I dare call myself tech-savvy on everything except phones. I can navigate through one just fine, but ask me about GSM unlocked phones and I'm in foreign territory.

Which brings me to my situation:

I'm in the United States for less than a year (hopefully), so I don't want to get a phone contract. I'll be moving to Italy afterwards and want to keep the same phone but just use a different SIM card.

Which carrier/phone/monthly plan should I go with? Cricket has some nice phones and unlimited data plans but I hear they're not GSM phones. T-mobile has GSM phones, so I guess they're the carrier I'm most likely to go with.

I'd like a smart phone so I can keep in touch via Skype with people while I'm away from home.