Sony Ericsson has confirmed that the XPERIA X8 has begun shipping, the company’s latest Android smartphone and what’s tipped to be the cheapest model in the company’s line-up.  The XPERIA X8 slots in-between the X10 and the X10 mini in terms of screen size, with a 3.2-inch panel, but has a 3.2-megapixel fixed-focus camera.

We grabbed some hands-on time with the X8 recently, and you can’t really miss the family resemblance.  It’s a reasonably sturdy device, if slightly uninspired in its design, but its biggest flaw is Android 1.6.  While Sony Ericsson has said it plans to update the XPERIA X8 to Android 2.1, it still doesn’t have a public timescale for that taking place.