Nokia N97 will be unleashed on the 31 March in UK at 480 GBP

An online retailer has started accepting pre-orders for the upcoming Nokia N97. There's a specific release date now and a price tag to match the N97 rich feature set. We bet all Nokia fans will rejoice to find out that their dream device will hit the stores in less than three months.

The QWERTY-and-touch-enabled Nokia N97 is supposed to hit the shelves at the last day of March.

The price tag of 480 GBP (540 euro or 720 US dollars) for the dream-come-true phone sounds quite nice and is actually a tad lower than the officially announced suggested price of 550 euro before taxes or subsidies. We've never seen a Nokia phone introductory price go lower than the initial expectations, so it's either the world financial meltdown talking here or the seller is just pulling our leg.

Nokia 5320 XpressMusic

General Specification

Status: Coming soon. Exp. release 2008, Q3
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (4 votes cast)
Network: 2G Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
Announced: 2008, April

Size

Dimension: 108 x 46 x 15 mm, 67 cc
Weight: 90 g

Display

Type: TFT, 16M colors
Size: 240 x 320 pixels, 2 inches
- 8-way Navi key
- Dedicated music and N-Gage gaming keys

Ringtones

Type: Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3, AAC, 3D, True tones
Customization: Download
Vibration: Yes

Memory

Phonebook: Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocal
Call records: Detailed, max 30 days
Card slot: microSD (TransFlash), up to 8 GB supported
- 140 MB of user memory
- Nokia 512 MB or 1 GB microSD card included

Specification

GPRS: Class 32
Edge: Class 32
3G: HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
WLan: No
Bluetooth: Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
Infrared port: No

Mobile Features

Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email, Push E-Mail, IM
Browser: WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
OS: Symbian OS, S60
Games: Yes + Downloadable
Colors: Blue, Red
Other Features
-3G Network: HSDPA 2100 / 900
- Nokia Say and Play (voice control to music player)
- SMS reader
- Macromedia Flash Lite 3.0
- Java MIDP 2.1
- Flickr
- Yahoo Go! & Yahoo Messenger
- 3.5 mm audio output jack
- Nokia Xpress Audio messaging
- FM stereo radio with RDS
- Visual radio
- MP3/MPEG4 player
- Voice memo
- Voice dial
- Built-in handsfree
- Calendar
- Active standby screen
- Up to 24 h music time
- Up to 4 h 30 min gaming time

Battery

Battery: Standard battery, Li-Ion 890 mAh (BL-5B)
Standby: Up to 250 h
Talk time: Up to 3 h 30 min

Introduction:

The XpressMusic line of Nokia has always been mainly targeting the people of young spirit. Besides the music, they usually have one more passion – games.

The new model of the Finnish giant has as a purpose to satisfy exactly those needs. It employs a musical chip, which should provide a high quality sound and is equipped with a 3.5 mm jack for all types of headsets or speakers. On top of that, it runs on the Symbian OS with S60 interface (3rd Еdition, Feature Pack 2). This is the environment of the N-Gage platform, which is Nokia’s strongest hand regarding mobile games. Unfortunately, at the time this review was written the N-Gage site did not yet have support for 5320.

The package includes:

• Nokia 5320 XpressMusic
• Handsfree
• Software CD
• User’s manual
• Quick Guide
• Charger
• 1 GB microSD card* (it can be 512MB depending on the region)

Design:

The appearance corresponds to the audience it targets. It is not stylish, not elegant and even slightly thick. Comparing the 5320 to a fashion phone will be like comparing Avril Lavigne (the skater type) to Heidi Klum (top-model). That’s why it will suit the young audience just fine. It has aggressive design and it’s light, making it pocket friendly.

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The 2” QVGA display supports 16 million colors, which provide a very well-saturated and pleasant image. When exposed on direct sunlight the picture fades and even though it’s not nice, you can work with the phone just fine.

Over the display is located the video calling camera and a single, hard to press button, which can be assigned to the function of your choice. The soft buttons, the SEND/END keys and the D-pad are jammed into a very small space and are a pain to use. The D-pad is the only one with a noticeable relief, and all the other buttons are small and therefore hard to press.

The numeric keypad is specifically outlined, to facilitate playing the games. It cannot be compared to the original buttons of the old N-Gage phones, but as a whole it offers comfortable use and distinct click when pressed.

Both sides have an interesting pattern, which doesn’t provide better grip. Here we have the music controls, the microSD slot, the volume rocker and the camera shortcut. Overall, they are not user-friendly, because they have a barely distinctive relief and a weak tactile feedback.

The bottom houses the microphone and connectors for the charger, the headphones (3.5 mm jack) and the data cable (microUSB). The opposite side houses the power button, which is rather hard to press.

As a whole, the design will fit the teen lifestyle, but the hard to use buttons could be quite annoying.

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The New Nokia 5800 Xpress Music

Look out, iPhone, you may have a little competition going from Nokia. The Nokia 5800 is powered by a new operating system known as the S60 5th edition.

