The phone that Nokia is betting all the potato chips on, is going on sale through AT&T on April 8, and with a two-year contract, it can be yours for $99.99. That’s one Benjamin for all the smartphone bells and whistles, with LTE connectivity and an 8 megapixel camera to boot. CNET reports on what’s at stake:

Nokia badly needs a buzz-worthy hit product in the U.S., a market it has struggled to operate in over the last few years despite dominating early in the cellphone business. AT&T hopes the 4G LTE-capable Lumia 900 will spark interest in its still new next-generation network. Microsoft, meanwhile, needs any Windows Phone to succeed in the market and establish some legitimacy to its platform.

And to make sure people build apps for the new phone, Microsoft and Nokia announced yesterday that they’re putting $24 million towards teaching people how to develop apps (for Windows, of course). The program, dubbed “App Campus,” will be offered in Finland, home of Nokia. It will be offered over the next three years at Aalto University. All Things D writes: “An interesting initiative and one that demonstrates the urgency with which Microsoft and Nokia are approaching the deficits in the Windows Phone ecosystem. Currently, there are only about 70,000 applications in Microsoft’s Marketplace application store, with some glaring omissions, like Angry Birds Space and Instagram.” If Microsoft wants to remain relevant in an app-hungry culture and not go the way of the digital dodo (aka BlackBerry), it better hope to see high graduation rates from App University.