Nokia Announces the N97 “Mobile Computer”

On Tuesday at Nokia World ‘08 in Barcelona, Spain, Nokia announced its latest iPhone killer. It didn’t really claim it to be that, but it did claim that its newest mobile device, called a mobile computer rather than a mobile phone, would “transform the way people connect to the Internet and to each other.”

Shoot, I thought that was what the iPhone was supposed to do.

Nokia calls the N97 their flagship N-series device, but don’t get too anxious: it’s not scheduled to launch in Europe until sometime in 1H 09, and there is no date estimated for a North American launch.

Jonas Geust, Vice President, heading Nokia Nseries, said:

“From the desktop to the laptop and now to your pocket, the Nokia N97 is the most powerful, multi-sensory mobile computer in existence. Together with the Ovi services announced today, the Nokia N97 mobile computer adjusts to the world around us, helping stay connected to the people and things that matter most. With the Nokia N97, Nseries leads the charge in helping to transform the Internet into your Internet”.

Oh, yeah, if you don’t know what’s Ovi? Ovi was announced in 2007 at the Go Play event. Ovi is a way to synch up, share, connect (sound familiar?). Tuesday they announced Mail on Ovi and Maps on Ovi. Yes, Nokia is trying to make this site your portal to the Internet.

Nokia also touts the phone’s, oh sorry, mobile computer’s “So-Lo” or social location feature. According to the press release, the N95 makes it easy to update social networks automatically with your real-time location information.

Here are some quick specs on the “computer:”

• Size: 4.6″ x 2.2″ x 0.6″
• Weight: Approx. 5.3 oz
• Memory: Up to 48GB (32 GB on-board memory, plus 16GB expansion via microSD memory card slot)
• Display: 3.5 inch TFT with up to 16 million colors nHD 16:9 widescreen (640×360 pixels)
• Talk time: Up to 320 min (3G), 400 min (GSM)
• Standby time: Up to 400 hrs (3G), 430 hrs (GSM)
• Video playback: Up to 4.5 hours (offline mode)
• Music playback: Up to 37 hours (offline mode)
• Image capture: Up to 5 megapixels (2584 x 1938) JPEG/EXIF (16.7 million/24-bit color)
• Keyboard: Full QWERTY, Slide-out
• OS: Symbian S60, 5th Edition

Well, that camera certainly shows up the iPhone’s 2 megapixel camera. The screen is a resistive touchscreen display with tactile feedback (everyone’s into that nowadays). Just looking at the specs, one might think it’s no contest.

The thing is, the iPhone’s OS was revolutionary and a game-changer. Everything I’ve seen since then that was a so-called “iPhone Killer” is some sort of touchscreen on top of an existing OS, like Windows Mobile (or a proprietary closed OS like on the Instinct).

Oh, and pricing? Ouch, $695.

Watch Nokia’s demo video (first), and a hand’s on video (which, unlike the Nokia video, isn’t quite so immpressive). It should be noted that if they aren’t planning to release this until mid-2009, they’re going to have plenty of time to tweak the OS for better performance.