Sony Ericsson ushers in 21st century with MD300, first 3G USB modem

The cold war separating Sony Ericsson from North American 3G has been slowly melting as of late -- first with handsets, and now with modems. The MD300 isn't just Sony Ericsson's first 3G USB modem, it's also Sony Ericsson's first laptop modem of any sort to support UMTS and HSDPA on the 850 and 1900MHz bands. As USB modems go, it seems to be a pretty typical offering -- though it'll conveniently auto-install drivers on Windows machines, and it's not every day that you see a device like this offered in both "luxury black" and "metallic silver" shades. Who knew a modem could be a fashion accessory? Look for it in the first quarter of next year.