Today in Barcelona Microsoft announced that Sony Ericsson will deliver a new Smartphone that will use Windows Mobile 6, and some already are saying this new phone will give the iPhone a run for its money.

The XPERIA X1 from Sony Ericsson will feature a 3 Inch WVGA screen, Multiple input and navigation; Touch Screen user interface. A fully functional QWERTY keyboard that slides out, Joystick and 4 way key. The phone will also come with a 3.2 mega-pixel camera for both video and still images, built in WiFi and GPS.

“People should be able to have phones that deliver what they need throughout the day and stay connected with today’s broad array of on-demand information and entertainment no matter where they are,” said Pieter Knook, senior vice president, Mobile Communications Business, Microsoft. “Our shared vision with Sony Ericsson is to make the concept of ‘One Phone for Your Life’ a reality and finally give consumers the freedom of true mobility.”

The phone will work on the following networks: EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA 850/900/1700/1900/2100.

The phone will be available in the second half of 2008 but no word on which providers will have the phone. I personally hope T-Mobile gets it.

“XPERIA is our promise to think foremost about user experience and to deliver on our goal of providing a true premium experience — anytime, anywhere, anything, with anyone,” said Rikko Sakaguchi, head of Portfolio and Proposition at Sony Ericsson. “By working with Microsoft on the XPERIA X1, we have been able to couple our excellence in creating compelling consumer propositions with the productivity capabilities of Windows Mobile to deliver a seamless blend of mobile Web communication and multimedia entertainment within a distinctive design.”

So will the XPERIA X1 be an iPhone killer? It can be, but it will only be one if Sony Ericsson, Microsoft and the various service providers that pick it up market the phone. Which probably won’t happen.

For more information visit: http://www.sonyericsson.com/x1/

A little update on this phone.

There is a rumore that the phone was made by HTC. Here is Sony Ericssons Responce to that rumore

“The X1 has Sony Ericsson DNA through and through.  All ODM product development is under non-disclosure agreements and it is not our policy to disclose details of these partnerships.”

Sony Ericsson also explained how software was developed for the phone.

“Applications written for Windows Mobile 6 and utilizing the same hardware features as supported by X1 will run on X1.  The .NET Compact Framework in Windows Mobile 6 helps the developer to deal with screen resolution differences and automatically scales all controls to account for differences in the design-time resolution and the runtime resolution. However, many applications will benefit from being optimized for the larger WVGA (800x480 pixels) screen size in X1.”