With the Apple iPhone, HTC G1 (the “Google phone”), and Blackberry devices taking over the smartphone industry by storm (no pun intended, Blackberry), it’s time for Sony Ericsson (SE) to step up to the plate and offer a sleek device with updated hardware and a state-of-the-art user interface.  And from the looks of it, it seems as if SE has done just that with their new handset code-named Rachael.  Although the actual images of the cell phone may be artist rendering (or fakes for all we know), the user interface revealed in the embedded video above is very real and very exciting.  The SE Rachael will run of Google’s Android open-source platform, with its own customized user interface layered on top.  The polished UI seems to include a “unified messaging interface that displays Facebook, Twitter, email, SMS, and calls all from one screen.”  Now all we can do is wait patiently for SE to officially announce the new handset and sleek UI; they better do this quickly because smartphone platforms like the iPhone are not slowing down their progress anytime soon.  Look after the break (click “more…”) for images of the Rachael device.

[Via Engadget]