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In a presumed effort to shake up the Japanese wireless industry and provide consumers with 3G-equipped PCs that aren't tied to multi-year contracts, Hewlett-Packard has quietly announced a deal with Japan Communications that will allow its machines to be sold with SIM cards that can be used on a pay-as-you-go basis. For those unaware, JCI leases network space from NTT DoCoMo, and as part of the agreement, HP will not only get to choose which devices can connect, but it'll get to keep a nice slice of the mobile data revenue as well. Here's the crazy part: the initial wave of netbooks will be sold for between $50 and $100 sans contract. That's about what users pay in America now for subsidized WWAN-ready netbooks, but there's a two-year contract tagging along. If all goes well, we could even see full-sized laptops, smartphones and digital cameras hop on the same bandwagon, but for now, we'll be keenly watching how brisk sales are when things kick off next month.

New renders of what’s said to be the final design for Michael Arrington’s CrunchPad internet and media tablet have been released, and its taken a big step forward from the last devices we saw. Now crafted from aluminum, not plastic, so as to cut thickness down to 18mm, the CrunchPad still has a 12-inch touchscreen, WiFi internet access and a media player app.

The device has minimal hardware controls, but offers a USB port for plugging in an external keyboard or other devices. That way it could be used as a netbook-style portable computer, ideal for blogging and messaging as well as more passive internet browsing.

According to Arrington, the first hardware prototypes of this new design will reach their office in a few weeks time; they’re still talking about a roughly $300 price tag. Below you can see the latest video demo of the CrunchPad, running on the previous-gen prototype; the final CrunchPad design will boot straight into the Webkit-based browser.

The Nokia E75 is being touted as offering the benefits of full desktop email functionality in a mobile handset, and is the first device to offer the latest Nokia Messaging email user interface.
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Nokia said that the complete integration of its email and messaging services would allow for an efficient three-step email setup. The E75 has also been configured to offer access to both corporate and consumer email accounts, including Yahoo Mail, Gmail, Hotmail, Mail for Exchange and Lotus Notes Traveller.

The SIM-free model is available now from Nokia retail outlets and online stores in the UK for £379.

Unlike other E-series handsets, the E75 features a slide-out Qwerty keyboard and two customisable home screen views offering business and personal user interfaces.

The handset also offers integration with Nokia's web-based Ovi services, including Ovi Files for storing and accessing files and documents on a PC even when it is offline.

Nokia Maps, which works with the onboard Assisted-GPS, is preloaded for enhanced startup performance, and Nokia is supporting the N-Gage games service on an Eseries device for the first time.

The E75 goes on sale from Nokia direct today, and from Carphone Warehouse on a £35 pay-month tariff from 28 April, and from Orange Business on a £40 pay-month tariff from 4 May.