14 DAY TRIAL // Back in February, during MWC 2008, almost everyone was excited about Sony Ericsson's new and uber-cool Xperia X1 smartphone, presented from the beginning as one of the most attractive high-end mobile devices of 2008. Sony Ericsson said the X1 would be available "in the second half" of 2008, so everyone was hoping the handset would hit the market in the summer. This did not happen, of course, and new X1-related details have appeared to say that the smartphone might actually not be available this year.
According to Register Hardware, a Sony Ericsson official present at the IFA Berlin fair (August 29 – September 3), Microsoft's latest Windows Mobile 6.1 OS does not "function properly" on the long awaited Xperia X1. There are no details on what the problems are exactly, but it’s clear that the handset's hardware (built by HTC) is somehow not ready for Windows Mobile 6.1. Or is it the other way around? We don’t know for sure. Actually, we won't know anything until Sony Ericsson finally announces the availability of the X1.
Rumors about the delay of Xperia are not something new. Back in March, it was said that the handset would not come this year because Microsoft postponed the release of Windows Mobile 6.1. Well, now the latest WM is out, but the X1 still isn't.
On Sony Ericsson's official E-shop we can currently see that Xperia X1's "expected launch" is set for October 8. Still, this is not an official date, and it could change from day to day (last week, for example, the E-shop said X1 would only be available starting January 2009).
Regardless of its final launch date, Xperia X1 will surely attract lots of mobile users, as its set of features makes it (theoretically) one of the best Windows Mobile smartphones ever built. Now let's hope Microsoft's mobile OS will actually work well on the device and we'll see it in stores before the year's end.