The Nokia Astound is set to come out in the US, and it looks incredibly similar to the excellent Nokia C7. Is there any difference between the two handsets? Join us after the break, where we'll be looking at both the Nokia C7 and the Nokia Astound...

We've had our Nokia C7 for a few months now, but those of you in the US have had a little longer to wait. The T-Mobile Astound is effectively the same phone as the Nokia C7, just rebranded for the US of A. Are there any differences between the two handsets, however?

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From a design and hardware point of view, the Nokia Astound and the Nokia C7 are identical. You'll find the same 3.5-inch AMOLED screen, the same 8-Megapixel camera and the same Symbian ^3 operating system. However, the software on the T-Mobile Astound is slightly more advanced, getting a later version of Symbian ^3.

The Nokia Astound will be the first device to get an onscreen portrait QWERTY keyboard, and it's also set to run Nokia's brand new web browser. Thankfully for Nokia C7 owners, the updates will be coming to other Symbian ^3 smartphones in the near future, including the C7, Nokia N8 and Nokia C6-01.

Other than the software tweaks, which will soon be offered across the board, you can rest assured that in the Nokia Astound you'll be getting a phone that's every bit as good as the Nokia C7.