Time to dust off the ole memory bank, folks. Toshiba's G910 super-device, which hit the FCC at the tail end of 2007, has finally been acquired, unboxed, photographed and reviewed. In one place, too -- isn't that so convenient? For starters, it's tough to argue with an 800 x 480 resolution display, but you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who considers the overall style to be anywhere close to sexy. Overall, the Portege G910 was deemed a lackluster business phone with above average battery life, though the inability to function on a US 3G network was a real downer for those in the States. Additionally, it lagged behind in pure performance, and a variety of quirks caused the reviewer to utilize the handy reset button "a lot." Seems like a glance at the pics may be as close as you'll ever want to get with this one.

Hopes had been reasonably high that Toshiba's G810 would rest near the top of the keyboardless WinMo food chain for a while, but if PocketNow's review is any indication, that's a tall order. Problem numero uno -- which we didn't need a review to tell us, necessarily -- is that the completely tactile-free directional pad and accompanying buttons make using the darned thing a challenge, no matter how cool the glowy blue lights may be. What's more, the screen is QVGA, which is unacceptable for a high-end WinMo handset in 2008, and the tester was unable to get even a single full day of battery life out of it with typical use. On the bright side, the camera appears to take some of the better shots we've ever seen come out of a cameraphone, but is that really enough to justify the $700-plus that retailers are commanding? Probably not.

In Japan, carriers tend to release new models in giant, blockbuster batches -- seasonal "collections" that leave the rest of the world green with envy. KDDI au is no exception, having just announced its predictably spectacular Summer 2008 lineup with entrants from Kyocera, Sony Ericsson, Sanyo, Sharp, Toshiba, Casio, and Korea's Pantech. Here's the rundown:

• Hitachi Wooo W62H. KDDI is emphasizing this one's video and 3D gaming capabilities, both of which are assisted by the presence of a 2-way hinge for flipping out the screen in a landscape orientation. Comes in blue, silver, and black.
• Sharp W62SH. The FM transmitter's kinda cool, and the three-inch WVGA screen should be perfect for watching Spiderman 2, which comes bundled with the phone. Purple, white, and gold are the color choices.
• Sanyo W63SA. Global CDMA roaming and an integrated English-Japanese dictionary makes this one a solid choice for world travelers. Get this one in red, silver, or black.
• Toshiba Sportio. As the name implies, this one's all about burnin' those calories with an integrated calorie counter. The candybar form factor is a refreshing change of pace in the lineup, but too bad about that QVGA display! Five colors to choose from here: orange, black, white, green, and red.
• Casio G'zOne W62CA. Like its counterparts on Verizon, the W62CA is designed to take a beating without falling apart. It's impact resistant and waterproof, features a compass, thermometer, and GPS, and naturally, one-seg TV. Get it in green, black, or white.
• Sanyo W64SA. This fashionable flip has some crazy light effects to go along with its crazy selection of colors, but other than that, it seems pretty pedestrian. If you can call a 2.8-inch WVGA display "pedestrian." It's available in pink, white, yellow, and black.
• Sony Ericsson Full Change re. The WQVGA display is one metric ton of weak sauce, but as the "Full Change" name suggests, five individual pieces can be removed from the front, back, and top of the phone to create a totally customized handset. Shell choices include white, pink, green, orange, and silver.
• Toshiba W62T. Seriously, what's up with all this WQVGA garbage? The W62T appears destined for the midrange, though the 3.2 megapixel camera ain't bad. Colors for this one are gold, pink, and black.
• Kyocera W64K. Possibly leading up the bottom end of the collection, the W64K rocks a WQVGA display and a weak 2 megapixel cam. We see "basic capabilities" mentioned a couple times in the translated description for it, so that says pretty much all we need to know. Pink and gold are the only color options here.
• Kyocera W62K. Whoa, and we thought the W64K was low end! 1.3 megapixel cam, QVGA (yeah, that's right, QVGA, not WQVGA) display. 'Nuff said. Beige, blue, and black are the choices here.
• Kyocera W63K. The W63K candybar is just 10.8mm thick, but we're still not sure that we can forgive it for a meager 1.3 megapixel camera. Kyocera's seriously dragging here, in case you haven't noticed the trend. Black, burgundy, and beige.
• Pantech W62PT. The only phone in the lineup sourced from a non-Japanese manufacturer, the Pantech's nothing to get too excited about with a QVGA display, but the presence of quick dial buttons directly below the screen indicates that this one's designed for folks that are looking for a simple, easy-to-use phone that's just enough to make voice calls -- and ironically, it's still better than a good percentage of the phones you'll find elsewhere in the world. It'll come in silver, gold, and pink.

