Latest And Hippest Cell Phones

Cell phones seem to be everywhere. Last year, there were more than 180 million cell phone subscribers in the U.S., according to the Cell Phone Technology Industry Association (CTIA). That compares to 21.7 million in 2003 and 300,000 in 1985.

So Brett Larson the technology editor for WCBS-TV stops by The Early Show to talk about the newest, most fun, high tech cell phones on the market.

Technological advances have developed so quickly that even a basic low-cost phone has more features than one that sold at a comparable price a few years ago. Larson says, for example, these days it's hard to get a cell phone that doesn't have a camera. It doesn't seem that long ago that it was a gee whiz feature.

He also notes that the life span of a cell phone has gone down and that's OK. "If you renew your contract every year or two years, you can get another one," Larson says. "That's usually the length of time that your cell phone agreement is for. And if you don't want to renew, you can go to another cell phone distributor."

Larson notes now it is very easy to keep you cell phone number and transfer it to another distributor.

The following are the cell phones featured on The Early Show:

Most of these phones are available exclusively through a particular cell phone service provider.

Inexpensive Cell Phone

• Sprint LG PM-325 camera phone - It comes with a camera and cool games that can be downloaded. Cost: Approx. $50

• LGF 9100 from Cingular - This pocket sized phone has something for everyone. The face slides away to reveal a full keyboard, perfect for sending text messages. The keyboard and phone are also good for instant messaging. It's only available to Cingular Wireless customers. Cost: Approx. $149 before any service rebates.

  Nokia 6620 from Cingular - This little phone lets you watch TV. Using MobiTV service, available to Cingular customers, you can watch relatively low quality TV. It has over a dozen cable channels available. The audio is better than the picture. Cost: approx. $249 before service rebates.

• LG VX8000 from Verizon - A phone that lets you download small video clips of video, such as music videos and short subject movies. Cost: approx. $269 before service rebates. This is only available to Verizon customers.

• Razr - It is made by Motorola and offered through Cingular. This ultra-thin cell phone has advanced features like MPEG4 video playback, Bluetooth wireless technology, a digital camera and a keypad. We will show the silver tone that is available. A black one that we will show will be available in a month or two. Cost: in the $400 range without service rebate.
• Sony Ericsson S710a

  This is sleek looking high-end camera phone with a clamshell design (refers to how it opens). Users can talk and view messaging without having to open the phone. You can use media applications such as Media Player, 3D games, Music DJ and Internet access. Cost: approx. $449 before service rebate

• Nokia lipstick phone - This is a very stylish slim phone. It slides open and contains a camera with a zoom feature and a radio. It doesn't have dial buttons, you scroll through numbers zero through nine to dial a number. Once you store the phone number, you can automatically dial by using the voice recognition technology. You can send/receive messages. It has Bluetooth technology, voice tags (voice dialing) for up to 10 phone numbers and you can download video clips. Cost: Approx. $750.