Sony Ericsson is dusting off plans to unveil an Android handset this year, joining Motorola, Acer and Samsung in the later launch cycle for smartphones based on the Google-backed open source mobile platform.

Codenamed "Rachael," the Android touchscreen phone will be part of the company's Xperia Series, which also includes the Windows Mobile X1, and include an 8-megapixel camera, according to reports by Danish Mobile magazine's Web site.

If reports are true, the phone will run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon platform, which means it would have processor speeds of up to 1GHz. No other details were provided by the magazine and Sony Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) declined to comment on the report.

The news of the device comes after slumping Sony Ericsson announced during a grim earnings call in April that it would delay releasing any Android smartphones. At that time, the company posted a $382 million loss for the first quarter and a 35 percent drop in shipments year-over-year amid widespread layoffs.

It's possible that the Finnish firm is counting on Android sales to take off and doesn't want to be left behind as other first-string players in the mobile sector begin rolling out new models.

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