Sony Ericsson's been having a tough time lately, but there are still plenty of fans eagerly awaiting its Xperia X1 smartphone. Well, the company released an SDK today that should mean the X1 will be available soon.

One of the impressive aspects of the X1 is its gorgeous 3-inch touch screen that will have multiple panels for quickly launching applications. Today's SDK will enable developers to create these panels for different types of applications like music, games, e-mail, and more. The SDK's free and includes things like an X1 emulator, sample code, and Microsoft Visual Studio templates.

For a better understanding of what customized panels will mean for the overall user experience, check out Mobile Burn's excellent demo video below:

I've been intrigued by this handset since it first popped on the radar in February at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The X1 will come preloaded with Windows Mobile 6.1, which is pretty powerful and useful. Sure, it's extremely clunky, but the panel interface could get rid of most of the UI problems.

I've yet to get a hold of this smartphone, but it looks like the right size, and I love full-sized QWERTY keyboards. There will be built-in Wi-Fi, assisted-GPS, Pocket Office, and HSDPA 3G with up to 7.2 Mbps download speeds. There also will be a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus and video recording capabilities -- but I stopped caring about a phone's camera a long time ago.

Will this smartphone right the ship for Sony Ericsson? Probably not, but I think the mix of power, elegant design, and fun (got to love the fish status) are steps in the right direction. Hopefully, we'll get a solid ship date soon to go along with a carrier subsidy because it's rumored the price tag will be in the $600-plus range.