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The next latest bit of colloration goodness comes from Hulger and Monorex. Also check out Hulger's new phone bases which make those vintage phones look even more like objets d'art. Via Josh Spear.

I settled for a Sony Ericsson K610i when I recently upgraded my old phone, which was dying, sometimes taking two days to charge up. Anyway, in my consideration for getting a new phone, I acutally wanted a sexy clamshell but since I never found one, I went for the gorgeous red hue of the K610i plus its 2 megapixel camera/3G capability at the price of S$178. I did find a clamshell which piqued my interest. But when I looked further, I realised I really didn't want a clamshell that was glossy black plastic. If it were matte, I would be sold. But in any case, here's the Z610. Cool OLED screen with a finish reminiscent of their newish DAPs.

Browsing through the Sony Ericsson Japan website is like looking into a crystal ball and the results can be just as erratic. Whilst you are looking into the future, there's no telling it will be the right one. What I mean to say is Japan make really cool stuff that they keep at home, sometimes releasing a bit of it so the world keeps lusting after their mad design flair. I really really abhor this sort of design nationalism and the protectionist measures that Japanese companies adopt! Share the love dammit!

The latest subject of my (mobile) fantasy is SE Japan's latest S0702i phone which anybody in Japan can get if they sign up with NTT DoCoMo. This cool clamshell is cute and comes in 3 basic colors (black, white and pink) and two panels which you can customize. Instead of 2 or 3 options, you get something like 25 sets which you mix and match as well. The panels are separated into categories as well. Panel Travel comes in London, Nordic and Japan graphic styles, whilst Panel Maison comes with Paint, Print and Texture Styles. The graphic styles take on classic styles from the 3 areas whilst the Paint is a variety of candy colors. Print is interesting in that the face plates come with striking graphics as well as holes, which allow the original color of the phone to come through, resulting in a nice effect. The Texture styles add a more tactile feel, with leather and lace forming the embellishment. Heck they even have a colloboration with Porter even.

Alas that minority of the world that isn't Japan will not be able to enjoy such sweet delights and we can only wallow in our stone aged fate. By the way, have I mentioned the dearth of cool phones outside Japan at the moment? My old phone is getting pretty bang up and I'm saddened by the fact I might settle for a Nokia or even a PEBL which is sort of equivalent to settling for a pair of Crocs instead of Zvezdochkas.

Ok I understood the concept behind the phone, hence the ugly finish which didn't disappoint a lot of people but surely, they should have come up with this a whole lot sooner. Motorola's finally gonna release colored PEBLs ala the RAZR and judging from the pic on their site, they say its gonna be black(again), electric blue, orange, lime and pink. I still hate the candy metal shades and hope they'll either release a satin aluminum finish or just spanking white. Expected around Q2 in 2006. Link also sends you to David LaChappelle's shots of the product.

Its au by KDDI again! Working again with Naoto Fukasawa, the prolific Japanese mobile phone company releases the neon. Ultra minimalist and not unlike something from his plusminuszero collection, Fukasawa keeps it simple and compact. The neon is a rectangular clamshell with only the smallest rounded edges. The front exterior is a totally flat plane of color. When you pop it open, the screen and buttons retain a very simplistic aesthetic. The sides and back of the phone are ornamented by discreet details, hinting at the objects function.

Link from Reluct.

Check out more pix here. Link via dezain then MoCo Loco.

This asteroid drops onto earth in sometime during the ice age. As time progresses, the asteroid is weathered down in size and after what seems an eternity, finds a resting place on a sea bed. A hand reaches out and picks it up, the new Motorola PEBL. That's the ad on tv I keep seeing nowadays and I must say I really like the ad and the phone.

Being the sucker for clamshells that I am, the PEBL also sort of takes after the PENCK (which is only available in Japan and for use in Japanese networks anyway) so its looking very likely to take over my aging Sony Ericsson Z200 despite the fact my girlfriend thinks its ugly.

Love the way it opens itself with a single touch.

au by KDDI keeps coming out with consistently high standard mobile phones. From Marc Newson's talby to Makoto Saito's beautiful PENCK, they've got an impressive collection of handsets that cause massive salivation.

This trend continues with the Media Skin by Tokujin Yoshioka. Unveiled recently at the Tokyo Design Week, the Media Player could pass off for an iPod handphone almost. The promo shot has the handset dipped in paint, drawing many people to hope that it could really behave like that and you could dip your phone in different colors everyday.

Despite the fact that that's just going to fantasy for the conceivable future, the Media Skin remains a really attractive mobile communication device that just keeps things simple and pure.

Hulger is a company started by this UK designer who decided that he was sick of looking at the same horrible plastic mobile phones that are everywhere and the throwaway, get a new handphone every few months mentality.

So what he did was to take old retro handsets, repaint them and rewire them a bit, so they became like mega speaker handsets that could connect to your mobile phone. So instead of walking around with a silly bluetooth contraption on your ear, or some mic dangling down your face, you've got this huge, loudly colored piece of history that looks like youre talking to someone other than yourself.

Some models even come with bluetooth and I think what's great isn't that these huge handsets are just a joke or that they challenge the boring design intent of each new phone that comes out. What's great is that there's actually a possible market for these phones that makes them more practical than you think. Adding a cable allows each handset to be connected to a computer, enabling a it to turn into a voip handset instead. I think this niche is where the phone goes from being a big bright gimmick to something beautiful and practical.

This collaboration between the luxury electronics company and the Korean mobile phone giant came out a month back. The serene is a black clamshell that turns all other clamshells on its head.

All traditional clamshells have the screen on top and the keypad below. The serene is the reverse and claims its more comfortable because of it. (perhaps the weight is distributed differently) The loudspeaker is also below the keypad and its got a nice hinge detail but it doesn't make it any prettier anyway.

One interesting detail about the phone (it looks quite fat in some of the photos) is the big navigation button in the middle, kinda like some inverse iPod. And to up the bling factor, it already has a carrying case designed by LV.

I suppose you really have to see the damn thing in reality to get a good feel of it, how it works, looks etc. Yet, I just can't help thinking that its just plain ugly, not to mention uncomfortable looking. For that reason, I'm not gonna stain my blog with a pic.