The dust hasn’t nearly settled on news of the mould-shattering new N97 unveiled at Nokia World yesterday. Instead we remain caught up in a sandstorm of excitement at the prospect of Nokia’s iPhone annihilator launching in 2009. We’ve played with the upcoming N97, and can categorically say (without bias or hyperbole) that it truly has the potential to be the most important mobile device of the decade.

So with the adrenaline still pumping, we thought we’d pull together all the best bits of N97 coverage into one page to ensure you don’t miss a beat on the phone announcement of the decade.

Click through for all the info, first impressions, photos and videos…

VIDEO DEMO

NOKIA N97 IS A GAME-CHANGER
Nokia hasn’t just changed the game with the N97, they’ve moved the goalposts around and changed the shape of the field. We’re not dealing with something that’s going up against the iPhone, the G1 and the pretenders – this is a device that’s taking it right to the ‘ickle laptops, the netbooks.

The N97 is set to launch with 32GB of on board memory, though Anssi said on stage it’ll have 48GB, with another 16GB coming via SD card. That’s more than ample for most people’s on-the-move needs. Add to that a slick interface, that QWERTY keyboard and the kind of hinge that’d make Jobs jealous (yeah, I’m blowing about a hinge – have you seen the action?).

So enough then to make the other phone-makers run scared, but what of the Netbooks? Tipped as one of the biggest tech growth areas for 2009 (and already one of the biggest in 2008) Nokia is walking right into a hot spot with a cracking device. Connectivity? Not a problem, it packs WiFi and HSDPA – better than most netbooks. The N97 has everything it needs to sell itself as a fully-featured phone or a laptop that can make calls. Happy days, no matter what way you look at it.

I think it’ll take a while for all this to sink in, so for now we just have to marvel at its beauty. Roll on mid 2009.

HANDS-ON FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Need to fill your boots on the Nokia N97’s specs? Then look no further as we’ve gathered everything we’ve got right here. Run your finger down the screen as this lot is quite tasty. Behind the 3.5-inch touchscreen sits a bunch of hot tech that’ll ensure this little puppy performs better than anything you’ve ever seen, or used before. The 150g weight isn’t bad either and it feels only marginally bigger than an N95 (though is much slimmer).

We had a fettle with one earlier and it feels soooo good in the hand.

There’s still a bit of work to do on it, but it’s already very plush, with a solid feel in the hand and almost perfect action around the hinge area – the start of the movement is still a little harsh, but it sounds like there might still be a bit of tweaking to go on there. Round the back the camera has a cover to keep the lens fresh (cue more lovely gliding action) and it looks (and feels) a bit like the N85.

The footprint isn’t bad, considering what you’ve got in the hand here. Much neater than a Communicator, though bigger than what we’re mostly used to, it’s still very usable in the hand. Now, for the hard core, we have a little treat. Feast your eyes boys…

HARD FACTS AND FIGURES
WCDMA 900/1900/2100 (HSDPA),
EGSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
OS: S60 5th Edition
Dimensions: 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm*mm (L x W x H) *18.25 mm at camera area
Weight: Approx. 150 g
Display: 3.5 inch TFT with up to 16 million colors
nHD16:9 widescreen (640×360 pixels)
Battery: Nokia Battery BP-4L, 1500 mAh

Media
Memory: Up to 48GB
(32 GB on-board memory,
plus 16GB expansion via microSDmemory
card slot)
Video playback: MPEG-4 / SP and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264,
up to 30 fps, up to VGA resolution
RealVideoup to QCIF @ 30 fps
Windows Media (WMV9) up to CIF @ 30 fps
Flash Lite 3.0 / Flash Video in internet
browser
Music playback: MP3, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+, WMA
Main Camera
Lens: Carl ZeissTessar™
Image capture: Up to 5 megapixels (2584 x 1938)
JPEG/EXIF (16.7 million/24-bit color)
Video capture: MPEG-4 VGA (640 x 480) at up to 30 fps
Aperture: F2.8
Focal length: 5.4 mm
Flash: Dual LED camera flash and video light

Battery life
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)

Connectivity & Data Services
• WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g with UPnP support
• Micro-USB connector, Hi-Speed USB 2.0
• 3.5mm stereo headphone plug and TV-out support
(PAL/NTSC)
• Bluetooth wireless technology 2.0 with A2DP stereo audio,
enhanced data rates (EDR)
• GPS receiver with support for assisted GPS (A-GPS)

VIDEO HANDS-ON AND DESIGNER TALK
Nokia Conversations shot a close-up viddy of it in the flesh and speak to the man behind the look and feel of the N97.

Hands-on…

N97 designer

PHOTO GALLERY