It almost seems too cruel to flag up these SoftBank Mobile handsets, but many of them will be available unlocked for use outside of Japan if you have the inclination to find them and the money to buy them SIM-free.  Out of the fourteen new cellphones, I’ve picked out a few of my favourites - either for their form factor, for their specs or simple curiosity.  First up, the Sharp 921SH FULLFACE 2, worthy of inclusion in my pick-list for its whopping great 3.2-inch VGA screen.  You’ll want it for the 1Seg mobile TV service, as well as the 3.2-megapixel camera; Sharp also include a microSD slot capable of taking up to 4GB cards.  While it’ll be available - come March - in white, blue, gold and pink, it’s the intimidating black that perhaps suits it best, I feel.

Next up, Panasonic’s 920P, which as you can see has a clever dual-direction hinge as seen on one of Motorola’s early smartphones.  It’s the hinge that lured me in, but that 3-inch VIERA-branded WVGA screen is worthy of some attention, too, and despite its size the handset can play 1Seg digital TV for six continuous hours.  Sadly, 1Seg isn’t available in Europe, so despite the 920P being global GSM compatible, one of the handset’s major selling points is lost.  Still, a 5-megapixel camera might make up for that.

Finally, it’s a bit niche but the twisting display of the Sharp 920SH YK - which is intended to show off stock exchange graphs to information-hungry traders - is an eye-catcher.  It uses the E*Trade service to monitor the market, and has a 3.2-inch WVGA display, 1Seg TV tuner and is arriving in March.

Any of the SoftBank bunch taking your fancy?  Think I’ve missed out a winner?  Let us know in the comments.

[via Engadget]