It's alive! Take that naysayers, we were sure -- or at least really hopeful -- that modu was the real deal, and after our visit with them this morning, we can assure everyone it is. The Guinness Book of World Record people have even confirmed it to be the smallest mobile handset in the world, so we stacked three of 'em up next to our favorite N95-3 and they were just a hair bigger -- see the gallery for the goods. The possibilities are endless for branding, as new modu jackets take almost no time to develop and each jacket can even have its own theme that's loaded, translator content, when you pop the modu in. We saw a pile of prototype ideas, including travel guides, a pocket PC version -- this was way cool -- iPod-esque dock with text message display, and a bevy of others. Modu should be hitting retail toward the end of this year, hopefully we'll see a review unit before then. Follow the link for a massive gallery.

Mystery solved, modu is of course, a modular cellular handset -- the answer was in the name the whole time, clever. The fun begins with the idea that the actual handset can be slipped into "modu jackets" which let users completely change the look of their handset without having to replace it -- we see the potential for way too much glittery gem-encrusted foolishness here. The other half of the deal is slapping the modu into different modu-enabled consumer electronics, or "modu mates" -- think car stereos, photo frames, DAPs, and whatever else you can dream up. If we were betting types, we think modu is on to something pretty interesting here, and it seems with likes of Blaupunkt, Universal Music, and SanDisk already onboard, the Q4 launch might prove to be something special. We don't have any pics showing detail or any technical specs handy just now, but rest assured, we're going to be all over them at Mobile World Congress for more info.