 
Pramod de Silva
Forget the Apple iPhone, President Obama’s beloved Blackberry and HTC.
Nokia is still the number one handset maker in the world, although its
competitors have come up with highly desirable mobiles. So when Nokia
announces a product that can literally sweep them away, it is time to
take notice.
Remember the good old Nokia Communicator? Vey nearly the size of a
brick, it was the king of smartphones around 12 years back. Now Nokia
has reworked the concept, made it much smaller and added all bells and
whistles that the competitors offer and much more.
Enter Nokia N97. The Internet buzz surrounding this gorgeous 3.5 inch
16:9 touchscreen phone is deafening to say the least. It’s a 3G/Internet
phone, a mini laptop, a music/media player, games machine, Internet
surfer and camera all in one. It is Nokia’s best N-Series phone to date
without a doubt. Just don’t expect it to be cheap.
The touchscreen is straight from the Nokia 5800, but if you find
typing on the screen difficult or cumbersome, there is a web-friendly
slide-out QWERTY keypad borrowed from the Nokia E-series. The sliding
action is reported to be smooth, resting at a handy 45-degree angle, and
the rubber keys seem to be nicely spaced.
 And
if you want to upload pictures to Facebook or Flickr, make use of the
onboard 5 megapixel camera equipped with dual flash. Uploading pictures
and browsing the Internet is a breeze thanks to 3.6Mbps HSDPA, Wi-Fi and
A2DP.A-GPS and navigation software make it easy to know where you are -
and where you are going.According to initial reports, the phone is
targeted at entertainment users, not strictly for business users as some
of the E-Series phones have a better email interface. But it will ‘do’
both business or pleasure nicely.
Don’t’ forget that the phone has a direct link to the Nokia Ovi Store
- Nokia’s version of Apple’s iTunes and App Store. This is the interface
through which you can upload and download fun stuff - music, games and
third party applications. Nokia has not yet added its own dedicated
music platforms Comes With Music and Expressmusic and the BBC’s iPlayer
to this phone, though.
All this will take up a bit of a memory, right? There’s nothing to
worry, with 32 GB onboard. Add a 16 GB microSD Card to make it 48 GB -
which should be more than enough for anyone. The iPhone, by comparison
tops out at 16 GB and there’s no card slot.
Battery time is ok at 6.6 hours talk time/18 hours standby/37 hours
music playback/4.5 hours video, but these figures can vary in real world
conditions. The weight is a somewhat substantial 150g, but that is the
price you pay for the QWERTY keyboard and a high capacity battery.
The Nokia N97 will enter the local market soon. Will it become the
king of touchscreen smartphones? Let’s wait and see. |
