[XPERIA X10 General] xdadevelopers1222:
I have a U.S. AT&T X10 and I flashed my phone with the X10a AM-US GENERIC 1233-8200 Android 2.3.3 update. This is a great effort by Sony Ericsson and makes for a fitting swan song after the X10 was declared EOL.

The things I like best about this build:

Gingerbread - at least now this phone's OS is current and running with a version that performs great. If we are lucky to ever get 2.3.4, that'll be fine. If not, 2.3.3 still works wonders.

Minimal bloatware - there is surprisingly little bloatware on here. After I got the phone rooted, I removed the few I wanted, and I'm sure that helps with improved performance and battery life.

Data Traffic widget - with the Android 1.6 and 2.1 builds, I used an APN on/off widget to help with battery life when I didn't need a 3G data connection. But SE now includes their Data Traffic widget that does the same thing. One less 3rd-party app to install, so I can't complain.

USB tethering - I used to use PDANet for any tethering needs, but now it's baked in and works fine. Again, no more need to install a 3rd-party app for this functionality.

Portable WiFi hotspot - I recently got an Asus Transformer WiFi-only tablet, so this feature allows the Transformer to attach to the X10 to use its 3G data connection. Now when I take my tablet on the road, I don't have to worry about how to access the Internet.

Camera app - I'm so happy that SE decided to stick with their own camera application and not use whatever generic one that Google provides with base 2.3.3. The camera hardware on the X10 is of pretty good quality, and with the right settings, the camera app can produce some great pictures.

Battery life - when I had the X10a CUST-GEL NAM1 1234-4820 generic Android 2.1 build on my X10, I rooted and optimized it to a point where I was able to get a bit over seven days of battery life if I used the phone at a minimum. It looks like I'll be able to get something close to that with this 2.3.3 build, and the best thing is that I don't need to install any utilities or make any tweaks like I had to before.

Launcher - this is the launcher that was introduced with the XPERIA Arc. It's smooth and fast, and I have no complaints.

I really appreciate what Sony Ericsson has done for the X10. It was hobbled at launch, shipping with Android 1.6 (Donut) when other phones at the time were starting with Eclair. Then SE took its time with their 2.1 update, but it came and it was respectable. The news about not getting 2.2 was disheartening but not unexpected since it was never in their original plans.

When they announced Gingerbread support and delivered, I gladly give them a plus, thumbs up, or whatever positive response that I can. It wasn't something they had to do, but they listened to us all and gave it to us. Sure there are custom ROMS out there for those who want that choice. However, many of those 2.3.3 ROM builders still needed the SE Gingerbread build too in order to make their work better.

In any case, the end result is a stock build that I'm happy to have on my phone and will help it to last for quite some time into the future.

My thanks to Sony Ericsson for restoring faith, and my continued thanks to all the good folks on XDA who strive to keep the X10 running its best always! :)