Color Antennas Signal Newest Cell-Phone Fad

Ah, the cell phone. Like the car, it says so much about its owner. Because of that, you definitely want to have your ringing leash stand out in a crowd.

You’ve probably already picked up a customized cover. Maybe you’ve downloaded a customized cell-phone ring. (Stick with a classical tune. Trust us. Heavy metal just doesn’t work in the bling-bling world.)

Think you’re unique? No way. Until you swap out your antenna, you’re just one of the herd.

Known as flashing antennas and available through a variety of online outlets--including at https://www.flashingantennas.com--these gadgets screw onto all major brands of hand-held and mobile phones. When your phone rings, the antenna lights up, just like those pegs you used to punch into the Lite Brite panel.

The antennas have become ridiculously popular in Japan, particularly among teens and twentysomethings eager to catch calls at noisy nightclubs and busy restaurants.

Most antennas come in single colors--red, blue or green. But if you’re going to have something flashing in your pocket, go wild and plug in one of the air-bubble antennas--the colored bubbles flash in the transparent case--or one of the multicolor devices that flicker with as many as eight multicolor light-emitting diodes.

Installation is dead easy: Just pull off or unscrew your old antenna and insert the new one. Plus, they’re relatively cheap: from $7.99 to nearly $30 each.