You know, for the longest time, I’ve made do with Tracfones.  They’re dirt cheap–thirty bucks every three months–and for as little as I use them, I don’t need a phone with a whole lot of bells and whistles.  At least, that’s what I thought before the crew out at Puremobile sent me a Nokia N97 to take a look at, and I got a first hand look at how stone-axe primitive I was living in terms of cell phones.

The Nokia N97 cell phone is a small, smooth smartphone that comes with a panoply of options so wide and varied that it made my head spin the first time I tried it.  This sucker comes with a five megapixel camera, GPS capability, map software, web browsing, and a fully functional QWERTY keyboard hidden underneath the phone’s front panel.  It has an autorotate sensor that lets you go from landscape to portrait with a flick of the wrist, 32 gigs of onboard storage and 128 megs of RAM.

I actually once used a COMPUTER with less RAM than this phone carries. The sheer number of options contained within this phone, the sheer number of things it can do, boggles my mind, and it seems like with every passing day, I find more things that this Swiss Army knife of a phone can do.

I confess to a certain amount of amazement with this phone.  It replaces so many things with a device roughly the size of two credit cards taped together.  Considering that, as far as I can tell from Amazon, this sucker has a retail cost of seven hundred dollars, this is a great one to consider if you want a top of the line model.  More budget conscious folks may want to stick with the Tracfone.

Tags: 5 megapixel camera, browser, Cell Phones, GPS, maps, Nokia, Nokia, Nokia N97, options, smartphone, Uncategorized

Here is a big break for the people who are aching to get their hands on the Nokia N97 and the new Apple 32G 3GS iPhone. Jasondeborah International Trading has announced a special offer for the Nokia N97 and likewise the opportunity to be among the first people to own a new Apple 32G 3GS iPhone at great discounted prices. All of these phones are brand new and come in a box complete with all accessories plus a 12 month warranty.

They are all genuine, unlocked and are compatible with the Australian digital network. There are no minimum orders for the said phones although further discounts will be given for bulk purchases.

(Source) Press

Tags: Apple, Apple, bulk purchases, Business, iPhone, iPhone, Nokia, Nokia, Nokia N97, special offer, warranty

The brand may be a popular one but that doesn’t mean that they are immune to criticized handsets. That is what perhaps best sums up how the Nokia N97 Mini is as far as reviews from the critics are concerned. And among the main reasons for the thumbs down given to the Nokia N97 Mini is traced to its awful keyboard and downsized memory.

Up and close, the Nokia N97 Mini is a dead ringer for the N900. So if you compare both phones, why would anyone prefer the other one? In short, there may be little resemblance if no improvement at all if you are considering the newly approved N97.

The only thing going right now is what other features and pricing the Nokia N97 Mini has planned. Hopefully though there are more features to look forward to like perhaps a touch-screen feature? Keep your fingers crossed!

(Source) Slashgear

Tags: dead ringer, handsets, keyboard, memory, N900, Nokia, Nokia, Nokia N97, resemblance, touch screen

We all love a good rumor from time to time and we have stumbled across quite a few Vodafone-related rumors for you. First off it seems that there’s a Nokia N97 Mini which will be launched by Vodafone sometime soon. The Mini version should be cheaper but the truth is that there’s no official news yet about such a phone.

Besides the N97 Mini, Vodafone is said to also sell the BlackBErry Storm 2 later this year and as for the Palm Pre it seems that a different carrier will pick this phone up exclusively.

via vodafone

Tags: BlackBerry, Mini, Nokia, Nokia N97, Palm, Palm, pre, Research In Motion, RIM, Storm 2, Vodafone, Vodafone

What? You didn’t think Nokia would let their flagship handset hit the market without generating any buzz, did you? Well it looks like the company has contracted rapper LL Cool J to record what Engadget calls a “hilariously aggressive ad”. In other words, an ad that features the phone along with background hip-hop music and flashy text.

Sure the N97 is a great handset touting just about every feature you could ever ask for but I don’t know how much LL Cool J’s “don’t call it a comeback” advertisement made me want to purchase said handset. You know, maybe if they lowered the $699 asking price LL Cool J’s words would stick in my mind a bit more. Hey, just a thought.

Tags: advertisement, Cell Phones, don't call it a comeback, ll cool j, Mobile News, Nokia, Nokia N97

Packed with multimedia capabilities and needs that most mobile users require today, people who have been eagerly awaiting the release of the Nokia N97 Black can now pre-order the much anticipated phone at Phones 4u. And that is not all!

Phones 4u recently announced that it was putting this latest smart phone up for grabs in a free prize draw which will be giving away the latest N-Series phone to one lucky winner. To be in with a chance of owning your very own, simply visit http://www.phones4u.co.uk/NOKIA_N97_Competition/.

