ATandT Targets Social Networkers with Nokia Surge

Playing to the social networking crowd, AT&T plans to offer the Nokia Surge July 19 in stores and online. The Symbian S60-based smartphone features a full QWERTY keyboard and a browser with Flash, and supports instant messaging, text messaging, multimedia messages and e-mail. It allows users to update and connect to popular social networks.

AT&T will sell the Nokia Surge for $79.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a mail-in rebate.

The Surge also features a 2.0-megapixel camera, GPS capability, AT&T Mobile Music and AT&T Video Share. Through the preinstalled JuiceCaster application, users can share videos and pictures from the Surge with sites including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

"[The] Nokia Surge hits the sweet spot between a quick messaging phone and a smartphone because of its low price and strong feature set," Michael Woodward, vice president of AT&T's Mobile Phone Portfolio, Mobility and Consumer Markets, said in a statement.

David Petts, Nokia vice president and general manager for the AT&T account, added, "Designed in the U.S., this socially charged smartphone comes in a sleek slide form factor that supports social networking and messaging—and all on an open platform."

The Surge also features a MicroSDHC expansion slot and Bluetooth with stereo audio support.