The Global Cerification Forum just approved Sony Ericsson's first Android smartphone for Europe - the Xperia X10 as well as its first Android smartphone for Japan - the SO-01B - which NTT DoCoMo plans to launch in April. While both devices will be powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU and both will feature Android 1.6, a 4" WVGA (854 x 480) touchscreen, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, Sony Ericsson's "Timescape" and "Mediascape" as well as a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack and the 8 megapixel autofocus camera, there are some differences between the European and the Japanese X10/SO-01B. Most notable are - according to the GCF - the supported WCDMA bands!

While the European X10 is said to support quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE and triband UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA at 900/1700/2100 MHz, the Japanese version also supports quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE but also quadband UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA at 800/850/1900/2100 MHz!

Furthermore, according to NTT DoCoMo's press release, the SO-01B is expected to feature more RAM (384 MB vs. 256 MB) as well as a predictive text-input system for Japanese and English.

Not yet approved by the Global Certification Forum is the 2nd Xperia X10 which is said to feature quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE as well as triband UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA at 850/1900/2100 MHz

Anyway, the Global Certification Forum approval could mean that the Xpera X10 is soon ready to hit the markets!

UPDATE: Now, with just one day delay, the Global Certification Forum has also approved the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10a which features the Xperia X10 typical quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE bands but also the above mentioned missing UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA bands (including one extra-band) at 800/850/1900/2100 MHz.

Therefore it's safe to say that the Xperia X10 is designed for Europe and Asia plus T-Mobile's North American UMTS network, while the Xperia X10a is designed for North America, supporting AT&T's UMTS bands while the SO-01B is the Japanese Xperia X10 version.

Cheers ~ Arne