Nokia N97 -- first touch device from N Series

BANGALORE, INDIA: Nokia today unveiled the N97, the highly anticipated converged touch device from Nseries. Designed for the needs of Internet savvy consumers, the Nokia N97 will transform the way people connect to the Internet and to each other.

Axel Meyer, Head of Design, Nokia Nseries and Sushma Reddy flagging off the 'Search for N', a national hunt for the Nokia N97.

Introducing the device, Nokia Nseries also announced ‘Search for N’, a national online hunt, for 10 lucky people to discover and take the iconic Nokia N97 device home even before it hits the store shelves.

The Nokia N97 pioneers the concept of a personalized home screen that lets people choose their favourite content, providing an ‘always open’ window to applications and/or Internet content such as social networking sites, RSS feeds and other widgets in addition to Ovi feeds.

Expected to start shipping in India in June end, the Nokia N97 will be the first Nokia device to offer integrated access to the newly opened Ovi Store. According to T.S. Sridhar, Regional General Manager-South, Nokia India: “The Nokia N97 combines the best of the mobile phone and personal internet experience. Together with the host of content on Ovi Store, the Nokia N97 adjusts to the world around us, helping stay connected to the people and things that matter most.

Giving an insight into what went into the making of the Nokia N97, Axel Meyer, Head of Design, Nokia Nseries, said, “Our extensive consumer research shows that many people desire a device that blends the internet functionality of a personal computer with the features and connectivity of a high-end smartphone in one compact device. We believe that Nokia N97 is a very compelling and exciting proposition to such people. It provides a unique amount of personalization. People can choose what live internet services, applications and key contacts they would like to have directly their homescreen. Everyone has a different "personal internet" and we empower people to make this their choice.”

Search for N
‘Search for N’ will run for a period of five days from June 15-19, 2009, in advance of the Nokia N97 going on sale in India. It will invite technology enthusiasts across the country to solve cryptic clues shared online on popular technology websites and blogs.

Five hidden clues, posted one a day, on the sites could relate to news that week, features of the new Nokia N97, which encourage consumers to explore content online. Ten lucky winners, selected from across India, basis the most consistent, correct and fastest answers, will win the Nokia N97! To be part of the ‘Search for N’ hunt, visit www.searchforn.com for more details.

“Search for N is yet another unique online initiative from Nokia Nseries which engages people who are passionate about technology in an entertaining and fun format. Through this campaign we are creating a platform where enthusiasts get to challenge their tech quotient in order to get their hands on the much anticipated device before it reaches the market,” said Sridhar.

Sensing your ‘So-Lo’
Nokia’s flagship Nseries device introduces leading technology -– including multiple sensors, memory, processing power and connection speeds –- for people to share their ‘social location. With integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass, the Nokia N97 mobile computer intuitively understands where it is.

The Nokia N97 makes it easy to update social networks automatically with real-time information, giving approved friends the ability to update their ‘status’ and share their ‘social location’ as well as related pictures or videos.

Ovi Store on board
The Nokia N97 is the first device to ship with Ovi Store, a one-stop shop for a full catalog of applications, games, videos, podcasts, productivity tools, web and location-based services, and much more. Ovi Store has paid and free content from a range of global and local content providers and developers, including Facebook, Paramount Pictures and Twitter applications.

In India, the Ovi Store on the N97 will offer a choice of 50 free to download items developed specifically for Indian consumers, by Indian developers under the aegis of Forum Nokia. In addition, users will also have access to global items, a mix of paid and free to download content.

Widescreen - Internet and entertainment
The home screen of Nokia N97 can be customized to feature the people, content and media that matter the most. Friends, social networks and news are available by simply touching the home screen. The unique tilting, large touch 3.5”, 16:9 widescreen display, which comes with a fill QWERTY keyboard, can be fully personalized with a range of widgets* which bring live information directly to the devices.

These widgets include key social networking destinations like Facebook, news services like NDTV and Reuters, as well as email, shopping and weather information. The Nokia N97 is also perfectly suited for browsing the web, streaming Flash videos or playing games. The intuitive User Interface with a choice of physical QWERTY and virtual touch input ensure efficiency in blogging, chatting, posting, sending texts or emailing.

Images can also be geo-tagged to specific locations and shared instantly with friends or uploaded online via Ovi Share, Twitter, Flickr or Facebook.

The Nokia N97 supports up to 48GB of storage, including 32GB of on-board memory, expandable with a 16GB microSD card for music, media and more. This is complemented by excellent music capabilities, full support for the Nokia Music Store and continuous playback time of up to 1.5 days.

The Nokia N97 also has a 5-Megapixel camera with high-quality Carl Zeiss optics, 16:9 and DVD quality video capture, and support for services like Share on Ovi for immediate sharing over HSDPA and WLAN.