In contrast to its world-renowned line of smartphones, when Nokia announced the next in its ever-popular N-series of handheld devices would be its first and “the world’s most advanced mobile computer.” For anyone who wishes their smartphone to be a portable PC, Nokia has unveiled the N97.
Nokia has just announced its latest handset in the hotly contested smartphone race, the Nokia N97, and early reports suggest that certain aspects of this new device might make some iPhone users green with envy.
For one, the digital camera in the N97 is one of the sharpest – and smartest! – in the mobile community, at 5 megapixels with Carl Zeiss optics, a dual LED frash and DVD-quality video recording capabilities.
The Nokia N97 also adds a choice of keyboard controls where the iPhone lacks it, with both a 3.5” touch screen but a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
The new Nokia sports a Flash-based GPS which makes mapping features even more user-friendly and followable than ever. It uses a convenient location sensing technology that always knows where you are (or it is, really), and it has been designed to integrate with Nokia’s So-Lo service.
So-Lo stands for “social location” and it’s bringing the appeal of social media to smartphones…sorry, we mean “mobile computers”. With So-Lo, friends and contacts on sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. can enhance the way they network and communicate by sharing real-time location-based information, statuses, and relevant video and pictures.
The N97 also comes with built-in WiFi and HSDPA network support.
And the Nokia N97 doesn’t mess around with meager memory allotments, hoping you’ll just spend the extra money on external microSD cards. It gives you 32 GB on-board to start with. And if you still want even more than that, it’s got a microSD expansion slot too, expandalbe to up to 48 GB.
According to its makers, the Nokia N97 has a battery life capable of up to a day and a half of playing music – 37 hours to be precise. That same battery life, they say, will give you about 4 and a half hours of video playback.
Interestingly, the Nokia N97 will not be available in time for the holidays. In fact, its U.S. release date is still unknown. European customers will be able to buy the new Nokia for about 550 euros (which equals about $693 US) starting sometime in early ’09.
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