Sony has made it clear that for the time being, the Xperia X10 is their flagship device, and they have shown that by recently giving the device an OS update, bringing it to Android 2.1. But if you thought Sony was done with it, think again. Both the developer community and those who want to modify their Android device beyond what the manufacturer has given them have been very vocal about the fact that the Xperia X10 can handle multi-touch. Sony on the other hand has gone on record a few times and said that the device indeed cannot handle it and that the touch screen and hardware never had multi-touch in mind. Who is right? As it turns out, both companies.

On a recent blog post, Sony Ericsson has gone on record and said that the Xperia X10 will be getting pinch-to-zoom via a software update in Q1 of 2011. So was the dev community right the whole time? Half, as it seems. The Xperia X10 will indeed be getting pinch-to-zoom for its browser and maps app, but there are “situations like when the movement of the two fingers cross each other on the X- or Y-axis that could cause strange behavior.” Sony goes on to say that 3rd party providers will be able to tap into this new API but that they can expect to run into similar limitations.  Watch the full video from Sony to see what the device can and can’t handle.

[Via Sony Ericsson Blog]