Nokia unveils the N97 mobile computer
N Series just got a new flagship
Nokia raised the benchmark for its N Series handsets yet again this morning with the grand unveiling of the new N97 handset. This isn’t just any old phone; it’s “the most powerful, multi-sensory mobile computer in existence,” says Jonas Geust, veepee of the N Series range.
Latest N97 pics: An iPhone killer?
So what does it have that the other N Series handsets haven’t? For starters it has touchscreen. And you’ll be pleased to learn that it’s not a touchscreen-only iPhone wannabe – if we’ve learned anything from the mud being slung in the BlackBerry Storm’s direction this past week, it’s that aping iPhone is a very risky business.
Therefore, on top of that, you’ve also got a full QWERTY keypad, hidden under a neat sliding / tilting screen action.
The N97 sports a 16:9 widescreen display which can be fully customised with links to your favourite social networking web sites and services. There’s a massive 32GB of memory on board and that can be expanded by an extra 16GB using a MicroSD card.
The camera is a 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss affair – much like the N96 – but with the added bonus of being able to record in DVD quality, 16:9 format. YouTube happy slapping will never have looked so real.
Nokia is also introducing a new concept called ‘social location’ – or So-Lo for short. We prefer to call it ‘self stalking’. This is a system which taps into the integrated A-GPS, allowing you to automatically post your real-time location to friends, and with accompanying pictures or videos.
All of this sounds mighty impressive, but we can only hope that Nok has upped the battery power quite considerably if we’re expected to be able to take full advantage of all these goodies without the phone dying on us in the first 20 mins. The Finns claim that the handset will offer up to 320 minutes of talktime or 400 hours of standby time from a single charge, but we’re guessing that both talk and standby times don’t include constantly hitting up the GPS and HSDPA.
The measure of the video playback time is perhaps more telling – you get four and half hours, but only if the phone is in offline mode.
The dimensions are roughly comparable to the N96 – its measures in at 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm (18.25 mm at the camera) and weighs 150 g. It’s expected to go on sale in the first half of next year and will sell for around EUR 550 (roughly £470).
Link: Nokia
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By Rocci
20|02|2009 15:42
No questions about the N97 being an iphone killer. Pre-loaded with skype!!!! Its gonna be amazing. Im getting the unlocked version from http://www.puremobile.com/Nokia/Nokia-N97-White-GSM-Phone/ as soon as they start selling it.
By djatwork
30|12|2008 08:23
this is pretty cool, although gords2 has a point, but maybe the idea is to tell people that they don't have to "waste" their money on the iphone when they can wait for this N97!
By markster
3|12|2008 19:45
i think there are so much i-phone killers out there. probably time mr jobs done something fantastic with the i-phone. like a decent camera. bluetooth. And so on.