Tilting touch display, QWERTY keyboard. The N97 is here.

One of Nokia’s best kept secrets has been released to the world! The N97 is here! Tensions were high yesterday as everyone wondered what Nokia was going to release this week. With no leaks, some even doubted that they were releasing any new devices at Nokia World. I did have a few thoughts of my own, like for example I remember posting at Howard Forums that it could be a ‘Flagship Nseries with side slide-out QWERTY.’ Guess I was right. :) Thinking about, Scoble’s post ‘Nokia’s touchiest week’ was kind of a giveaway.

With some capable competitors already on the market, it was indeed a crucial announcement for Nokia. As Vaibhav from the Symbian blog puts it: ‘this is the week that Nokia either shines or moves to the B list of the cell phone market.’ And indeed Nokia delivered, by releasing the N97. I can’t help but get the same impression I got when I first got a glimpse of the N95. This thing has *almost* everything I could ask from a flagship device and should give the Nokia the edge it had when the N95 arrived. I have to say almost, because having a Xenon flash and 8 Megapixel (for bragging rights) would have made it perfect in every way. But by now it’s clear that the real reasons why the N97 doesn’t have a Xenon flash and 8 Megapixels is because that’s what the N82’s successor, possibly the device code named ‘Corolla’ will have.

Looking at the design, I don’t see any traces of that plasticky toy-like look I’ve seen from devices like the N95 or N96. Interestingly it doesn’t only seems to have taken some design cues from the E71 and E90,but just like it’s Eseries siblings, it gives the impression of being extremely solid. How about that keyboard, doesn’t it look like the one found on a certain Internet Tablet device? Some have even mentioned that the N97 has taken some N79 design elements, which seems especially true with the white version. This also might be the very first time I buy a white device, as it just looks sweet in white.

I remember asking for a N810 with phone features, the N97 is probably the closest thing to that so far. I want one and I want one now!

Will you be getting a N97?

Source:Dialaphone and Allaboutsymbian

Written by Devin