Nokia unveils N97: competition for iPhone
Twenty-four hours after teasing us with news of a major product announcement, Nokia officially took the wraps off its mystery smartphone on Tuesday at the Nokia World 2008 conference in Barcelona, Spain. Part of the company’s high-end N series of multimedia computers, the Nokia N97 trumps all previous models with a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard and a tilting 3.5-inch touch screen. For example, the smartphone provides easy access to a number of social-networking sites, and the Web browser supports streaming Flash videos. The N97 also introduces something Nokia calls “social location,” which uses the capabilities of the integrated A-GPS sensors and electronic compass to automatically update users’ social networks, or let them share their location via photos or videos with friends.
The Home screen can be personalized with widgets of favorite Web and social-networking sites. Finally, the N97 is fully compatible with Nokia’s Ovi Internet services, which include the Nokia Music Store, Nokia Maps, and the N-Gage gaming platform–though these services have yet to fully launch in the United States. The Symbian-based smartphone also features a music and video player, a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, and a whopping 32GB of onboard memory that can be expanded with a 16GB microSD card. The quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) world phone is HSDPA-capable handset, but it currently supports only the 900/1900/2100MHz bands (AT&T’s 3G network runs on 850/1900MHz, while T-Mobile runs on 1700/2100MHz). There is integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, however. The Nokia N97 is expected to ship in Europe during the first half of 2009, with an estimated price of 550 euros ($695).
Source: Cnet
Comments(46)
Nokia sucks.
I own a N73 atm, I’m never buying one again. Nothing but trouble with everyone I know who have a Nokia model.
+1.
its almost the same as all the others again… only +touchscreen.. lame.. X1 ftw.. or g1 or whatever.. everything else is better than nokia and s60. lol
YO NOKIA SUCKS , IPHONE SUCKS MORE AND I SUCK THE MOST
More on Price and Video
http://www.zimbio.com/Nokia/articles/4288/Nokia+N97+N97+Reviews+Price+Video
god damn it, i just ordered my N96 3 hours a go
Vahram Rullleeezzzzzz
no need to feel down or sad or whatever.. the release of the phone will probably take a long time to get to everywhere + time to wait for phone price to drop and everything.. u can trade in ur n96 by then and go get the n97.. which isnt much different after all.. dont waste money on nokias. lol
Cancel it.
I’m quite looking forward to it. I’ve had an N95 for over a year now, and this N97 should be a fairly major upgrade.
Hope it is better than the Samsung Competition for the Iphone,
Most of these supposedly Touch Phone need a more powerful Processor like the Samsung SGH700, it takes upto 3 seconds from when you have touch the screen to repsond
why are there so many news posts lately? especially regurgitated information from other sites. the occasional tech news is alright, especially if it relates to piracy or something of the sort, but I’ve always thought the sole purpose of this site was to report on scene releases, not cell phones and The Simpson’s making fun of Apple…seriously, get back to the roots or add in a filtering option to get rid of the useless sh*t, until then, Zero Sec seems to have their priorities in order…..
so Bah…. why are you here? don’t forget where Zero Sec originated from.
@10 If you don’t like the site then plz feel free to go somewhere else and stop moaning. I visit rlslog daily and it has news posts that I miss elsewhere including this one so I’m happy for them to post news.
Having been through every phone manufacturer at some point in the last 10 years my latest phone which is the iPhone 3G beats them all. It is easy to use, reliable and does music and movies better than any other phone going period. I know I’m gonna get flamed for the stuff the iPhone sux at but I don’t care. I don’t do MMS, I have a decent Nikon digital SLR that takes better pics than any phone or consumer camera.
Keep up the good work rlslog!
An overview on Nokia N97 includes video here the links
http://www.micronanotronics.com/mobile/an-overview-on-nokia-n97.html
symbian ? no thx .. my e65 sucks enough already
Im from Finland, and I have to say this is just a Crappy HTC TyTN II copy. All the competitors have better spec phones, like the HTC Touch Pro or Sony Ericsson X1
its a bloody telephone ppl you make calls/you receive calls anything else is just a gimmick for suckers!
