Sony Ericsson today unveiled its first Android-powered handset, the Xperia X10 (pictured), becoming the latest top vendor to back Google’s high-profile operating system (OS). However, the world’s fifth-largest device manufacturer appeared keen to put more focus on the user interface it has built on top of the Android OS, rather than the Google platform itself. The interface – known as the User Experience (UX) platform – will be overlaid on the existing Google Android foundations to provide “unrivalled” integration of social media services such as Facebook and Twitter, according to Sony Ericsson. Support for both Android Market and Sony Ericsson’s Play Now Arena is included. The X10 will go on sale in various global markets from the first quarter of 2010. Pricing details were not revealed. Interestingly, the device runs version 1.6 of Android (despite the unveiling last week of version 2.0) and has a 1GHz Snapdragon processor from US silicon giant Qualcomm.

Sony Ericsson said the X10 will be the first of a family of Android-based phones that it will launch over the next year. Certainly, the company needs to do something dramatic to turn around its fortunes. Reeling from five straight quarterly losses, reports suggest its commitment to Android could see it soon drop allegiance to either Windows Mobile or Symbian.