Hutch, NEC, Sony Ericsson - all shouting about handsets

Hutchison 3G UK, owner of the third-generation mobile network branded '3', has revealed some phones, service plans and a special deal for 20,000 'founder' customers who sign up now.

Interested users can pre-register at http://www.three.co.uk, a swish homepage for the UK featuring details of launch handsets - the NEC e606 (RRP £399), the Motorola A830 (RRP £399) and the NEC e808 (RRP £449).

It follows a mysterious 'friendly-triallist' period in the UK and Italy where around 1,000 phones were tested on the pre-launch networks. No launch date has been announced as yet.

Hutchison is educating users about video calling, video postcards, content such as exclusive Premier League football clips, games and more.

However, even the promotional price plans will cost from £59.99 to £99.99 per month, giving some indication that trail-blazing 3G users will have to pay a substantial premium for their status.

Coinciding with the Hutchison announcements, handset joint venture Sony Ericsson has started a promotional campaign for its T300 phone - which it has nick-named 'The Bar' - and its peripheral MCA-25 CommuniCam, which it hopes will meet demand for MMS-enabled handsets in the run up to Christmas.

While packed with features such as GPRS, tri-band, joystick, picture phone book and an MMS composer, the company has chosen an unusual theme of drooling for its advertising push.

Consumers will be bombarded with reasons why it is "cool to drool", a drool glossary and trendy models pictured with spittle falling from their mouths.