During the first part of this year, both Sony Ericsson and Nokia unveiled some pretty promising devices to watch out for in 2008, the XPERIA X1 and the N96 respectively. However, we’re already nearing the turn before we enter the last quarter of this year and we have yet to see both phones available in the market? Whatever happened to the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 and the Nokia N96, and where are they now?

[via engadgetmobile and engadget]

More after the break.

Well, Sony Ericsson has now promised a 4th quarter debut (it was formerly 2nd half of 2008). No specific date. Likewise, they’ve also released an SDK tool for developers so that they can take advantage of the XPERIA X1’s Panel Interface. No XPERIA X1 phone yet, just a lot of noise making sure we won’t forget that it exists.

Nokia, on the other hand, has kept their word on a 3Q release and the N96 available now in Europe. The N96 costs 550 Euros ($798) exclusive of taxes and subsidies of course. While it’s yet to be available elsewhere, the news that Nokia has released the N96 in Europe is a welcome development as it probably won’t be long before it starts rolling out in other countries as well.

So good, the Nokia N96 is out already. The question now is; are you willing to spend that much on the N96? With so many products that have been released since the N96’s announcement, whatever cutting-edge features it had back then just seems so common today and it sure doesn’t justify the bloated price tag, but that’s just me, how about you guys? Personally, the N85 looks more enticing with its OLED display.

As for the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1, I don’t know if I can still wait for XPERIA X1 if it does fail to meet the 2008 deadline.