OMG! Nokia’s real iPhone competitor is the N97!!!1!

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 02 December 2008 19:29

IT Industry - Market

If you thought the 5800 was Nokia’s iPhone clone, the long awaited N-Series version of the 5800 has been outed today at Nokia World in Barcelona, and it’s the N97! Coming with some serious specs including a slide out QWERTY keyboard, the only downside is the 4-6 month wait in mid 2009 before consumers can buy them.

Ah, Nokia, I never doubted you, but I sure did wonder when an N-Series, touch-screen iPhone-esque beater would arrive, and from the looks of things, the upcoming N97 is looking like a very, very sweet touchscreen, keyboard enabled “multimedia computer”.

Packed with features (and to be honest a couple of minor disappointments, including a Q2 ’09 delivery date), the N97 is nevertheless very impressive indeed – and brings the promise of even greater things when an inevitable N98 or N99 is launched presumably sometime in 2010.

“First impressions” and video clips of the N97 in action are flooding the Internet, as are the iPhone/Windows Mobile/BlackBerry/etc fanbois coming out of the woodwork to take their predictable potshots.

It promises a massive battle in 2009, especially with the N97 theoretically due to arrive when Apple launches its iPhone 3.0 device, although it’s clear that Nokia has raised the bar and has hopefully spooked Apple somewhat.

After all, just like the Samsung Omnia which, unlike the N97, is available now, the N97 has all the features you’d expect any iPhone 3.0 to sport, so unless Apple does something really magical with its next iPhone, Nokia’s N97 will be the smartphone/multimedia computer to beat.

Nokia is positioning the N97 as “Desktop. Laptop. Pocket: The era of the personal Internet dawns with the Nokia N97”, with a “tilting touch display, QWERTY keyboard and personalized home screen” which makes it a “true mobile computer”.

Of course netbooks are “true mobile computers”, too – and at “similar” price points smartphones and netbooks are definitely battling it out for the consumer dollar right now, but they’re still two very different categories despite obvious similarities.
 
Nokia says the N97 “combines a large 3.5" touch display with a full QWERTY keyboard, providing an 'always open' window to favorite social networking sites and Internet destinations. Nokia's flagship Nseries device introduces leading technology - including multiple sensors, memory, processing power and connection speeds - for people to create a personal Internet and share their 'social location’” or “So-Lo” in Nokia speak. More about that on page 2.

There’s only one physical button on the front screen, like the iPhone, but the slide-out keyboard looks very cool indeed. There’s also what looks like Nokia’s standard front-mounted camera for 3G video calls, supplemented by a 5 megapixel camera on the back. Links to videos of the N97 are on page 4, letting you get a real feel for how to N97 operates today, no doubt still with “beta” firmware that is undoubtedly still being polished pre-launch.
 
Jonas Geust, Vice President, heading Nokia Nseries said: “From the desktop to the laptop and now to your pocket, the Nokia N97 is the most powerful, multi-sensory mobile computer in existence. Together with the Ovi services announced today, the Nokia N97 mobile computer adjusts to the world around us, helping stay connected to the people and things that matter most. With the Nokia N97, Nseries leads the charge in helping to transform the Internet into your Internet".
 
So, what are the specs of this dreamy little N-Series device?

Please read on to page two, where I’ll also go over a couple of disappointments, the biggest of which is really the Q2 2009 delivery date. Page 2 awaits!