Remember the Sony Ericsson Xperia X2?  We’re sure you do, but just in case you need a refresher, it’s the follow-up to the X1 with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and Windows Mobile.  The reason we ask is that in true Sony Ericsson style, we first saw the phone back in June and are still waiting for its release, a story very similar to the Sony Ericsson Xperia X3.

It was July when Rachael first came into our lives, and even then we knew she was something special.  Despite sitting next to her equally striking friend, Kiki, it was the promise of Android goodness which saw us gravitate towards her.  Kiki has since been revealed as the Pureness and given a tentative release date of sometime in November, but only as a limited run sold through certain stores.

Just as Kiki became the Pureness, so Rachael became the Xperia X3, however it has remained elusive, with still no official confirmation from Sony Ericsson and now even the name is being called into question as in an unexpected twist, a source who claims to have used the phone says it will be known as the Xperia X10 and not the X3, leaving us in a dilemma as to what to refer to it as.  We’re going to stick with the X3 at the moment, as it’s this name by which it is still best known.

Of course, the phone will have to be announced before it gets released, something we hope will happen during November with a view to releasing the phone in time for Mobile World Congress in February 2010.  This may sound a considerable time away, but with the spec sheet looking like it does, we think the X3 is worth waiting for.

As we previously mentioned, the X3 will be running Android, making it the first Sony Ericsson to do so.  Which version of Android remains to be seen, but regardless there will be a very flash custom user interface laid over the top, with speculation that this will go even deeper than HTC’s Sense.  The display is a 4″ touchscreen with an 852×480 resolution and will be capacitive too.

The X3 will be a 3G phone with both HSDPA and HSUPA support, plus Wi-Fi, A2DP v2.1 Bluetooth and Assisted GPS.  On the rear of the ultra-thin casing – 12mm is expected – is the lens for an 8 megapixel autofocus camera with an LED flash, which will also shoot 30fps VGA video.  A microSD card slot for up to 16GB of memory and a 3.5mm jack socket for your own headphones are also onboard.  So, there is little here one wouldn’t expect to find on a top-end smartphone, but it’s the rumour of the Qualcomm 1Ghz Snapdragon chipset that elevates the X3 to ‘can’t wait’ status on the patience-o-meter!

If the X3′s conservative exterior styling does turn out to hide a monstrously powerful heart, we could see it become the smartphone darling of the early part of next year.  Unless it is to be called the X10 and by a cruel twist of fate, we have to wait for the actual X3 through to the X9 before it comes out!