June 21 might have to be declared "Physical QWERTY Smartphone Day" for AT&T customers, as the big blue carrier has announced that a new keyboard-packin' Android phone will be launching alongside the BlackBerry Q10 on that date. AT&T just revealed that the NEC Terrain will be hitting its AT&T Business Solutions channels and its website on June 21, with pricing set at $99.99 with a two-year commitment.
As you can see in the image above, the NEC Terrain sports a portrait QWERTY keyboard, a feature that we don't often see on Android phones. Along with that 'board, the Android 4.0-powered Terrain packs a 3.1-inch display, 8-megapixel rear and 0.3-megapixel cameras, 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor and 8GB of built-in storage that can be supplemented with a microSD card. The rugged outer shell of the Terrain offers resistance to both dust and water and also meets military specifications for shock distribution. Rounding out the Terrain's feature list is 4G LTE connectivity and support for AT&T's Enhanced Push-to-Talk service, including a dedicated PTT key.
With its ruggedized body, PTT support and physical keyboard, the NEC Terrain is definitely a device that's targeted at enterprise customers. However, the Terrain is a noteworthy product for the rest of us because it's a new Android smartphone with a hardware keyboard bolted on (and a portrait one, at that), which is something that we haven't seen in a while. Its spec list may not set your pants on fire, but if you're an AT&T customer that absolutely needs to feel a physical QWERTY under your thumbs, the NEC Terrain may be an option to consider.
Via AT&T (Image credit)
