cingular isnt all tat bad, ive been using them for over 5 years. as of right now theres only two companies tat offer sim cards, tmobile and cingular. i duno bout where u guys live but in the bay area, tmobile is pretty bad.
the iphone is a slick phone. its got touchscreen, wifi, edge, and quad band. the problem is IT WILL NOT HAVE 3G, and the price is a little steep.
if u really want a high quality camera phone look into the sony k800, nokia n93/70, or a sharp 903/904. i bought the sharp 903 and day pictures looks like it came from a camera. these phones will all have all the high tech stuff,3G, triband, email/txt, java, etc.
more stuff on the iphone here