Details about the Rock C731 are currently missing, but the Brigade has just been approved by the FCC, under the name of Casio Hitachi C741.

We don’t know much about the specs of C741, save for the fact that it has CDMA/EV-DO connectivity and Bluetooth. However, the FCC has unveiled a sketchy image of the phone – although it seems that it’s just a part of it (otherwise, this would be a pretty weird device):

The previous Casio phone launched by Verizon, the Exilim C421, is a really cool handset, packing stuff like a 5.1MP camera with 3x optical zoom, a 180–degree rotating QVGA display, and GPS.

I guess that we should expect similar (or better) features to be included in the Casio Brigade C741. We’ll bring more details as soon as we find them.

• Verizon’s rugged Casio Brigade C741 already available?
• Verizon’s Casio G’zOne Brigade C741 now officially available
• Verizon announces the rugged Casio G’zOne Rock
• Verizon BlackBerry Curve 8530, Samsung u640 Convoy and Casio G’Zone Brigade
• Verizon announces the Casio G’zOne Ravine rugged clamshell

But soon a piece of color plastic to make your phone look different may seem so last century, as to be embarrassing.

And what’s to take it’s place? How about electronic ink displays on the phone cover, that you can configure to show any picture you want?

That’s what Hitachi is suggesting with it’s new Hitachi W61H clamshell for KDDI spring collection:

Hitachi W61H flip phone has a black and white 2.7″ e-ink display called “Silhouette screen” on the front cover. It comes with a number (actually 95 of them) of pre-installed graphic patterns, that user can select to make the phone look different.

For now, this e-ink display on the mobile phone is pretty basic, limited and available only in Japan. But give it a few years for improvements in e-ink/e-paper technologies, and we can expect another new market for mobile phone downloads to develop.

But this time, instead of ringtones and screensavers, we will be downloading the patterns and pictures for our phone covers.

• Samsung W750 Haptic PoP with colorful covers
• Samsung: Bringing Jackets to your Flip Phone
• LG Viewty in White, HTC Diamond in 7 new colors
• Nokia 3110 Evolve Environment Friendly Handset
• Hitachi introduces W63H clamshell phone