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They make movies about these things. Boy sees phone. Boy lusts after phone for months. Boy finally gets phone only to discover it's nice from afar but far from nice. OK, we've yet to see a movie quite like that. (But if they do, you bet Dieter and Mal will review it in the WMExperts Movie Review Podcast.)

No, we're talking about the Sony Xperia X1 here. It was announced with much pomp and circumstance but took months and months (and months and months) to come to market. And even then, it's gotten zero carrier support in the United States.

Turns out, the Xperia X1 was "a kind of experiment," said SE President Hideki "Dick" Komiyama. That's from a Financial Times piece [via Electronista] in which Komiyama speaks about SE's recent struggles and how it's failed to really compete in the smartphone industry.

But there's good news for you Windows Mobile fans: SE still plans to put out three smartphones by the end of the year – one Windows Mobile, one Android and one Symbian.

As anyone who's used one knows, it's not that the Xperia X1 (read our full review here) is a bad phone. It's just that it priced itself out of the game without bringing anything really groundbreaking. The panels interface is interesting, but it's just not enough to justify spending that much jing, especially today. Let's hope SE finds more of a middle ground (and U.S. carrier support) with its next try.

Our friends at IntoMobile.com are reporting that Best Buy is accepting pre-orders for Sony’s Xperia X1. Taking a look over at Best Buy’s website you can find the WM Devices going for a modest $799.99.

According to IntoMobile, Best Buy is projecting a preliminary ship date of November 23, 2008. The price is in line with what we’ve reported for the Xperia X1 but the ship date is a few days instead of that 28th date.

A few weeks ago we saw an excellent interview with HTC's Eric Lin by Japanese site Akihabra News. The third part of that interview is now available. [via]

In the final installment, Lin gives a look at the HTC Magic, which runs Anrdoid, and the HTC Snap. He also talks about upgrades to Windows Mobile 6.5. You'll want to watch the whole interview, but here's a teaser:

"Microsoft has not announced any plans for 6.5 for Smartphones, for Standard edition yet. So, we cannot promise a 6.5 upgrade for Snap, because Microsoft has not offered 6.5 for Smartphones yet.However, we have absolutely promised a 6.5 upgrade for Diamond 2 and (Touch) Pro 2.

"And, in fact, we made changes to how 6.1 works and to the hardware of Diamond 2 and Pro 2 so that when our customers upgrade to 6.5, that everything will work the same, that they will not have to relearn anything."

Akihabra News interview with Eric Lin (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

SPB announced today that they have added over forty channels to its SPB TV application. The majority of channels added are the result of user feedback bringing the total number of channels available on SPB TV to more than 100. New channels include Comedy Time, Fox TV affiliates, Chick Comedy, and several others. Compared to the initial review of SPB TV, the channel selection has grown by leaps and bounds.

SPB is still interested in what channels users want to see added to SPB TV. If you have a channel you'd like to see added, simply follow this link to suggest it to SPB.

OK, so what we have here is an update to the Microsoft Tag system, which is an update to the old QR Code. Have no idea what we're talking about? It goes like this: You load an app onto your phone that takes a picture of the tag and can recognize the metadata in once of these tags. Kinda like a barcode, but much cooler.

The old black-and-white QR Code left much to be desired. It looked like a code. Microsoft's original Tag (seen here at right) was an improvement, with different colors and shapes containing more information. But it still looked like code. With the upgrade, a series of dots can be hidden within a picture, as you can see above. (From left, that's a pinata, jelly beans and balloons.)

And that's cool and all. But if you want me to go to a Web site, just tell me the damn address. (Yeah, we know, it can launch video or audio automatically. But still.) I don't want to load another app that essentially just loads a Web site. That said, I don't have to use it if I don't want to. If this is your thing, check out more at Microsoft Tag. And if you're really into it, there's even a design contest going on.

Via the Windows Mobile Team Blog

Might HP be getting some new blood in its smartphone end of things? Electronista has it that former Palm exec Jonathan Oakes on his LinkedIn profile lists a move to HP's Emerging Businesses Unit, which includes iPAQs as well as other mobile work.

That's all we've got to go on, and admittedly it isn't much. But it would be nice to see HP step up its game, particularly in the United States, where's it's gotten no love of late from any of the major carriers. HP did release a couple of phones recently, but we were mostly unimpressed considering you have to compare them to HTC's wares. (And you do. That's just the way it is now.)

Anyway, here's hoping for good things from HP in the future.

This will be our only Xperia rumor today. We promise. And while we have no definite confirmation from SE that a follow-up to the Xperia X1 is in the works, what you see above is a Twitter post from SE marketing guru Harold de Kort.  Run through the ol' Google translator, you get "Of course after each X1 is an X2 and X3, X4, X5. What else is new. "

Either that's a bit of a kiss-off answer (which is entirely likely), or, yes, they're working on filling out the Xperia line. (Hopefully with Windows Mobile, but even that's not certain.) And if SE follows the same timetable it did with the X1, we could be hearing an announcement shortly and then seeing the phone sometime next year.

PortableGear.nl (via Unwired View)