Kyocera Rio

Kyocera yesterday released a new cell phone for Cricket Wireless. The Rio E1300 can't quite match Kyocera's recent Zio M6000, but it's no basic handset, either.

The candy bar device's 2.8-inch touch screen will be your primary interface point. Below are a few physical controls including dedicated music player buttons, but there's no physical keyboard for messaging. Features include a 1.3-megapixel camera, a music player, a microSD card slot, stereo Bluetooth, links to Cricket Navigator, a speakerphone, voice dialing, 1GB of internal memory, messaging and e-mail, a personal organizer, and support for Cricket's MyBackup service.

The Rio is available now for $129, or $109 if you buy it online. That may seem pricey, but keep in mind that Cricket doesn't require contracts.