Despite Friday's update that had the Nokia E71x smartphone on-track to becoming available at AT&T stores on Tuesday, the handset has apparently been delayed to a much later, unspecified date up to eight weeks or more away. The apparent reason for the delay seems to be an issue with the e-mail Exchange synchronizing feature, which now requires new firmware.

When the near middle-aged handset does eventually make it to AT&T stores, it is expected to be priced at $150 on a contract and after a $50 mail-in-rebate, or $50 less than last reported. The handset will, however, be considered a smartphone by AT&T, and require that subscribers sign up for a $30-per-month data plan.

The E71x will be an AT&T-specific handset with some carrier-specific software and firmware, but otherwise share the same S60 operating system, full QWERTY keyboard, 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS sensor and Wi-Fi as the regular E71. [via BGR]