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Article by Matt Sharp
Announced in late 2008, the Nokia N97 is one of the most spectacular mobile phones the Finnish manufacturer's ever come up with. Let's take a look at this awesome device, and see why it's so special.
A potted history of Nokia touchscreen phones
Most people seem to be under the false impression that the Nokia 5800 is the first touchscreen mobile phone Nokia have ever made. It isn't. The opposite's true, because there have been a few touch-based phones to wear the Nokia name. Beginning with the 7700, the world has seen a couple of Nokia mobile phones that are controlled by you pressing directly on the screen. They all had reasonably big (for their time) screens, but the other feature they had in common, unfortunately, was that they were irredeemably hideous. Just one of those mobile phones, the 6708, displayed any promise, but that was destined solely to be sold in China, and so, we never got to play with them in Britain. The mobile phones WE got were, and I use this phrase with much feeling, utter, utter bobbins.
However, those unpleasant memories have now been firmly erased by the launch of a new Nokia mobile phone, which comes with a touch-sensitive display, and which is much, much nicer...
Bang up to date with the Nokia N97
One glance at the new Nokia N97 is enough to confirm that this is one of the most beautiful mobile phones Nokia have ever made. It's not just the sleek, sexy body that gives the Nokia N97 its charm, it's also that enormous touchscreen on the front of the phone, coming in at 3.5 inches, with a widescreen resolution. The fact that it's a full touchscreen adds a whole new dimension to the Nokia N97, as well, allowing you to interact with your phone in a far more direct and exciting fashion. That's aided, of course, by the interface in the Nokia N97, a new extension of the S60 Touch interface soon to be seen in the Nokia 5800. Suffice to say, the Nokia N97, being a far more powerful top-end mobile phone, takes it far further than its mid-range sibling, making the N97, by a considerable margin, the best touchscreen phone Nokia have ever made.
Into the future with the Nokia N97
In fact, no previous Nokia phones can match the Nokia N97 for power. Opening the list of functions and features is a superb 5 megapixel camera, so that you can snap some truly gorgeous images with the Nokia N97. Needless to say, they'll display in luscious colour on the phone's touchscreen, and with the built-in GPS, you can even add location data to them. As well as GPS connectivity, the Nokia N97 comes complete with a raft of internet connectivity options, including HSDPA and WiFi, which, in conjunction with the web browser, provide an internet experience that's reminiscent of other Nokia phone, whilst being far more compelling. In terms of multimedia, you get top-end gaming, video and music, and a massive 32Gb of memory built into the phone, expanding its range of roles to include mobile phone, mobile broadband internet device, sat-nav and portable entertainment centre. Essentially, it's very hard to find anything the Nokia N97 won't do, and because of that, it seems likely this will easily be Nokia's phone of the year!
Expert on mobile phones, having worked in the industry for over 7 years.
