Nokia and Motorola Come Up Stale

Wireless-phone makers rolled out their new models at the annual CTIA trade show this week in Las Vegas.

And while there were few fresh phones from No. 1 Nokia (NOK) and No. 2 Motorola (MOT), Korean challengers Samsung and LG made strong impressions with new designs.

Overall, the top features continue to be cameras, Bluetooth, messaging and music. And there seems to be no end in sight for the thinning trend.

Nokia introduced four phones destined for the U.S. market. Three of the phones are on the CDMA standard, but none has high-speed data capability available on the new 3G EV-DO networks. Two of these phones are clamshell-style and all have color screens.

Nokia has had limited success in code division multiple access, or CDMA, the fastest-growing cellular phone standard in the U.S. Much of the problem has been blamed on Nokia's refusal to buy CDMA chips from Qualcomm (QCOM). That resistance seems to be continuing, as Nokia's newest CDMA phones include no next-generation Qualcomm engineered EV-DO technology.

CDMA operators like Verizon Wireless -- co-owned by Verizon (VZ) and Vodafone (VOD) -- and Sprint (S) have spent billions of dollars on EV-DO network upgrades over the past year.

The notable Nokia entry was the 6126, a folding GSM phone. But again, it brings no high-speed UMTS capability. The 6126 does give a nod to the slim-phone trend that has swept through the handset market. Nokia has been characteristically stubborn about following design trends. And while not a true thin phone, Nokia did manage to taper the 6126 toward the bottom for a slightly sleeker look.

Nokia vowed at its analyst day in December that it would retake market share in the U.S. But glitches seem to be spoiling that prediction.