Sony Ericsson has announced their first phone operating on the Android platform. The Xperia X10 has a large 4" touch-screen, 8 megapixel camera, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, up to 1 GB of memory, comes with an 8 GB MicroSD card included, and is powered by the same 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor used in the upcoming HTC HD2.

Sony Ericsson has made some major renovations to the user interface to help optimise the use of sites like Twitter, Facebook and e-mail. The X10 runs version 1.6 (Donut) of Android and features Sony Ericsson applications such as Timescape and Mediascape. The former directs all your communication with one person (for example done over Facebook, Twitter, MMS, email, and SMS) to one place. The latter allows you to get all the music, photos and videos you want of your artists or movie stars. It accesses content from amongst others, your phone, YouTube and the Sony Ericsson PlayNow Arena. and presents everything to you.

There’s also the innovative face recognition features that can recognise up to five faces in any photo, automatically connect them with your phonebook and all other related communications with that person.

“The Xperia X10 and the family of phones launching in the first half of 2010 underpin our commitment to an open and multi-platform strategy that maximises choice for the consumer and delivers the best possible consumer experience,” said Bert Nordberg, President of Sony Ericsson. “The reaction from our global operator partners to the Xperia X10 has been extremely positive and we will be rolling out across the world including Japan from the first half of 2010.”

There’s no word yet on pricing or confirmation on when it will become available in South Africa. Sony Ericsson has said, however, that it will be made available from Q1 2010 in certain market.