The Nokia N97 introduces the concept of ’social location’. With integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass, the Nokia N97 mobile computer intuitively understands where it is. The Nokia N97 makes it easy to update social networks automatically with real-time information, giving approved friends the ability to update their ’status’ and share their ’social location’ as well as related pictures or videos.

The home screen of the Nokia N97 mobile computer features the people, content and media that matter the most. Friends, social networks and news are available by simply touching the home screen. The 16:9 widescreen display can be fully personalized with frequently updated widgets of favorite web services and social networking sites. The Nokia N97 is also perfectly suited for browsing the web, streaming Flash videos or playing games. Both the physical QWERTY and virtual touch input ensures efficiency in blogging, chatting, posting, sending texts or emailing

So, guess what Nokia came up with as a follow up for their Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Touchscreen phone? The Nokia N97, a Google G1 phone look-alike that sports a 3.5 inch touchscreen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

Design

The Nokia N97 looks like a cross between a lot of different phones from the iPhone to the Google G1 Phone to the AT&T Tilt (HTC TyTN II). Up front, the Nokia N97’s 3.5 inch screen dominates the whole front of the phone except for the little button on the bottom left side corner which serves as the shortcut key to the N series multimedia applications. The call and end buttons are touch sensitive like ROKR E8. On the top of the Nokia N97 is the 3.5mm headphone jack and the power button. The Nokia N97 is just a tad bit larger and thicker than the iPhone and when you slide out the QWERTY keypad, you’re reminded of the HTC TyTN II with it’s angled screen. The Nokia N97 feels solid enough to hold though it just feels a bit too large especially if you have small hands. The QWERTY keypad is evenly spaced and you won’t have trouble typing nor would you have to worry about pressing two buttons at a time. The buttons are very minimal compared with other QWERTY keypads from HTC or Blackberry. I guess this is to make room for the directional pad on the left side. The sliding mechanism feels solid enough though I’m a bit worried about the hinge that connects the screen and the keypad since it looks thin and breakable.

Features and Performance

The performance of the Nokia N97 is based purely on the demo version but I have to say I’m quite impressed. It looks like Nokia has fine tuned the Symbian OS to work well with touchscreen. On the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, you won’t get much of the swiping and flicking finger action but they’ve refined it so that you can get that much out of the Nokia N97. Also, compared with the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic demo version, the Nokia N97 interface is quite fast and responsive. You can barely see any hiccup on the accelerometer transition or when you’re navigating the Symbian OS. The user interface on the Nokia N97 is also quite new but is still very user-friendly. Like I said, it’s touch optimized and there are a lot of widgets you can play with. The built-in browser also looks promising though I wasn’t able to see if it supports YouTube desktop PC version. Scrolling through webpages isn’t as smooth and fluid as when you’re surfing the Safari Browser on the iPhone but the webpages renders quickly though I don’t know if that’s because the pages that the person demonstrating the phone is already saved and bookmarked on the phone’s memory.

The Nokia N97 also supports TV Out, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, GPS, FM radio, and a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. If the camera on the Nokia N97 is as good as that on the Nokia N95 then I’m sure that the Nokia N97 won’t have any problems when it comes to its camera software. The Nokia N97 runs on Quadband GSM networks and supports 3G/HSDPA.

It’s just too bad that Nokia decided to go with Resistive touchcreen instead of capacitive like that on the iPhone. I’m sure with a bit of development, they’ll be able to come up with a lot of good applications that can make use of capacitive touchscreen.

Outlook

Hmm, looks like Nokia got it right on their second try. I like the Nokia N97 better than their Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and I hope that they’ll be able to incorporate the user interface of the N97 on the 5800 XpressMusic though I highly doubt that since the Nokia N97 is aimed at the high end market while the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic borders on the midrange to high-end phone segment. From the looks of the demo version, the Nokia N97 looks promising enough. It’s fast and responsive. I don’t know what processor or RAM they’ve used on this device but I guess they were able to make use of the new Symbian OS. All in all, it looks like the iPhone, Google G1 Phone and the Blackberry Storm has a new competitor to watch out for. And knowing that there are a lot of Nokia fanatics, I think that the Nokia N97 will definitely take a large part of the smartphone market.

Amazing Official Video

Touch to go

Choose how you want to use your phone. Make a call, listen to a song, visit a Web site. Use the key control – or just touch the screen with your finger to make it happen.

Quality pictures

The 5 megapixel camera lets you take print-quality photos. Set your picture’s focus area by touching the screen. Take your photo, then share – blog it.

Quick Notes

What you can do with pen and paper, you can do with your G900. Press the Notes key and use the stylus to write in your own handwriting. Quick and easy, no keyboard needed.

Screen

- 240×320 pixel
- 262.144 color TFT

Memory

- Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) support (up to 4 GB)
- Phone memory 160MB*
* Actual free memory may vary due to phone pre-configuration.

Networks

- GSM 900
- GSM 1800
- GSM 1900
- UMTS 2100

Available colours

- Dark Red – Dark Brown Possible limited market availability.

Sizes

- 106.0 x 49.0 x 13.0 mm
- 4.2 x 1.9 x 0.5 inches

Weight

- 99.0 gr
- 3.5 oz Please note that local variations may apply.

Stay organized

G900 is the ideal phone for an active and busy life. Calendar, email, notes, reminders – all available at the touch of your finger.

What’s in it?

Touchscreen – finger navigation

Easy, intuitive, finger-friendly touchscreen operation: you just touch the screen to navigate your phone. And if you prefer using a stylus or a pointer, they work fine, too.

Push email

Instant email on your mobile phone, just like on your home computer. Messages are sent directly to your phone as soon as they arrive.

Integrated camera

Built-in digital camera with screen viewfinder, dedicated menus and direct interaction with in-phone imaging and messaging features.

X-Pict Story

Create impressive sideshows – complete with sound and transitions – in your phone.

Web wherever

Truly mobile Internet lets you enjoy browsing the Web and manage your email effectively with the convenience of your phone, wherever you are.

Blog your life

The easy way to share your life in pictures. Take or choose a photo, add a little text and publish it for friends and family to enjoy
.

Media manager

With your phone kit you get a CD with software for managing music, photos and video clips. Transfer music, videos and photos to and from your phone.

Symbian™ OS

An open operating system for mobile devices that enables you to download new applications to your phone

Handwriting Recognition

Text input using stylus on touchscreen: write a character as you would with a pen, and it transforms it into the corresponding letter on a keyboard.

RSS feeds

Use your phone to view up-to-the-minute news and other content from selected Web sites and blogs. Just subscribe to the feed and let it come to you. New content is available in standby on the main display.

Capture the action

Video clips are ideal for those unexpected great moments that happen when you’re out there, enjoying life.

The Wi-Fi alternative

For a fast Internet connection in hotspots, your phone has Wi-Fi support.

Alarm clock with radio

Need to get up at a certain time? Got an event you can’t miss? Set the time, and let your favourite radio channel play or the alarm signal ring to remind you.

3G

Quick and easy access to broadband Internet. Say hello to video calls, audio and video streaming, Internet surfing, multimedia messaging and email on the go.

Details are as per officials expect review.

Sony Ericsson G900 video review

Other review

Surround yourself in a panorama of sound. Clear bass, clear stereo and the premium HPM-77 headset – the W902 brings you a clear audio experience.

Thousands of songs

The W902 gives you thousands of possibilities – about 8,000* of them, to be specific. (*The 8GB memory card stores up to 8,000 eAAC+ encoded songs)

Great camera, clear display

Snap your stills and videos using the 5 megapixel camera. Then enjoy them on the the bright and clear 2.2″ display.