Sony Ericsson giveth, Sony Ericsson taketh away. More than three months after we reported that the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 would be getting an Android 2.3 update, the manufacturer has revealed more about the Gingerbread roll out plan for its flawed flagship phone, and it appears it will remove features as well as add them.
The good news first: according to the Sony Ericsson blog, the Android 2.3 update for the Xperia X10 will begin rolling out at the start of August. It’ll bring Flash support, mobile Wi-Fi and tethering and Sony Ericsson’s new Facebook Inside Xperia software integration to the company’s first ever Android phone. You can see it in action in the clip below – interestingly, the camera UI will be kept the same.
Now for a double dose of bad news. First up, the update will actually remove Sony Ericsson’s DLNA media streaming app. Why? “Approvals were needed for that and we were unable to prioritize that without jeopardizing the time schedule,” the company claims. There are free alternatives on the Android Market, but even so, ’tis a pity: Sony Ericsson’s works much more seamlessly than most.
Second of all, Sony Ericsson’s already in full damage limitation mode, trying to make clear that not every network is likely to roll out this update. Sony Ericsson’s Rikard Skogberg even corrects himself in the video, changing “all of you” to “some of you”.
We’ve asked Sony Ericsson when UK networks will be rolling out the update, and will update if we hear back, but Sony Ericsson’s cautious phrasing suggests they may have shown little interest.
All in all it seems like a rather dangerous exercise – as HTC learned last week, you can’t mess with your customers’ expectations and expect them to stay happy – perhaps it was safer to consign the X10 to the dustbin of smartphone history and concentrate on the Xperia Play, Arc and tasty looking Xperia Duo.
Oh, as for the Xperia X10, X10 Mini Pro and X8? Yeah, no upgrade for you. Sorry guys.
Out August | £TBC | Sony Ericsson
