Hi babe, check out my cool phone

By KATHERINE HOBY

When it comes to flirting, cellphone-toting men think they know all the right buttons to push.

Researchers from the University of Liverpool in Britain have found that men use their mobiles the way peacocks flaunt their feathers.

The devoted researchers spent 23 evenings over four months in a pub studying cellphone use.

Men seemed to find it necessary to check the battery incessantly, stand their phone on the table and generally make sure everyone knew they were important enough to own one.

Women, however, kept phones in their handbags, only retrieving them when needed.

A check on those parading Auckland's waterfront yesterday seemed to bear out the British theory.

A trio of 20-something suits were easing into the first day back at work with a beer, cellphones gleaming on the table beside them.

Jason White, leaning back in his chair and twirling his phone like some sort of cellular cowboy, was happy to share his thoughts.

"For a guy, your car, your suit and your phone are reflective of your ... package," he said - to guffaws from his mates.

"Of course, in this case size does matter and small equals latest and greatest; the best."

Rachel James keeps her cellphone in her handbag and said it was just a tool for work.

She agreed that men flaunted their phones.

"It's just boys and their toys."

Two young men sitting down to lunch eased their cellphones onto the table but left fat wallets in their pockets.

"I could get the call of a lifetime any minute," one offered.

And your briefcase would be too far to reach to answer that call?

"Well, er, it's a status symbol, too. I put it out there for other guys to see."

Eleanor Walker admitted that a cellphone was one thing she looked at when scouting for a potential mate.

It indicated success.

"I definitely want to talk to that man," she said.

"The fact that he could get a call and be gone in a few minutes makes him that much more attractive."

Chris admitted his phone was purely for show.

"I'm unemployed but the celly reflects success, wealth, even sex appeal - everything I don't have but want women to think I do," he said.

"Besides, I don't have a handbag to stash stuff in."

A study by the same British researchers seems to suggest the boyish flaunting pays.

It found that women were more likely to get involved with men who showed off.