The Nokia N97 Black will be available for pre-order as of this morning, free from £40 a month on selected networks and will be available at Phones 4u stores and online from 26th June 2009.

(Source) Press

Tags: mobile users, N-series, Nokia, Nokia, Nokia N97, phones 4u, smart phone

Associated Press timed it perfectly as it has announced the availability of the AP Mobile News widgets, preloaded or made available for download on the new Nokia N97 mobile. For the record, the N97 starts shipping today.

Similar to online browsing, Associated Press presents an easier way of getting the latest news and photos right on your mobile phone. Consumers can scroll through stories and AP photo galleries as well as watch AP videos. The widget is available in English, French, Spanish and German languages.

“With just a single icon on their touch screen, we are giving Nokia N97 users access to multimedia versions of their world, national and local news,” said Jeff Litvack, AP’s general manager of mobile and emerging products. “One year ago, when we launched AP Mobile, our goal was to be the news button on the most popular smartphones. Having our AP news widget preloaded on the Nokia N97 is a fantastic start.”

The rollout of the Nokia N97 follows the May 26 launch of Ovi Store by Nokia, where AP News, www.apnews.com, was the No. 1 U.S. mobile news app for the opening.

(Source) Press

Tags: ap photo, associated press, Cell Phones, emerging products, english french, Mobile News, Mobile News, mobile phone, Mobile Software, multimedia versions, Nokia, Nokia N97, photo galleries, rollout, smartphones, touch screen, widget, widgets

If you plan to attend Nokia World 2009 you should free your schedule for September 2-3. That’s when the event will take place. And make sure you book tickets all the way to Stuttgart since that’s where we will find out Nokia news this autumn. Last year the Nokia N97 was announced at Nokia World last year so we have high expectations for this year. What will Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia’s CEO announce this year?

via Nokia

Tags: event, Mobile News, Nokia, Nokia, Nokia N97, Nokia World, Stuttgart

Mobile application developers are sure to be busy figuring out what Rhomobile has in store as far as its Mobile Application Development Challenge is concerned but can now get the details from the said $10,000 challenge.

Rhomobile today announced additional details for their Mobile Application Development Challenge including an extended deadline date and additional prize packages. To enter the contest, developers must complete a free registration available at the Rhomobile website by April 15, 2009.

The contest promotes Rhomobile’s Rhodes framework, which allows developers to write once to create native apps for all leading smartphones including iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android, and features a $10,000 grand prize.

The Rhomobile Mobile Application Development Challenge was organized as a way to encourage developers to experiment with Open Source and the Rhodes framework, which allows developers to write native applications for smartphones using HTML templates. Rhomobile is encouraging contest submissions that utilize the access Rhodes provides developers to smartphone capabilities such as GPS, PIM contacts and camera.

The Mobile Application Development Challenge submission deadline date has been extended to May 24, 2009, enabling developers to use the latest release of Rhodes 1.0, with a first prize of $10,000 to the individual or company building the best mobile application. Additional prize packages will include iPhone 3G 16GB, AT&T (HTC) Fuze with Windows Mobile, BlackBerry Storm smartphones, Nokia N97 and G2 Google Android phones. The grand prize of $10,000 will be announced on June 1, 2009 and additional prizes will be announced at a later date.

Contest Requirements

• Registration deadline: April 15, 2009
• Application submission deadline: May 24, 2009
• Applications must run on at least two device operating systems
• Applications must operate upon synchronized local data via RhoSync
  Criteria for Judging

Rhomobile will evaluate submissions in the following areas:

• Application Originality: value proposition to end users and usefulness of the application
• User Experience: overall usability of the application
• Device Leverage: demonstration of device capabilities
• Code Quality: documentation and maintainability of the code

(Source) Press

Tags: Android, application submission, Cell Phones, contest requirements, contest submissions, Google, grand prize, iPhone, mobile application developers, mobile application development, Nokia N97, smartphones, submission deadline, systems applications

The much-anticipated N97, announced in December, did not disappoint. The cutting edge device comes with a 3.5-inch, 640 x 360 pixel resistive touchscreen display with tactile feedback and QWERTY keyboard. An “always open” window feature allows the use to stay in real-time contact with favorite internet or social networking sites. Nokia calls the N97 the “world’s most advanced mobile computer,” and while Apple would probably have a come back for that boast, no one else does.

The impressive handheld includes HSDPA, WiFi, and Bluetooth radios, A-GPS, a 3.5-mm headjack, 32GB of onboard memory with microSD expansion (for up to 48GB total capacity), and a battery capable of up to 1.5 days of continuous audio playback or 4.5-hours video. Also included is a 5 megapixel camera with “DVD quality” video capture. The price is as fabulous as the smart phone itself—It’s listed at $799 by most web merchants—but if you’re looking for the best of the best, this is it.

Official release to the public for this phone is around April 2009.

Tags: Nokia, Nokia N97