Nokia Surge - AT&T's $80 Symbian S60 phone

I don't think this is the right direction for Nokia at all. For $20 more upfront, an AT&T customer can get an iPhone 3G. This phone looks weird, is not a touchscreen, and exudes "cheapness" all around, down to the 2MP camera. Why couldn't they customize the 5800 for AT&T, or better yet, the N86 or N97? $150 for the either the N86 or N97 subsidized would get Nokia noticed at the high end of the market again.

Can't actually blame Nokia on the device and its design...In such devices that are specifically made for a carrier...the carrier requests and ideas have a large impact on the design and features of the phone........

After checking out the N97, 500XM, N86, and 6700 ...I think Nokia may have had only a little freedom in designing the device, At&T may haverequested such a device and Nokia just made it ...

Yikes! Ugly phone and terrible name. Yet the keyboard still looks better than the N97!

Why are phones so expensive in the US.

So this is $80 up front and you get locked into a 2 year contract.

I read below that you have to have a minimum $39.99 voice and $30 data plan.

http://www.slashgear.com/att-nokia-surge-lands-july-19th-qwerty-3g-and-s60-1349207/

A phone of this spec would be free on a �20 a month 18 month contract in the UK surely.

And it is stated that this is an entry level phone and mentions "low pricing"?

am i missing something?

A 2 year contract? I know what I would tell them to do with that. No phone is worth signing up for two years to. It should be free on 12 months @ $40 max.

Otherwise, neat little phone, slightly too wide but that's a typical USA form factor (I mean phones not people).

I thought Nokia wanted to become popular in the US. I understand that networks in the US are too greedy to allow a feature rich phone but this is ridiculous.

Why can't Nokia tie up with a bank or something and start their phones on instalments through their showrooms in America?

The point you're all missing is: This device looks, from the few pictures I've seen, like it has a *REAL* keyboard with *REAL* keys, which are of a reasonable size & might even have the proper physical profile to the keys & could even have the correct tactile 'feel' to them to allow easy typing.

(I know, I must be smoking something illegal! - but I can wish can't I?)

If my first prargraph was true, I think this (& this alone) would be something I'd like to see carried over into the other more advanced designs, rather than the pathetic excuses for qwerty keyboards that we've seen recently (e.g. N97)

To me the form looks more like E75 . So when you want a REAL keyboard go for the E75 , with even better specs . Also the E90 with 4" internal , AND smaller outer screen , can still be found at the resellers . Good price ! It's not as backwards as it sounds ...

😊 Regards jApi NL

71mm wide? Surely that's a mistake?

71 CM wide is a mistake. It should be 54 CM or 2.12 inches.

Unregistered wrote:71 CM wide is a mistake. It should be 54 CM or 2.12 inches.

That would be MM not CM, sorry

they've made another huge blunder though only having a 2.5mm port for headphones. why was this ever, ever, eve a standard? no headphones of any quality are made to this spec, and with devices like iPhones and even other Nokia/Samsung/SE phones with 3.5mm jacks, why would anyone choose this device.

on the whole it's good to have at&t bringing another s60 phone, but this is just sad.
added to that, it looks like it'll be crippled with bloatware just like the e71x.

and people wonder why nokia gets a bad rap here in america...
for shame.

I have corrected the size - yes should be 55mm - thanks for pointing that out. Must have slipped in when I did the conversion from inches.

I think this is aiming at a different form factor than the E75 - more akin to the sidekick type if you will. After all the 5730 is the 'cheap' E75.

I do not understand the relationship between Nokia and American carriers. Two big carriers in the US (GSM that is) and THATS what they are getting. For some reason I think American carriers are somehow boycotting higher end Nokia products and not wanting Nokia to gain popularity, WHY?

I mean NONE of the nseries devices got picked up, except maybe the N75.

Nokia NEEDS really bad to win over the American smartphone market and not by releasing NAM versions first, no, most Americans will not pay over $200 for a phone unless they are rich, so unlocked versions here aren't the solution.

I heard a T-Mobile representative tell me that Nokia was in talking with T-Mobile USA last year about the N95 and also gave out free N95s to the people at T-Mobile but noooo they decided not to carry it.

If they figured this thing out, I am sure the more demanding people of the US will drive Nokia to come out with better solutions and not to mention the OVI store.

dorisall wrote:
Nokia NEEDS really bad to win over the American smartphone market and not by releasing NAM versions first, no, most Americans will not pay over $200 for a phone unless they are rich, so unlocked versions here aren't the solution.

Are you sure they NEED to? If you were running Nokia would your priority be 300 million Americans or several billion Asians?

The US smartphone market is fairly insignificant and Blackberry dominated.

Nokia NEEDS really bad to win over the American smartphone market

Not really. It would be nice if it happened, but it doesn't really matter on a global scale. Nokia's main markets have always been outside the US, so a lack of sales in NAM doesn't really make any difference.

The top three markets for Nokia products are Europe, China and India, and in terms of future growth it's China and India that matter the most.

More apps would be developed for Symbian if they were bigger in the US *and* got Ovi store sorted out. It's pretty annoying to keep hearing about iPhone apps all the time. And tempting ...

Qvga = fail

Qvga = fail

I take it you're from the Windows Mobile world. All I can say is 262k colour screen in 2009 = Fail.

He could be from apple too... 😊

Loads of comments like these recently. They pick one nokia feature they dont like and then write the word fail in front of it. I am very very curious to know what phone do such people use that does not "fail" even in 1 department.

Unregistered wrote:Qvga = fail

Ignorance = fail

No doubt the smartest phone by Nokia has just o arrive

http://technology-touch.blogspot.com/2009/07/nokia-surge.html

And whatever happened to Ovi Store support for this device? Isn't this suppose to be Nokia's HUGE gamble these days?

I think Nokia has yet to learn the game to play with US carriers. People in USA are some media driven that they think Nokia phones are crap and infact thats what american tech media projects. If this US company manufactured phone they hype ( well atleast with moto they dont slam it like they do to Nokia).

True China, India, Europe are the market for nokia but I see Nokia is loosing in europe with iphone. Look at the apple quarterly results - 44% of its sale is from rest of the world. American smartphone market is really important for any phones sucess.
Even in India, the iphone is popular but just for its sheer price its volume is not high enough.

I think Nokia shold not just make phones it should also educate on its advance features which is lacking with american people. Many think iphone,palm,android,blackberry are the only advanced phones.

Still wonder why 5800 is not tied up with a carrier yet?

My unboxing is here: http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/unboxing-the-nokia-6790-surge/