Nokia doesnt suck !! i have a nokia n95 ..and its working pretty well …GPS , WIfi , music ….nice screen , the only thing that bothers me that the battery sucks .
supports extremely nice applications.
You guys are funny, trying to say S60 sucks and the recommending Windows Mobile, worst piece of sheit ever made.
X1 is a pathetic excuse for a phone, slow as usual for SE but this one isnt even made by SE, just another stamped out HTC device. Only phone OS worth using today is S60 or iPhoneOS, Android needs a better devices to show itself of.
HTC Touch HD is going to make me touch meself all naughty in the pantsballs
Symbian again ey? Damn Nokia, whip out a new OS already! Symbian can’t compete with Windows Mobile, Andriod or even the new Blackberry OS…
The phone looks OK though. Very nice specs and OK looks.
ive had two nokia n95’s and nothing but trouble with both of them.. nokia fones are unreliable
lol, S60 sucks? lol
have u ever even held a s60 phone?
i have a N95-8GB atm & my opinion is: IT’s the Second best phone ever made so far, the best is N96 XD
can u play games online against ur friends with HTC or Iphone?
can u play real 3D games with graphics like a PSP?
can u take excellent pic’s with HTC or Iphone?
i can keep on going XD
i for one enjoy reading a bit of tech news here and there
Lawliet Ryuuzaki: I had n73,n82,n95,n95 8 gb and now I have HTC TOUCH HD…symbian is 0 compering with wm…
I have HD only 7 days and it`s awsome…
symbian is lsow operating system..you must wait,and wait while you start to wrote new sms ili get inbox…
resolution 240×320 had 98% of all phones.Nokia best models n95,n95 8gb,n96,had that resolution…HD have 800×480…its holyday for your eyes…trust me..
teeter is game on HD,and in that game you see a full meneenig the word G sensor…you must move HD with hands and navigate ball to fall in green holl…rotating screen,landscape left,right and for 180 degress is in second…at nokia,you must waiiiittttt wor landscape screen in lesft…just left…capish?
I have a N95 (8GB) and think it’s great. I use the camera, wifi, gps etc all the time. Apart from it being a bit slow it does all I expect of it. My contract is due for renewal early next year and I didn’t fancy the N96 (just a N95 but not as cool looking) so looks like it’ll be the N97.
I’ve had Nokias for over 10 years now without a problem. My (large) family have had all sorts, Samsung, LG, Motorola etc and every one of them has had a prob with theirs.
Anyway, that’s my two cents worth…better stop…starting to sound like a nokia advert…
All you guys who are bickering about phones and what is better and what not…REALLY need to get outside, and get some fresh air.
ITS A DAMN PHONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOSERS!
Oh goodie, looks nice but the problem is that when it’s available in Winland it will be 200 € more expensive than in any other euro country….
Tilt!
apple own more patients to be any of these phones competitor to the iphone, ja?
I DEFY ANY OF THESE NEW NOKIAS TO A physical DUEL WITH MY NEC E808 aka THE BEAST:
http://timtyler.org/mobile/e808/graphics/e808.jpg
almost 4yrs and still kickin!
ahh dont we love cribbing
nokia sucks , xperia sucks wow he he
this phone is beautiful … and so is Xperia…….. nokia
just seems lil thicker….
as said by someone bove….. want to see G1 in a better avtaar soon….
@33 HD umm owns… Nokia lets see
touch HD has no flash, the camera sensor n lens of lower quality and ya its WIN MO… umm which something i would like to stay away from till the time Microsofts rumored phone isnt out… there is no keys for camera so your focus or capture is only via touching the screen so it also means once u touch the screen u have to take the picture …. as there is no cam key
ummm with good screen pixels n only 65K colors HD takes hit under the sun….
It has no TV out… and…
most important personally
it has no keyboard…. i remember my old htc touch once its touch screen stopped function i was left with no option….. so Keyboard is a must for me….
Nokia are complete and utter bastards
iPhone is the best cus no other phone can reach its touch standards(multi touch) u can play online with friends in most of the games(its a great gaming device) it has got great video playback. the thing starts very fast(like in 1 sec). Forget the camera(only 2 MP who need it any way????) carry a camera with u lol
I like my Nokia, especially new Xpress Music 5800. The plectrum “tail” is just so cool and it works like a charm.
