Man, did SE blow their foray into the Android world. When those first images of their custom UI–then known as Rachael–broke lose a little over a year ago, Android fans went wild. When early units were demoed for tech bloggers, the software was non-responsive, but still impressive for its unique take on the Android experience. When release was delayed, delayed, and delayed some more, it looked like the phone was either being updated to take on the bleeding edge devices on the market or buried deep in some SE exec’s basement for posterity. By the time we finally saw retail boxes, the X10 series was already tired and outdated, running Android 1.6. We knew updates were coming, and that they probably meant Android 2.1…but there was a shred of hope.

It is with a heavy (though not surprized) heart that I present to you this SE roadmap, which indicates the X10 line and X8 will be seeing Eclair, but nothing beyond. Now, the update will provide more home screens, enhancements to Timescape and Mediascape, and will enable 720p video capture and HTML5, but it appears that Froyo was not meant to be.

If SE wants to continue in the Android market, I hope they have something huge developing under wraps as you read this (like a dual-core, high end spec monster), but I’m not holding my breath.