Although the unlocked E71 has been available for around a year now direct from Nokia, the E71X has barely dropped on AT&T for a few months now. Now, we’re hearing of a successor to the ultra-slim messaging phone with a front-facing QWERTY keyboard. The E72 will bring the megapixel count up to a 5-megapixel shooter and add an optical trackpad, like one one found on the Samsung Epix and a few rumored BlackBerry smartphones coming out in the future.

No word on whether AT&T will pick up this model and subsidize it on its own lineup. The E72 uses the same non-touch user interface on the E71 that will place it in direct competition with the non-touch UI from BlackBerry devices and Windows Mobile Standard.

(via: Engadget Mobile)