It’s suppose to be a cheap phone and that’s far from being flagship model, but it feels so great and has awesome features!!
Have you tested the new S60 v5.0 user interface? Old interface was slow and clunky, but in 3.2 and especially 5.0 (touch ui) is just awesome. And the better yet, all my old software (3.X) still works in 5.0!
* Nokia has the best optics.
* Nokia has the best GPS HW and SW.
* Nokia has the best games. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqwoYNYE4_w)
* Nokia has the best selection of software to download (google s60 or symbian!) for free!
* Nokia has the best ùsability and battery life.
* Nokia has the best price.
It’s ridiculous how much features iPhone is missing, that other devices has been having for years. I wouldn’t call it a phone really, but a cheap toy with high price tag. How come, that Xpress Music 5800 is half the price of iPhone? And how about the thing, that Apple decides which software are allowed to AppStore, meaning that it dominates whatever software in its phone. Ex. Apple wants no competition for Safari. Now, how would you like the idea about not being able to use any other webbrowser, except Internet Explorer in Windows? In S60, you can download any browser you want, like Mini Opera (which is great), and for free!!
I bet that N97 will be great, since it has features that no other phone can even compete!
PS. And even BATMAN uses nokia! =D
I’ve been a Symbian S60 user since 2002, and that OS was fine in its day, but now it is way outdated compared to other phones. I swapped my brand new N95 for an iPhone 3G this year.. and guess what? I don’t regret it one bit. Sure the Apple lacks a proper camera, but the OS is simply way better than anything else out in the market. Using Safari with your fingers is so much better than any browser for Symbian, that you just do not know it until you try it. Trust my word on this.
One thing that scares me about new Nokias is their choice of touchscreen technology. They use resistive screens which are VERY easily scratched compared to capacitive screens. My friend who’s a programmer at Nokia had gotten his 5800 prototype scratched beyond repair in less than three months. Imagine how it would be in one year?
Nokia has done the mistake of simply ignoring their hard-to-program Symbian and just focus on adding more and more bloat on their software. Until Nokia ditches Symbian and creates a new phone OS by scratch, all I’ll do is piss on their phones. The quality of Nokias is also not very great. My N95 slider had a pretty nasty amount of play in it and the plastic squeaked horribly when I squeezed the phone in my hand. The iPhone has none of that, it’s rock solid.
My advice: before being a fanboy of either device, try them both out. Then give your opinion. Mine changed by doing so.
Brand new N95?
N95 was introduced in autumn 2006, making over two years ago, so it’s hardly brand new. How about N96, N85 or E71 instead.
And since it was prototype, the screen is most likely updated few times since…
Sigh. N95’s are still sold as brand new in stores. Both models too. Mine was built in January ‘08 and it was the 2 gig version. The 5800 prototype screen was the exact same as the mass production model screen. If you wish to remain as a blind ignorant Nokia fanboy without even trying the other phones, I’m not stopping you. Fanboys come, fanboys go.
PS. This post was written with iPhone from my bed.
Says iPhone fanboy? :p
I own a N95 8GB and I must warn you that it is the best gaming phone ever made. N96 is told that its is a step forward, but I Dont see anything forward in it. N95 has a dedicated gaming GPU (Hardware acceleration), N96 doesnt have one.
N95 8Gb has a ARM 11 Dual processor architecture whereas N96 has ARM6 which is primitive when compared.
N96 has the advantage of only higher memory. Dont know what the use is of having higher memory without any performance.
Both Phones have same features execpt for the TV functions in N96 where you can get a third party application for N95
Nokia makes good phones and S60 is probably the best mobile and gaming platform. The only thing that bothers me is this new security framework to prevent piracy and cracked appz from running. It is becoming very painfull to use them because of that.
So if I had to buy one phone now I would go for Windows mobile because of it flexibility and easiability to run pirated stuff.
Nice tips here the details and review about N97
http://www.micronanotronics.com/mobile/an-overview-on-nokia-n97.html
we are saller of brand new mobile phone,for more details do contact sales rep at
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