The Wild Card Phone by Kyocera Wireless from Virgin Mobile USA

Wireless phone users are not the happiest of campers. They want texting, a camera, Bluetooth, music downloads, e-mail and more. But their unhappiness comes from poor customer service, dropped calls and being stuck in cellphone jail (meaning longterm contracts with a large termination fee for canceling).

Virgin Mobile came along, initially aimed at a young demographic, to provide affordable wireless service for those who couldn't get or didn't want a one- or two-year contract. It provides prepaid service (pay by the minute). When you need a refill, you buy a refill card, or load more minutes refill via the phone or the Virgin Mobile Website.

Virgin Mobile's phones weren't the latest and greatest offerings, however. But that is beginning to change. The Wild Card by Kyocera Wireless from Virgin Mobile USA is their best card from the deck so far. Virgin Mobile USA sent a unit for review. It's a clamshell phone with snappy style and nice features.

Let's look at some of the specs. The Wild Card has two display screens. The external one is 128 by 128 pixels, while the internal is 128 by 160 pixels wide screen. The 1.3 megapixel camera is adequate, and offers features including resolution and flash setting, low light mode, self timer, multishot, white balance, color tones and shutter sounds.

You get a speakerphone, real-music ringtones, WAP 2.0 Web browser and Bluetooth. Opening the phone reveals the QWERTY keypad. It's a bit small, of course, but can be useful at times. It includes a spacebar, so you don't have to search for the right key to enter a space.

The Wild Card by Kyocera Wireless is 3.94 inches high by 1.97 inches wide by .79 inches in depth; it weighs just over four ounces. The color display on the front is for voice calls. Turn the phone sideways and flip it open to see the wide screen. Inside you do Web surfing, IMing, e-mail and so forth.