How does Apple's iPhone 3G compare with new touch-screen phone competitors?

Cell phones, once awkwardly designed and awful to use, have come a long way — thank Apple for that.

When it entered the cellular market a year ago with its groundbreaking iPhone, I declared it the first phone I'd buy. I adored its advanced, easy-to use touch display and its seamless integration of phone, iPod and Web-access features.

As a cell-less cheapskate, though, I blanched at the iPhone's steep cost. That was one pricey little gizmo.

Well, much and little have changed. Apple has rolled out its new iPhone 3G with a few hardware enhancements and dramatically advanced software capabilities along with a price tag cut in half (wow). But the iPhone is actually more expensive now, if you factor in long-term cell-contract fees, which are higher than before. So I'm still not buying one.

Should you? If you held out last time and are tempted to take the plunge now, I won't try to talk you out of it. With updates like Global Positioning System tracking and access to a faster cellular-data network, the new phone is sweet.

But if you have an iPhone, know this: The most substantive enhancements are in the software, and that software runs on old iPhones, too. Even Apple's iPod Touch, a cell-less touch-screen device, has access to it.

Apple also has debuted a suite of MobileMe online services — including mail, calendar, contact-management, photo-publishing and file-storage options — for the iPod Touch and all the iPhones, as well as for Windows and Macintosh.

Those on a U.S. cellular network other than ATT can't buy an iPhone (sorry) but do have iPhone-like options such as the just-released LG Dare, a touch-screen handset on the Verizon network, and the new Samsung Instinct from Sprint. While those can't match the iPhone's overall ease of use, they boast advanced features the Apple phone lacks.

More info: apple.com/iphone and xrl.us/iphoneatt