US smartphone and PDA phone users, take note: The future January 2008 issue of Consumer Reports will feature the publication's annual review of US operators' services. Here's a summary from MobileCrunch:

Verizon and Alltel scored the highest in this year's survey and T-Mobile matched satisfaction rates for Verizon in most of the cities surveyed. Consumer Reports gives good marks for T-Mobile plans that generally offer more service for the money than those of Verizon or Alltel.

For the review, Consumer Reports surveyed 47,000 readers from 20 different areas in the US. MobileCrunch also lists CR's five tips for saving money on voice and data plans:

• Look into special-caller deals
• Avoid overage charges
• Control your child's phone use
• Shop around for the extras
• Consider a pre-paid phone