Vodafone: Is that a Ferrari in your Pocket?

Vodafone K.K. will start selling the tiny Sharp V302SH phone in Japan August 19; however, it's hoping a special red Ferrari Edition will rev up sales.

Mobile phone operator Vodaphone has announced it will start selling the tiny Sharp V302SH (2G) mobile phone handset in Japan starting August 19. The V302H weighs in a slight 90 grams and offers a wide-anngle Mobile ASV LCD display and highly customizable screen and icons, plus a just-the-basics Simple Mode with large text for easy phone operation by the elderly and mobile-phone beginners.

But Vodafone isn’t stopping there: on September 9, it plans to begin selling a special bright red Ferrari Edition of the V302S, which comes complete with not only the official Ferrari logo on the front, but also featuring actual Ferrari F1 driver and car graphics display screens for the phone’s standby, menu, calling, and messaging features. Not enough? The Ferrari Edition will also offer actual Ferrari engine sound effects, so ” customers will feel as if they are in the world of Ferrari at the race track when using the V302SH.”

We’re sure hearing a soundbite of a car engine blasted into one’s ear out of a battery-powered membrane the size of a lima bean is just like attending Grand Prix Formula 1 racing. The only thing missing is the heat and the distinctive parfum of fuel and hot oil.

But still. Bright red. Vroom.

On the high end, Vodafone will start selling the 903SH (3G) handset on August 12; the phone features a 3.2 megapixel cameraphone with a 2x optical zoom (Vodafone says this is an industry first) and auto focus. But even more impressive