Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Nokia “iPhone Killer” - Nokia N97


As designers, we always admired Nokia’s design fundamentals during its climb to become the world’s largest cellphone producer. Ever willing to take on risks and push envelops, Nokia created uniquely shaped cell phones, such as the circular dials on Nokia 3650, which challenge the notions of what a mobile phone really is. Unfortunately, that all changed when the company reached the #1 spot. Driven by cost cutting and profitability, Nokia’s phones begin to look more like commoditized products. Its refusal to adopt market driven forces, like the slimmer “calm-shell” design, meant the company is losing its edge to LG, Samsung, RIM, and the newcomer at the time, Apple. But that is about to change as Nokia announced its newest flagship product this morning at Nokia World 2008 in Barcelona - the N97.

Though somewhat late to the game, the N97 might just be the game changer and the true “iPhone Killer” everyone is talking about. Iterated by Nokia executives as a “mobile computer” and rightfully so, the Nokia N97 is awash in features that users been demanding for sometime. Dominated by a 3.5-inch touch screen with a full QWERTY keyboard that slide out, the new phone combine the best of both Apple iPhone and RIM Blackberry. Other features include:

- A whopping 32GB of storage and is expandable to 48GB
- Wi-Fi, FM Radio, A-GPS
- 2 cameras, including a 5-megapixel with autofocus, dual-LED flash, and Carl Zeiss lens
- Easy access to online contents and web sites, including Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter

The Nokia N97 will launch in Europe early 2009 with US soon to follow. For more photos and demo videos after jump

No comments: