Cell phones of all stripes now offer some of the attributes of Apple's iPhone, which dazzled consumers when it arrived in mid-2007. Some feature-rich smart phones might not match the iPhone for multimedia prowess, but all have fairly large, easy-to-read screens and simplified menus. Other smart phones are shrinking in size and price. But not everyone needs a phone with sophisticated capabilities driven by a computer-like operating system. Our tests for this report are still dominated by regular phones that you typically get for $100 or less with a two-year service commitment. Here's the news in phones of all types:

More keyboards. With text messaging the most common cell-phone activity after voice calls, more conventional phones now have the familiar QWERTY keyboard found on almost all smart phones.

Dual-connection phones. Some phones can handle voice calls on either a phone network or a Wi-Fi connection. The Wi-Fi connection also provides faster Internet browsing and downloading. Some CDMA phones can also connect to the GSM networks of foreign countries.

More music features. Even most basic cell phones now have an MP3 player with improved capabilities, though the music itself is still typically loaded from your computer via a cable. Many even support stereo Bluetooth headsets for music enjoyment with fewer wires.

Better cameras. Most new phones have cameras with resolutions of 1 to 2 megapixels that are capable of producing respectable snapshots, though many lack a flash, which is helpful when taking pictures in dark environments. Some models with 3 or more megapixels take photography more seriously by pairing sharper image sensors with high-grade lenses, auto-focus, zoom, and brightness controls for greater photo control.

In the end, we use our phones to make calls, and as our latest tests reveal, voice quality still lags behind cordless and corded phones on traditional landlines. Even talk time, though acceptable, hasn't improved much in recent years.