Having been somewhat disappointed by Sony Ericsson’s recently-released Satio and Aino phones, are we glad that there’s a new Xperia that uses the Android OS instead of the two entertainment phones’ Symbian S60 software.

The Xperia X10, unveiled today, brings SE back to the fight against the likes of HTC, which has been looking ever stronger with its Android-based Hero and upcoming Windows Phone 6.5-based gizmos.

On the X10, SE has got an XL-sized, 4-inch touch-screen that boasts an ultra-high resolution of 480×854 pixels (old 14-inch CRT monitors only displayed 640×480). There’s also an 8.1-meg camera with Xenon flash, which is sweet for photo buffs.

And for music lovers, what the Satio did not have – a 3.5mm headphone jack – the X10 packs it. This lets you easily plug in your own expensive Shure or Ultimate Ears earphones if you want to.

Seeing the X10, I can’t help but think this is what the Satio could have been.

But having seen SE do such a good job making Windows Mobile work so well on the original Xperia X1, I’m pretty optimistic with what it can do with the Android OS as well.

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You may want to check out Alf’s review on the Satio if you haven’t read that, as the Aino phone is a sister phone to the Satio and some of the bundled apps are similar.

Sony Ericsson just released a trio of phones for the Singapore market on October 24th, with Satio being the high-end one (S$1,098), Aino the mid-end one (S$858), and Yari the lower-end one (S$548). Prices listed here are the recommended retail price without any contract with a telco.

I had the opportunity to play around with the Aino for about two weeks, and like Alf’s take on the Satio, I have mixed feelings about it. I like various aspects of the phone, but other parts of this slide phone irritate the heck out of me.

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It was first called the Idou, when unveiled earlier this year at the 3GSM Mobile World Congress cellphone show. Then came the name change to Satio, and the world-beating specs: 12-meg Cybershot camera, 3.5-inch screen and a new Symbian S60 OS with touch UI.

So, after such a long wait, how does this much-touted flagship smartphone from Sony Ericsson feel in the hand? After testing it for a week, I’d say it’s a mixed bag. So much of the Satio is so desirable – the beautiful screen, for one; yet, much of this same shiny handset is also annoying. …

Fancy a phone that not only lets you talk to friends, but also watch YouTube videos, find your way around with Google maps and surf with Wi-Fi on the go?

We have not one but three Sony Ericsson G705 phones to give away, as a small way to mark the second year of this techie blog.

All that we want in exchange (there’s no free lunch, after all, right?) is for you to send us your idea of the craziest, zaniest and nuttiest “geek moment”. What’s a geek moment? It could be showing off your water-cooled PC, or a 30-man raid on Warcraft or simply a funny face that captures what it means to be a geek.

This can be in the form of text (a poem, anyone?), pictures (speak a thousand words, don’t they?) or videos (please do not exceed two minutes).

The point is to get our goondu minds together for something fun – and in the case of the three winners, rewarding as well! So, get your creative juices flowing, and enter the contest here.

Not long after Sony Ericsson put an easy-access Facebook app on its phones, Microsoft is getting into the social media act as well by coming up with a Facebook app for Windows Mobile users.

You can already get a nice mobile version of Facebook through your phone’s Web browser, but this new app from Microsoft, available for download today, promises a richer experience. …

That’s what a new application, now pre-installed on the recently-released Sony Ericsson C510 candy-bar phone, promises.

Shown to a group of media here on Wednesday, it’s offers “zero-click” access to your Facebook pals’ status updates because it shows up on the main screen without you having to go into any menu. It’s Sony Ericsson’s latest attempt to hook up its users to the social media world easily.

What you get is a scrollable list of your pal’s status updates on-screen – and you can click on their faces to interact more. It’s a bit like the live RSS updates on the main phone screen that Sony Ericsson currently offers on some of its phones, which to me, is an excellent tool.

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This Valentine’s Day, one way to impress your girlfriend or wife (or maybe even a guy friend) is to buy a pink gadget.

Going by the press releases we’ve got of late, technology firms seem to be on a roll in coming up with that pink gizmo to fit a girl’s tastes.

Sony Ericsson is one. Three of its popular phone models now come in pink, encased in faceplates that used to be “professional” black/white/silver (maybe it got feedback that these colours were too “man” or “boring” for the ladies). …