Nokia hopes its ‘made for messaging’ smartphone will be a low-cost hit with tweens, teens and the Twitterati.
Given that Nokia plays right across the mobile market, from simple ‘Classic’ models to uber-phones like the N97, we’re surprised not to have seen something like the 6760 sooner.
This one hits the sweet spot between the simplest messaging phone and a fully-fledged but more expensive smartphone.
The funky styling of this compact mobile is the first hint that it’s aiming at the younger set, although that doesn’t rule out more sophisticated features such as support for Microsoft Exchange.
The slide-out QWERTY keyboard and bevy of inbuilt social networking features completes the picture. The 6760, which launched this week in the US under the far catchier name of ‘Surge’ but with slightly lesser specs than the model we’ll see, is built with messaging in mind.
That starts with the Nokia Mail service for push email direct from your ISP as well as Google, Hotmail and Yahoo, as well as Google Talk and Windows Live Messenger for instant messaging.
Facebook and Twitter access are givens, as is uploading photos to Flickr or Nokai’s own Ovi Share service, while Nokia says the Web browser supports Adobe Flash for catching up with the latest YouTube clips.
A GPS receiver sits atop the mandatory music player and FM radio, with a 3.2 megapixel camera and up to 8GB of storage through the microSD card slot. The screen is a 2.4 inch panel with 320 x 240 resolution.
So how much, or rather how little will the 6760 cost when it lands here in September? While the it’s most likely to be sold on a capped voice+data plan under contract, Nokia lists the outright price of the 6760 as “199 Euro before subsidies and taxes”.
Given that the N97 was similarly listed as 550 Euro and launched locally with an RRP of $1,129, we can apply the same rough ratio to predict the Nokia 6760 should sell outright for around $415. This should make for some very affordable plans from the carriers.