This time last year at MWC 2008, the Israeli company Modu showed us their Modu phones, a concept built around a core handset which could be customised with ‘jackets’, which would not only change the look of the phone, but the functionality too.  Now, a year on, Modu are returning to MWC and are coming with the phone and the initial line-up of jackets!

It all starts with the Modu itself, a tiny 40 gram – the worlds lightest mobile phone according to Guiness Book of World Records – core unit which makes calls, sends SMS, has Bluetooth connectivity and 2GB of storage.  This can be used on its own, however what makes the Mudu fun is slotting it inside a jacket dedicated to a particular function.

It looks like the initial series of jackets will be the Classic, a slider style case designed to be useful in everyday life,the Night, a futuristic, angular case with night mode imaging and plenty of flashing lights, the Express which is a lightweight, no frills jacket for the messaging fan and finally the Street Art, a more music focussed casing with dedicated music keys and a stylised keypad.

Taking a look at Modu’s website reveals some more interesting jackets due in the future, including Photo-Frame which turns the Modu into a display for your digital pictures while the phone charges and the Bicycle Jacket designed to fit on the handlebars of your bike and enable easy operation while peddling away.

We love the idea of this level of customisation and having a single device which can easily adapt to our needs, plus Modu have clearly been developing this heavily since its debut last year.  Actual technical specifications are almost non-existant however, as is word on when the handset will be released here in the UK.  Hopefully all this will be revealed at MWC 2009!