While Nokia has always done decently in the U.S. market with its boring S40-powered featurephones, it has struggled to get the major carriers to carry its Symbian-powered smartphones. There are currently 3 Symbian-powered smartphones available from AT&T, which is a good improvement, but T-Mobile is the other GSM carrier, and there’s not much of anything over there – yet. The Nokia N900, Nokia’s first Maemo-powered device with a SIM card, includes support for T-Mobile’s oddball 1700/2100MHz 3G network, and just started shipping yesterday.
In other related news, it appears as though a version of the Nokia 5230 has slipped through the FCC sporting support for T-Mobile’s 3G network, too. The 5230 is essentially a cheaper (if that’s even possible) version of the 5800 XpressMusic, with a newly redesigned homescreen but lacking built-in WiFi. The 5230 also features a 3.2-inch nHD touchscreen display, built-in GPS, 2 megapixel camera, and standard 3.5mm audio port.
Neither Nokia nor T-Mobile have made any announcements, but given that T-Mobile is the *only* carrier in the world to use this oddball 1700/2100MHz 3G network, it only makes sense that there would be something coming soon. T-Mobile also has a slightly better history with Symbian, having launched quite a few phones back in the day. The 5230 could possibly signal a resurgence, but time will tell.
You can peruse the FCC filing here.
[via Cell Phone Signal]
