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Continuing its assault on the market for mobile phones designed to deliver high-speed, application-rich data services, Nokia is readying its first smart phone for the Americas.

Nokia's 6620 is the company's first smart phone engineered to run on high-speed EDGE networks in the Americas, in addition to those based on GSM and GPRS technologies, company spokesperson Damian Stathonikos says. The phone is expected to be launched on the second quarter of 2004.

EDGE networks, which are designed to transmit data at rates up to 384 kilobits per second, are sprouting up across the Americas to serve customers demanding faster e-mail and Web surfing services.

Nokia's new tri-band smart phone runs on 850-, 1900-, and 1800-MHz networks, which, in addition to the Americas, exist in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The phone is priced at $400 without the discounts generally provided by mobile operators, according to Stathonikos.

On the Inside

The 6620 features the Series 60 user-interface platform, based on the OS developed by Symbian. The Series 60 platform supports a range of business and productivity tools, including mobile e-mail and wireless synchronization of PDA data. It comes with a fully integrated Web browser and a wide selection of third-party applications.

In addition, the new Nokia smart phone offers users an integrated camera and a 65,000 TFT screen, as well as a RealOne mobile player from RealNetworks and MMS capability.

The handset follows two other EDGE-capable phones from Nokia, the 6200 and 6220, which are already available in the Americas, according to Stathonikos.

In Europe, Nokia started rolling out its 6600 smart phone, which is similar to the 6620 but is designed for 1800- and 900-MHz networks and equipped with different features, Stathonikos says.

Nokia is one of several companies, including Psion, Siemens, and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, which own Symbian.