packs Android 1.6, codenamed Donut, which is pretty far behind the cutting edge version 2.2, also known as Froyo.
Other bits and pieces include a 600MHz processor, FM radio, 3.5mm headphone jack, 3.2 MP camera and video recording. It's essentially a trimmed-down, more affordable version of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. Built-in apps include Facebook, a demo version of Wisepilot turn-by-turn navigation and NeoReader barcode scanner.
The X8 comes with a 2GB microSD card in the box. It will be available in the third quarter of the year, in white or coloured with white bits: in dark blue, aqua blue, pink and silver. With so many newer versions of Android to choose from, does the X8 have the X factor?