AT&T Hopes to Surge Forward with Nokia

The Nokia Surge sports a QWERTY keypad, full HTML browsing with Flash, video and social media capabilities...and it's coming to AT&T for $79.99.

Finland’s Nokia has formally announced the Nokia Surge, a new messaging- and social media-savvy smartphone for AT&T that aims to keep offer consumers premiere Internet connectivity and communications applications for a fraction of the price of a traditional smartphone. The Surge supports email, instant messaging, MMS, video sharing, and a full HTML Web browsing experience, complete with Flash support—and since it runs Symbian S60, users can download applications to extend the functionality of the device. And the Surge will be available from AT&T on July 19 for $79.99.

“Launching at 79.99 USD with a complete email solution, downloadable applications, and 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,” said AT&T VP Michael Woodward, in a statement.

The Nokia Surge offers a 2 megapixel video-capable camera with a 4× digital zoom, a full QWERTY keypad for messaging and email needs, and ships with the JuiceCaster application pre-installed, enabling users to upload pictures and video to social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube. The Surge will also be able to tap into AT&T Video Share, enabling users to share live video via the Web while on e voice call. The Surge will also be able to access AT&T’s Navigator and Mobile Music services for turn-by-turn directions and access to music from Napster, eMusic, and XM Radio.

The Nokia Surge will be available for $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate, with a new two-year service agreement to qualifying voice or data plans.