Ask Maria Novosad, 16, who says she's buying the uber-popular, supermodel-thin pink Motorola Razr phone sometime soon, even though she has a nit to pick with it.

"Personally, I think it's ugly when you open it," the St. Anthony Village (Minn.) High School junior said. "See? Because this bottom thing sticks out." She pointed to the slight bulge in the phone's speaker that is exposed when the wafer-thin top flips open.

So is she buying her third phone in six months because she likes its digital camera? Or for the built-in Bluetooth wireless technology Motorola boasts about?

Hardly. "It's hot pink," Novosad said. "You don't want a dull color when you get a cell phone. You get more attention when it's a bright color."

Motorola's engineers may wince. But more and more wireless carriers and cell phone makers are starting to market handsets this year simply for their looks, not their smarts.

For the holiday shopping season, handset makers are pulling out all the stops, with phones made of sensual materials in exotic shapes that people will fondle and phones that bling with paste-on crystals or drip with Starburst candy colors.

To be sure, most wireless carriers still emphasize their extensive networks, low monthly prices, endless minutes of talk time and cheap -- even free -- phones. But with more than 180 million Americans toting cell phones, the competition among wireless carriers for new customers is more intense than ever.

So, stunned by the runaway sales last year of Motorola's Razr, carriers are using phones with sex appeal to snatch customers away from their rivals.

Motorola has sold 12.5 million Razrs worldwide since the model was introduced in autumn 2004. In the United States, Cingular Wireless was the exclusive carrier for the $500 silver Razr last year. It added a black Razr this year.

The other major carriers took note. Verizon Wireless' Razr is dark gray, but it can get V-Cast video. Sprint unveiled a slender Samsung MM-A900 just before Thanksgiving that lets users download music over the air.

T-Mobile, meanwhile, unveiled two Razrs this fall -- one in the original silver and one an exclusive neon pink introduced the day after Thanksgiving.

"When it's in a store, this phone is a magnet," said Michael Gallelli, director of product marketing for T-Mobile USA. "You pick it up and you get a smile on your face."

Phone makers are acting more like fashion designers. Nokia has a spring collection ready, as if cell phones follow seasons. Think floral motifs and colors from nature -- ambers, turquoises and gold.

This is cache, read story here