Sony Ericsson finally unveils the Xperia X2 Windows smartphone

Given that one of your main rivals has half the world’s tech press holed up in Stuttgart, it takes a lot of balls to launch a new phone today.

So fair play, as we English say, to Sony Ericsson which has just taken the wraps off a new Windows smartphone, the Xperia X2.

This phone is nowhere near as secret as today’s other big launch, the Nokia X6, as images and specs were leaked and covered by a whole raft of blogs over a month ago. The X2 has also had its thunder stolen a little by rumours that the next gen Xperia, the X3, is not only in the pipeline but will also run not Windows Mobile but Google’s Android operating system.

Nevertheless for the time being the X2 is a slightly smartened up version of its predecessor the X1 with slightly better specs. A lot remains from the X1 including the full QWERTY keypad and the SlideView feature, which provides quick access to frequently used phone activities.

In addition to all the Windows staples (Outlook, IE Windows Media Player) there’s also an eight mega pixel camera with a 16x digital zoom, A2DP Bluetooth, 3D gaming and a load more.

It goes on sale in October.