The "premini" handset, actually manufactured by Japanese-Swedish joint venture Sony Ericsson, is 9.0 centimetres (3.6 inches) long, 3.9 centimetres wide and 1.9 centimetres thick.

The target market is male customers in their 20s and 30s who prefer to have the minimum necessary functions on their mobile phones, the company said.

The new gadget is expected to be launched in Japan in mid-2004, officials said.

It weighs in at just 69 grams (2.42 ounces), one gram lighter than the mobile phone unveiled by Japanese hi-tech company NEC Corp. in February for the Chinese market, which was touted as the world's smallest at the time.

NEC's camera-equipped yet card-shaped mobile phone measures 8.5 centimeters in length, 5.4 centimeters in width and is 8.6 millimeters thick.

SPACE.WIRE