Not a bad showing, especially considering that KDDI au stands out as Japan's major CDMA carrier in a country dominated by FOMA. Get 'em while they're hot, folks -- you know it's just a few months before the next collection debuts!

Up until today, Japan's EMOBILE was up and running, sure, but there was a catch: it didn't offer any phones. It had been offering Sharp's lovely EM-ONE, yes, but the device wasn't voice capable. The low-cost GSM carrier is movin' on up in the world now, though, with the introduction of the Toshiba-sourced H11T clamshell and the Windows Mobile 6-powered S11HT "EMONSTER" from HTC, which should look very familiar to anyone with a TyTN II or Tilt. EMOBILE's got a fairly small footprint that's restricted primarily to densely populated areas, so anyone looking to jet set across Japan is probably going to want the H11T, which is capable of roaming on DoCoMo's airwaves and features a 3.2 megapixel camera, one-seg tuner, and a QVGA display. The company's going to start taking preorders on March 1, with the official voice launch going down on March 28.

Right on KDDI's heels comes Softbank, roaring in with fourteen new models (not including the oh-so-pricey Tiffany phone) for the spring season. Though the lineup includes the usual array of crazy clamshells, this particular group includes a curious model designed specifically for stock trading and the Japanese introduction of a couple phones we're already well acquainted with. Can ya spot 'em in the picture there? Read on!

Yes, friends, the time has come once again for Japan's carriers to upheave their still-fresh lineups and replace them with even fresher ones. Here we take a look at KDDI au's just-announced Spring '08 collection, including a model with an e-ink display and another with a 3 inch OLED. Wowza! Note that not all of these handsets are new -- some are carryovers from the carrier's Winter '07 collection, so we won't be covering those here. Read on.

Like the QWERTY form factor on Windows Mobile Standard? Like Toshiba? Hate 3G data? Live in Germany? If you answered "yes" to all of the above, you might just be a perfect fit for the "VDA." Hot on the heels of an announcement from Toshiba as the unbranded G710, the::unwired reports that Vodafone Germany has signed up to carry the little beast in its lineup as the VDA. Besides EDGE data, you get a 2 megapixel cam, GPS, 64MB of RAM, 128MB of internal ROM, and support for microSD cards up to 2GB all displayed through a positively uninteresting QVGA display. No word yet on pricing or availability, but we can't imagine there are too many folks out there rearing to line up for this one.

Evidence of Toshiba's new Portege G920 QWERTY doesn't get any better than an FCC filing. Still if you need more, you're looking at the G920 held aloft in the wilds of some Tosh briefing. That slide on the left looks to be tattling on Toshiba's 2008 roadmap too -- at least Toshiba's lineup for launch in Russia where this presentation was apparently delivered. From it, we see the G920 scheduled for an early Q1 release followed by a G930 in early Q4. Also spotted is the G800 with stylus input, G710 and G720 with GPS, and G450 classed as a "USB modem phone." Expect to hear more on the Q1 column of devices at CES in a few weeks.

Probably because it's not that big of a player in the domestic cellphone space, Toshiba may not be familiar with all the ins and outs of FCC confidentiality agreements, as evidenced by its testing subcontractor leaving tons of juicy photos of the unannounced Portege G910 / G920 smartphones in those devices' recently-declassified applications. Tosh's blunder clues us in to a whole world of info about this followup to the WVGA, Windows Mobile 6 Portege G900, such as the fact that it's eschewing its predecessor's sliding form factor for the clamshell-design of the Nokia E90 (perhaps an answer to the tilting screen of HTC's TyTN II?). While full specs aren't yet available, we've pieced together that these devices (differentiated by the fact that one of them will have a crippled GPS receiver) are tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 -- sorry, fellow Americans, no US broadband here -- with WiFi, Bluetooth, and dual cameras, and powered by a Qualcomm processor of unknown speed. Hit up the gallery here for a few more inelegant FCC glamour shots, including some dissection photos that may help our clever readers glean even more information...

Alongside KDDI, Softbank and NTT DoCoMo have both announced their autumn / winter '07 handset lineups as well. More on the NTT DoCoMo goodies shortly, but for now, let's take a closer look at just what Softbank has to offer our friends on the other side of the Pacific, shall we?

[Thanks, Chris N.]