It has a 3.2 inch touchscreen that uses a stylus. It comes with Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS navigation, and is HSDPA compatible. As for memory, it has 8GB intneral, and a microSDHC memory card slot. The camera is a 3.2 megapixel number with an autofocus Carl Ziess lens and LED flash.

The Nokia 5800 with XpressMusic should be available in this quarter for a price of $392.

Nokia N97 versus iPhone 3G

Nokia has finally delivered a smartphone handset which easily rivals the iPhone 3G. On paper, the specs are amazing. Let's take a closer look, with what we know so far, and see whether it's an iPhone killer or not. Should Apple be worried?

Look & Feel

The Nokia N97 measures 117.2 (L) x 55.3 (W) x 15.9mm (D) compared to the iPhone 3G's 115.5 (H) x 62.1 (W) x 12.3mm (D); the N97 weighs 150g compared to the iPhone 3G's 133g. All pretty similar.

The N97 obviously has the slide out QWERTY keyboard and features a tilting touchscreen, whereas the iPhone 3G is a single, static unit.

Screen

The iPhone 3G's 320 x 480 3:2 ratio screen is eclipsed by the Nokia N97's true widescreen (16:9) 640 x 360 pixels. Both measure 3.5 inches diagonally. Nokia definitely wins on this one, as not only will TV/DVD based widescreen movies fill the whole screen, but there's more resolution

Camera

Again, the N97 wins hands down on the camera front, offering five megapixels, Carl Zeiss Tessar optics, and a LED flash / video light. Yes, video. The N97 will shoot video at DVD quality (30fps). The iPhone 3G, by comparison, has no video functionality and a paltry 2MP camera with no flash or focus.

Multimedia

Both handsets are heavyweights when it comes to consuming multimedia content, with both phones loyal to their companies' services - the iPhone 3G obviously has access to a huge range of content via the iTunes Store, with all other content having to go via iTunes. The N97 has access to the Nokia Music Store.

Both can play a wide variety of audio formats, but the N97 manages WMA on top of MP3, AAC, eAAC and eAAC+.

Both play variations of the MPEG4 video format, but the N97 also supports Windows Media 9 and Flash Lite/Flash Video via the Internet browser.

Navigation

The iPhone 3G utilises A-GPS and Google Maps, plus any third-party applications which use geo-location data, while the Nokia N97 has A-GPS and an electronic compass and uses Nokia Maps.

Google Maps offers 3D views of selected cities, driving, limited public transport and walking directions.

Nokia Maps offers multimedia city guides and navigation services, voice-guided car navigation, pedestrian-optimised guidance.

The N97 wins on navigation functionality, as the Nokia Maps system does seem to offer a wider range of options, however individual usage will vary depending on location.

Communications

Both phones offer HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity. The N97 has the full Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP implementation whereas the iPhone 3G has only basic Bluetooth.

Web Browsing

Both handsets offer full access to Internet web sites, but the Nokia N97 offers support for Flash Lite 3.0 and Flash Video, so will be able to render pages more fully than the iPhone which doesn't. It's not immediately clear from the specs whether the N97 offers in-browser Java support, the iPhone 3G doesn't.

Operating System

The initial Nokia N97 specifications don't explicitly mention which operating system is being used, but I presume, as an NSeries phone, it's Symbian-based. The iPhone 3G uses OS X.

Storage

The iPhone 3G comes with either 8GB or 16GB of fixed storage with no external expansion. The Nokia N97 comes with a whopping 32GB of internal memory plus up to 16GB of microSD expansion. Very nice.

Applications

iPhone 3G users have access to the standard range of useful applications plus a host of free and pay-for applications in the iPhone App Store via iTunes.

Assuming no restrictions, users will be able to install Symbian-based applications onto the Nokia N97.

Pricing & Networks

Pricing and networks have not yet been announced for the Nokia N97, thought it's expected to have a pre-subsidy price of €599 (about £465).

Conclusion

Technically, the Nokia N97 beats the iPhone 3G in nearly every area - screen resolution, camera, web browser, video capability, storage - but of course it's an ewer handset.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Steve Jobs announcing a third generation iPhone at Macworld in January - before the N97 comes to market.

There's a lot of buzz surrounding the N97, and rightly so, but will its superior specs beat the "I want one" iPhone factor?

Time will tell. Do you want your phone to be Apple-flavoured or Nokia-flavoured? And what about the price - both are going to be fairly hefty and/or require a serious contract.

Nokia N97 launches latest challenge to iPhone

Touchscreen handset with Point and Find software is " world's most advanced mobile computer" accessing the entire internet, Nokia claims

Nokia N97

Nokia unveiled its latest challenge to the iPhone today, the N97, as the Finnish mobile giant vowed it would transform the internet.

