Hasta La Gadget!

Sony Ericsson has officially unveiled the Xperia X2, the successor to the company’s expensive, unlocked Xperia X1 smartphone.

The X2 will feature an 8.1-megapixel camera, a bundled 4GB microSD card, and yet another refreshed UI for Windows Mobile (though this time, it will be a 6.5 device) including 13 pre-loaded “panels,” according to a company blog post.

There’s also a slide-out, four-row QWERTY keyboard with decidedly computer-like keys, and a vertical strip of icons running along the bottom of the screen in landscape mode. In portrait mode, the band of icons shrinks in width but stays at the bottom.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 will hit “selected markets” later this year. Here’s hoping the UI is more seamless and less buggy this time around. I’d also hope for a much lower price, but if anyone is good at overcharging, it’s Sony.