The Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 is so much more than a Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphone. The touchscreen mobile phone has a QWERTY keyboard to help it stand out from the crowd but that’s not all: it’s also rocking a new-look panel system with quick, one glance one prod access to all the most essential features. It’s unique to the phone and we’ve got the know how to set it up your way right here in our Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 tutorial.

1. Get to grips with the default layout
Chances are, your menu screen when you unlock the Sony Ericsson X2 at first will look like a grid of floating squares, with a red glow to it. That’s the tile wave panel, and it’s one of many you can choose from. Have a play around with it to see how it works. The icons let you dive into email, time, date, calendar, contacts and more, and you can customise by tapping the cog button towards the bottom of the screen.

2. Load up more panels
It’s time to customise. Hold down the Call button until a menu pops up, then scroll down to Panels at the bottom. Give it a tap with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 stylus and up will pop your three most recently used panels. Tap the Panel icon again and you’ll see all the different ones laid out in a colourful 9×9 grid. You can choose them from here, or tap the horizontal view option on the bottom, second from left. Simply hit activate and it’ll be your new homescreen. Have a play around now to see which you like best.

3. Fire up the Facebook panel
Any social butterflies taking our tutorial will have seen this one already: yes, there’s a Facebook panel, so you can get all the latest from your friends/procrastinators. To load it to this particular Sony Ericsson mobile phone, just activate like normal, then log in with your email and password just once, and you’re away.

4. Get Google
Google’s a handy search engine on the desktop but the big G is even more essential on your smartphone, thanks to powerful apps like Google Maps and Gmail. Is your online life tied into the search giant? You can get quick access to all of its apps from the Google panel.

5. Choose your favourites
When you hold down the call button to pull up the panel menu, you’ll see the icons of the last three panels you used. If you like switching between a few on a regular basis, this is one of the quickest ways to jump them around. You can also sort panels by tapping the arrow button on the top of the screen in the more detailed panel selection menu: check for updated versions, free ones, favourites and more. That only comes into its own once you’ve downloaded even more panels, but speaking of which…

6. Get more panels
Want to see what other panels there are to shove on your Sony Ericsson Xperia X2? Hit the Panel Settings button (it’s the fourth one along the bottom in the Panels sub menu) and you’ll see a “Get more panels” option. Hit that to be taken through to the online portal to grab even more.

7. Time them
Now that you’ve figured out how each panel works, it’s time to schedule them. Navigate through to the panel selection sub menu, then choose the icon with the clock. You’ll see the day broken down hour by hour, and panel icons next to them. Just drag and drop for each time. Want to check your email and calendar on the way to work? Schedule the “Professional home” panel to appear at 7am. Want to social network on your break? Set Facebook to take over at 1pm. It’s that easy.

And that’s it. The good news is those panels are only set to get more advanced: Sony Ericsson is opening the Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 software up to let developers make their own, so keep an eye out for even more in the future.

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