Before we discuss the latest and greatest cellular developments, I just wanted to say that this is the first post on the new hosting, it took long enough, but it is finally live, so congrats.

There have been various things going on in the tech world and specifically the cellular market, but I think everyone agrees that one of the biggest and most important pieces of news is the N97. I know I wrote a lot about it already, but  a lot more is known to us now, so I think another N97 post is in order.

Mobile-review had some time with the N97 and although the commercial device is not available yet, so the final version of the software cannot be analyzed, the amount of time they spent with the device is more than the rest of us are getting, so it is pretty exciting.

I read the whole review and what I came away with is that the N97 is first of all a very impressive device. It is not as thick as I originally thought, the screen is pretty outstanding, the widgets are a cool idea, and the battery life is phenomenal.

N97 Compared to the iPhone

On the flip side of things, and I guess the flip side is what matters because these are the aspects that will prevent me from buying it (yea right, as if I could afford it), there are more than a few things that bother me about the device. Let’s start with the design. I would have liked it if the entire thing was not made out plastic, a little metal would have made things a lot more impressive and serious.

Not sure I am feeling this 35 degree angle thing, did not work for the Tilt, not sure it will work for this. Then there is the whole resistive screen issue, which to be honest, I do not fully understand yet, but it is supposedly a big downside for the N97. From the video below (might as well put your volume down, unless of course you speak Russian), you can see that the interface, which by the way sorry to say, just cannot be compared to Apple’s (I wanted to see if I could write a review without the I word) is a little quirky, but again, this is not the commercial version, so that might change.

N97 Compared to the XPERIA

I am not getting why the N97 cannot be charged via USB, why would Nokia do that? Am I missing something? As for the widgets, it is a cool idea, but if I wanted widgets, wouldn’t I want them fully customizable? If I were so inclined to have home screen widgets, I would turn to Cellogic to design em, and use Flyscreen.

Two more things I do not like about this phone is of course, the price, but more importantly, Nokia’s marketing strategy really bothers me. The 5800 just came out! I have heard of competition between cellular superpowers, where one outdoes the other and makes consumers forget about the first one’s phone that was recently released (did you get that?). What I have NOT heard of is a company stealing its own thunder. This is something Apple would never do. Why would anyone in their right mind go out and buy a 5800 now, knowing its big brother is right around the corner? Nokia would say they are targeting different audiences with the two phones and to that I say, B.S.  Are you telling me there are 5800 people out there that do NOT want a full QWERTY, 5 mp camera, or home screen widgets? Cmon.

N97 Compared to its Little Brother

I, for one, was very excited about the 5800, but now that the N97 has a bigger screen, a better OS, and a full QWERTY, I would not consider getting the Tube anymore. Correct me if I’m wrong, did Nokia just convince me not to get a Nokia phone? Now, that’s good marketing.

-Hillel