Despite all the uproar about Sony Ericsson’s flagship Xperia handset having an outdated OS when it launched with Android 1.6 and when the company released Android 2.1, when 2.3 was just around the corner, the company have announced that they will not update the Xperia X10, X10 Mini, X10 Mini Pro, or Xperia X8 past Android 2.1. Sony Ericsson have already come under fire for the delay of Android 2.1 on the handset and several petitions were started online asking Sony Ericsson to skip Android 2.1 and go straight to 2.2. This wasn’t to happen though, as 2.2 aka Froyo, will not be making it’s way to the Xperia X10 range of handsets. For the US particularly, this has given the handset a minimal lifespan, consisting of less than 6 months. Unfortunately, Sony Ericsson don’t see it this way. They have promised further minor updates to the handset, such as the multi touch update, coming sometime this quarter but, the Android version will not be going any higher.

Virgin Mobile, one of UK’s leading mobile carriers, announced that they will be releasing a limited edition red and black Xperia X8 on January 1, 2011. The unit which will be available exclusively for Virgin subscribers is available for free with their £10 plan. This plan comes with 50 minutes of voice calls, 250 text messages and a data cap of 500 MB. There are no details yet on how long the contract period would be but I’m guessing there would be a 24 month lock-in period. This is actually a great deal coming from Virgin Mobile and Sony Ericsson and will definitely increase the number of Xperia X8 models in the UK.

Sony Ericsson has launched the latest firmware for its Xperia line of smartphones. The targeted models are the Xperia X10, Xperia X10 Mini, Xperia X10 Mini Pro and the Xperia X8. A couple of weeks ago these units availed of the Android 2.1 upgrade.  The latest upgrade is not available in all areas at the moment though since it will be available depending on your country and operator. Those who live in areas that still do not have an upgrade option for Android 2.1 have to wait a little bit longer.

For some, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 has been available for a couple of months now, however South Africa haven’t received the handset which, according to Sonja Shear, Sony Ericsson’s market unit head, was due to the “result of global constraints on the product”. The delay in the handset arriving in South Africa however, does mean that Sony Ericsson will ship the Xperia X8 with Android 2.1, which has recently been released for the X8, instead of the very outdated Android 1.6. This is something many consumers felt Sony Ericsson should have done any way.

One of the downsides to the Xperia X8 when it launched, is that it still came with Android 1.6, one of the main criticisms of the Xperia X10. The low price point of the handset made up for this though, with the Xperia X8 being available for £130 in the UK on O2. This deal has just got even better. O2 have reduced the price of the Android powered Xperia X8 from £130 down to £100. The Android 2.1 update is also now rolling out for the X8, making this mobile phone deal even better. Unfortunately though, as we’ve seen in the past, O2 can be rather slow to release the update, however we do know it has been released and will be available on the O2 branded X8 soon.