The touchscreen smartphone, which has a 3.5 inch screen and both a touchscreen and a glide-out Qwerty keyboard, is the latest handset in Nokia's N series. It follows the blockbuster N95, the handset which has so far sold 15 million, and the N96, which was released earlier this year.

The N97 is the latest handset to join an increasingly crowded smartphone market that includes the G1, which runs Google's Android software, the BlackBerry Storm, which went on sale last month, and Sony Ericsson's X1.

Related Links

• Blackberry Storm: prepare to be let down

• Google phone - the first review

• Video review: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Nokia claims the N97, which is due to be released by the middle of next year, is "the world's most advanced mobile computer" and will boast new services that will transform the way people connect to the internet.

The phone comes with 32 GB of memory - more than twice the capacity of the most powerful iPhone on the market - with the option to expand this to 48 GB with a 16 GB memory card. This means it can store thousands more songs, or hours more video, than its rivals (up to 37 hours of music and 4.5 hours of video playback to be precise).

In a gentle dig at Apple, Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's executive vice president of markets, who unveiled the phone, made the point that the N97 can access "the entire internet, not just piece of it" as, unlike the iPhone, it will be able to play the Flash videos used on many websites.

In another move that makes the N97 more like a mini-computer than a phone, the screen tilts to a 35 degree angle when the keyboard glides out, making it easier to see the screen while typing. It is a nice touch. I tried it out: your forefingers fit snuggly behind the screen making it more stable to hold and therefore easier to type. Unlike other slide-out Qwerty keyboards, as seen on handsets such as the G1 or the HTC Touch Pro, which feel quite clunky as they move into place, the N97 really does glide, or almost pivot, out. It is a very satisfying movement.

Like most of its rivals the N97 will run over HSDPA, the fastest type of mobile broadband, with speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps, and, although this is a feature surprisingly absent in the Storm, the N97 is wifi enabled.

While the hardware is impressive, it is the software that Nokia executives are most excited about and which they say will let users personalise the internet.

The N97 will sport internet widgets that can be moved around with your finger to personalise your home screen and a Nokia Messaging button - a single application that will enable you to access any webmail, e-mail and Instant Messanger accounts you might have.

The N97 also introduces so-called "SoLo", or social location, making it easier to update social networks automatically with real-time information. The phone's integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass means it knows exactly where it is, and, if your friends allow it to, will know where they are too, opening up new possibilities for gaming and applications.

Nokia N78 multimedia mobile phone

Nokia N78 multimedia mobile phone : During the Mobile World Congress, held in Barcelona, Spain, many manufacturers have announced their 2008 mobile phone portfolio. Of course Nokia was one of them. One of the newly released mobile phones is the Nokia N78 multimedia computer. The Nokia N78 combines music, navigation and photography with the benefits of mobility. The Nokia N78 mobile phone is designed to take advantage of the new suite of Nokia services, including the Nokia Music Store, Nokia Maps, and Share on Ovi - a new online service that enables consumers to share their personal media. The Nokia N78 is expected to start shipping during the second quarter of 2008, with an estimated retail price of 350 euros, before taxes.

Nokia N78 multimedia phone - Integrated A-GPS
The Nokia N78 packs a powerful range of technologies, including integrated A-GPS, with free Nokia Maps, WLAN and high-speed HSPDA 3G connectivity, a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, and support for microSD memory card, currently available at up to 8 GB, to store favourite music and media. The novelties of the N78 are geotagging of photos and an integrated FM transmitter that allows music to be played on any FM radio, in a car or at home.


Nokia N78 phone - Mobile multimedia experience
"The Nokia N78 truly lives up to the Nseries promise of delivering unparalleled mobile multimedia experiences with the very latest technologies and services," says Jonas Geust, who oversees Nokia's Nseries devices. "The Nokia N78 empowers people to explore their passions, enjoy their favourite music and share their experiences with others and is set to continue the range of well-balanced Nseries devices such as the successful Nokia N73."


N78 Nokia cell phone - Geotagging & Internet
Taking advantage of its integrated A-GPS functionality and 3.2 megapixel camera, the Nokia N78 introduces the increasingly popular online practice of 'geotagging' to a Nokia device. The Nokia N78 automatically tags images with capture location metadata, making it possible to view the capture location on a map either on the device itself, or online. With its high-speed internet connectivity, over WLAN or HSDPA, uploading photos and videos to online communities like Share on Ovi, Flickr or YouTube is a single key stroke away.


Nokia N78 mobile phone - Price & Availability
Music remains a core feature of the Nokia N78 and Nokia's range of Nseries multimedia computers. In addition to the up to 8GB of memory, internal speakers and support for standard 3.5mm headphones, the Nokia N78 also comes with Nokia Internet Radio, giving instant access to thousands of radio stations around the world. The Nokia N78 is expected to start shipping during the second quarter of 2008, with an estimated retail price of approximately 350 euros, before taxes.

Nokia Booth at Mobile World Congress

source:letsgodigital.org