Hands-on with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Sony Ericsson announced its first Android phone, the Xperia X10, in London two months ago, but I had to wait for CES to get my first look at the device on this side of the Atlantic.

As you'd expect, the Sony Ericsson stand at the massive Sony Electronics booth was crowded with people wanting to get a look at the handset. And there's no wonder why--the X10 is a sight to behold. Its slim profile and clean lines hit high on the beauty scale, and I enjoyed how sturdy and comfortable it felt in my hand. Front and center is a brilliant display that measures 4 inches; that's bigger than the display on the Moto Droid.

Inside, the X10 offers plenty to gape at. It runs on a Snapdragon 1GHz processor and offers an 8.1-megapixel camera with flash and video recording, a music and video player, Wi-Fi, GPS, a full Web browser, PC syncing and USB mass storage, a personal organizer, and a speakerphone.

The X10 runs Google Android, and Sony Ericsson adds on another interface layer with its User Experience Platform. Though we don't see any reason to hide Android behind a mask, the Timescape feature was somewhat appealing. Like Motoblur on the Motorola Cliq, it organizes your communication in a central place.

For more on the X10, check out our hands-on slideshow. North American availability currently is limited to Rogers Wireless in Canada, but we hope to have a review model in the next couple of months.