T-Mobile and Nokia have gone and gotten all official for the Nokia Nuron which, at this point, wasn’t exactly a well-kept secret.  While I believe this phone is worth a look if only for its odd name, T-Mobile and Nokia want you to know a few things:

“Nokia and T-Mobile USA today announced the upcoming availability of the Nokia 5230 Nuron, a smartphone solution for the masses packed with applications, maps with turn-by-turn directions, and more. Operating on T-Mobile’s blazing-fast 3G network, the Nokia Nuron offers dynamic Web browsing and rich experiences on a 3.2” touch screen. The device is also the first pre-loaded with Ovi Maps, a free turn-by-turn navigation solution from Nokia, and the first to have the Ovi Store pre-loaded, giving consumers access to thousands of compelling applications and games. The Nokia Nuron is expected to be available in the coming weeks exclusively from T-Mobile.”

With an obvious focus on affordability, it was only yesterday we learned that the Nuron would be dropping in at just $69.99 after rebate and $179.99 sans contract.  Considering the assortment of features one gets with this phone, the price looks good for a touchscreen-based device.  Pre-loaded with OVI maps, the Nuron is the first US carrier-based Nokia smartphone to offer free turn-by-turn directions and navigation.  “Ovi Maps makes it easy to discover great places to eat, concerts, movies and more with Lonely Planet guides. Other features include the ability to check the weather forecast and even share one’s current location on Facebook. With pedestrian navigation, Ovi Maps delivers the best routes through pedestrian zones and shortcuts as well as pathways through parks and buildings. Exploring the world or rediscovering your own city has never been easier or more fun with Ovi Maps.”

Dropping March 17^th, the Nuron is worth looking at for those of you not quite needing the full-fledged smartphone experience but still interested in a capable device. At such a cheap price point, it’s hard to not give a second look to this phone.

Full press release after the break!

Nokia 5230 Nuron Delivers Apps, Maps and Free Navigation to T-Mobile USA Customers

Affordable 3G Touch-Screen Smartphone Offers Rich Mobile Experiences, Ovi Maps and Ovi Store

White Plains, NY and Bellevue, WA — March 3, 2010 – Nokia and T-Mobile USA today announced the upcoming availablility of the Nokia 5230 Nuron, a smartphone solution for the masses packed with applications, maps with turn-by-turn directions, and more. Operating on T-Mobile’s blazing-fast 3G network, the Nokia Nuron offers dynamic Web browsing and rich experiences on a 3.2” touch screen. The device is also the first pre-loaded with Ovi Maps, a free turn-by-turn navigation solution from Nokia, and the first to have the Ovi Store pre-loaded, giving consumers access to thousands of compelling applications and games. The Nokia Nuron is expected to be available in the coming weeks exclusively from T-Mobile.

“The Nokia 5230 Nuron is a great product of our collaboration with T-Mobile USA and provides consumers with more compelling mobile experiences as they navigate, watch video, play games and social network,” said Mark Slater, Vice President, Sales, Nokia. “The Nokia Nuron offers U.S. consumers a unique and compelling mobile experience that caters to their everyday needs and enables them to connect to their passions with an affordable 3G touch smartphone.”

The Nokia Nuron is a mobile solution that allows consumers to easily make their way around town, download content and applications to keep them entertained, or help to manage their busy lives. Consumers can keep up with friends and family via IM, text, personal or work e-mail, and offers the ability to easily surf the Web with a full HTML browser.

“Many of our customers are looking for smartphones that deliver a great mobile Web experience with access to games and applications, all at an affordable price,” said Travis Warren, director, product marketing, T-Mobile USA. “We are excited to partner with Nokia to offer our customers the Nokia 5230 Nuron, a 3G smartphone for the masses that delivers features like a full touch screen, free turn-by-turn navigation and a premium storefront for applications.”

The Nokia Nuron is the first U.S. carrier -supported Nokia smartphone to pre-load Ovi Maps, a solution from Nokia that offers consumers free turn-by-turn directions and navigation. Additionally, Ovi Maps makes it easy to discover great places to eat, concerts, movies and more with Lonely Planet guides. Other features include the ability to check the weather forecast and even share one’s current location on Facebook. With pedestrian navigation, Ovi Maps delivers the best routes through pedestrian zones and shortcuts as well as pathways through parks and buildings. Exploring the world or rediscovering your own city has never been easier or more fun with Ovi Maps.  Nokia Nuron also comes preloaded with maps for the USA, Canada and Mexico – with the ability to access to over 180 country maps at http://www.nokiausa.com/maps.

The Nokia Nuron will be the first device from a national U.S. carrier to come pre-loaded with Ovi Store by Nokia – giving consumers access to thousands of applications and other exciting content.

T-Mobile also plans to simplify the purchase experience for its customers and expects to enable them to pay for this great content by having it billed to their monthly bill or via a credit card.

To learn more about Ovi by Nokia, or for more information on how to develop for Ovi Store, please visit http://www.ovi.com and http://publish.ovi.com, respectively.

Availability

The Nokia 5230 Nuron is expected to be available on in the coming weeks in select T-Mobile retail stores and online at http://www.t-mobile.com. For more information, please visit http://www.nokiausa.com/NokiaNuron or http://www.t-mobile.com.

Use of some features or services may incur separate, additional charges and/or require a qualifying data plan. 3G coverage is available in locations nationwide, but may not be available everywhere. For more details on where T-Mobile network coverage is available, please visit www.t-mobile.com/coverage.