Is This Sony Ericsson's First Android Phone?

We all know Sony Ericsson has been working on an Android smartphone, and the alleged specs and pictures leaked out over the weekend. I have to say, this thing looks like a winner.

I know that it may look like a relatively straight forward touch-screen Android handset like the myTouch 3G or the upcoming HTC Hero, but this phone should pack some kicking hardware. The smartphone, which is reportedly code-named "Rachael," will be the next version of its Xperia line, and it is rumored to have Qualcomm's 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, an 8-megapixel camera, regular headphone jack, 3D graphics, and 3G that's capable of 7.2 Mbps.

If these specs turn out to be legit, this could be the killer phone Android and Sony Ericsson need to wrestle away interest from the iPhone. Sony Ericsson knows how to make well-designed phones, but their software is normally sluggish, or has an odd implementation of Windows Mobile. Android's still rough around the edges, but it's a very smooth, easily-scalable operating system that has a good buzz within the developer community. Additionally, Sony Ericsson has said it will wait for Android 2.0 to come out before it releases a device, and this should mean the Rachael will have top-tier multimedia playback.

Besides this being unconfirmed, the only problem is that Sony Ericsson's high-end devices normally don't come to the United States with a carrier. That means this could hit stores at $600 or more, which would kill its chances of being a viable hit with mainstream users. Verizon could potentially have a heck of an iPhone killer if it picked this up, but Sony Ericsson isn't really known for its CDMA devices.

(Thanks to Boy Genius Report for pointing me in the right direction)