Nokia and AT&T today announced a new Symbian S60-based smartphone aimed at subscribers who are first-time smartphone owners looking for a low-cost device.
The Nokia Surge smartphone has a full front-row QWERTY keyboard, 2.4-inch LCD screen, 2-megapixel camera, and is a horizontal slider phone. Nokia is including a GPS radio, Microsoft Exchange support, and the device can also support AT&T services such as JuiceCaster and Navigator.
Additional apps can be installed on the phone using the Nokia Ovi Store. The device can also play multiple formats of audio and video files.
The phone will launch in the U.S. on July 19 and will cost $79.99 with a two-year phone service contract.
"Launching at $79.99 with a complete e-mail solution, downloadable applications and a full HTML browser with Flash support, Nokia Surge hits the sweet spot between a quick messaging phone and a smartphone because of its low-price and strong feature set," Nokia officials said in a statement.
Nokia is the No.1 phone manufacturer in the world, but has struggled greatly trying to sell phones on the U.S. market. Even so, Nokia continues to release promising smartphone offerings for consumers. The company's E71x smartphone received solid reviews and the Surge looks like a decent low-cost solution for "beginner" smartphone users.
Nokia remains extremely popular in Europe, but has had trouble convincing U.S. mobile providers to pick up contracts to help subsidize their devices for consumers.
