Buying a cell phone is more than a matter of choosing a handset--you also have to pick a service provider, or carrier, as well. Each carrier in the United States offers a different selection of technologies and services, so it's important to think about your needs when making a choice. For that reason, selecting a carrier should be the first step in the cell phone buying process.

Wireless carriers in the United States operate over two different networks: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) an Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM). Though each technology transmits voice and data, they do so in d erent ways, which makes them incompatible. As a result, you can't take a CDMA phone and use it on GSM.Of the carriers, AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM while Sprint, Verizon, and smaller carriers such as such as MetroPC and U.S Cellular use CDMA. Though Nextel is part of Sprint .

I recently heard someone quip, "Landline is just like a wall clock and mobile phone a wrist watch. In any family, there is at least one wall clock, but each member needs a personal wrist watch". With the latest mobile phone sale figure revealing that India is the second largest market behind China for Cell Phones, I have to admit that the quip was spot -on! With all the major mobile phone manufacturers being bullish on India's potential you see newer models being lau nched every month. Nokia even chose India for the world wide launch of its latest models some time back.

So, why are so many models being launched by every brand and that too so frequently? After all most of us already have mobile phones which enable us to talk! Well, the newer models not only allow you to talk but can also store yo ur music and photo files. There are so many additional features available which range from letting you access Interne t on the phone to capturing a video on it. Techies may differ, still most of these bewildering array of features remain u nused.