C|Net says that 180 million Americans now have cell phones. with an average monthly bill of $50.64, of which about $8.61 goes to governments. In 2004, the system added 21.7 million new subscribers.

However, in contrast to the earlier post about the rising number of multi-purpose gizmos, a speaker at the New Orleans wireless said the path to nerd nirvana is not smooth. With respect to camera phones:

Notoriously short camera phone battery life; photo quality, especially in daylight; and the complexity of printing pictures are causing major headaches for the 180 million camera phone owners worldwide, according to [Kodak CEO Dan] Carp.

"These are all warning signs," he said. "If we're not careful, imaging could fade to niche application in phones. Some think it's happening already."