Sony Ericsson, Optus kick off 'smallest' Android phone

Sony Ericsson and Optus will launch the Xperia X10 mini Android phone with free streaming of 2010 World Cup soccer games

Sony Ericsson and Optus have partnered to launch the Xperia X10 mini Android phone on the local market and thrown in free live streaming of all 2010 World Cup soccer games.

Exclusive to Optus during the World Cup, the X10 mini is available for $0 upfront on a $49 “social” plan over 24 months, including 500MB of data per month. The upfront price is $549.

At 83 by 50 by 16 millimetres and weighing 88 grams, Sony Ericsson claims the X10 mini to be the world’s smallest Android phone as of April 2010 based on height and width.

In addition to live streaming, the X10 mini provides access to match scores, news, statistics, highlights and 500 FIFA archived video-on-demand clips served by Optus.

The “four corner” touchscreen Xperia X10 mini is the “small and sociable” version of the Xperia X10, Sony Ericsson’s first-generation Android phone.

Xperia’s Timescape social network and message integrator ships on the X10 mini and the standard Android Market is also available.

Sony Ericsson Oceania managing director Brendan Johnston said the Xperia X10 mini opens up “limitless possibilities, both during the FIFA World Cup and in your everyday life, with one-touch access to your favourite apps, Web links and more”.

Managing director of Optus Consumer, Michael Smith, said customers using the X10 mini will experience “made for mobile” streaming of the World Cup with dedicated cameras providing a mobile-optimised feed.

The Xperia X10 mini features a five megapixel camera with geo tagging, push e-mail and ActiveSync integration, FM radio, A-GPS, a 3.5mm audio jack, micro USB and a 2GB microSD card (16GB is supported).

Android 1.6 is the base operating system, but Sony Ericsson says this is upgradeable. The phone is powered by a 600MHz Qualcomm processor.