Nokia are reportedly beginning to debit the accounts of those who pre-ordered the N97 smartphone, suggesting that the rumored June 2nd release date could turn out to be true. According to a member of the N97 Geeks Forum, Nokia have billed him for the full pre-order price of the smartphone on May 19th.
Nokia seem determined to slice off as much of their profit margin on the N97 as possible, offering huge discounts on the flagship smartphone before it’s even released. Currently available to preorder, Nokia are throwing in an instant discount on the N97 that amounts to $174.75; then, with the addition of the promo code CARTP409N, the price comes tumbling even further, down to just $454.35.
Nokia have released hardware specifications for their N97 smartphone, and it makes for disappointing reading for anyone hoping the QWERTY handset would pack the same CPU and GPU grunt as recent rivals. According to Nokia, the N97 uses an ARM11 434MHz processor and 128MB of RAM; that’s actually less than the Nokia XpressMusic 5630, which musters up a 600MHz CPU.
Yesterday Toshiba took the wraps off their latest smartphone, the TG01, and with it catapulted themselves into the must-see category at Mobile World Congress next week. We’ve got details, photos and high-definition video of the TG01 if you need to get fully up to speed, but basically it’s a 9.9mm thick WM6.1 smartphone with a 4.1-inch touchscreen, all the usual 3G and GPS connections, and a custom GUI as is so common now among users of Microsoft’s mobile platform. There’s no denying it’s a slick, attractive handset – so how come I can’t get excited?
Nokia is planning several 3G and 3.5G devices with multitouch and multimedia functionality in 2009, according to the latest industry rumors. Despite poor financial performance in the last quarter, and predictions that the mobile device market would shrink in the coming year, Nokia have apparently told chip suppliers that it will increase orders in March, with new handsets using the technology launching in Q2 2009.
UK online retailer Play.com have begun to accept pre-orders for the Nokia N97, suggesting a release date for the touchscreen smartphone of March 31st 2009. The handset, which is supplied SIM-free and unlocked, is priced at £479.99 ($704); only the white version is currently listed. Nokia themselves have not yet confirmed an official release date, only that the N97 will launch in the first half of 2009, nor have they priced the device.
We kicked off the week with our yearly visit to Macworld, finding a slightly subdued show floor but plenty of excitement about Apple’s final keynote address at the conference. Anticipation was high, with several new products expected to launch; instead, however, the only hardware news was a 17-inch unibody MacBook Pro. No Mac mini update, no iPhone nano, no new iMac, and certainly no new iTouch tablet. Phil Schiller attempted to channel some Jobsian enthusiasm over iLife ‘09 and iWork ‘09, which are certainly adept pieces of software, and the price changes for iTunes could shake up the download world a little, but it wasn’t the “going out with a bang” for Macworld that many expected.
After that, it was CES 2009, and the SlashGear team decamped to Las Vegas to cover the best-known consumer electronics show on the calendar. The impact of the recession has certainly made its mark on CES, with what looked to be a lower attendee turnout and several booth cancellations. Headline gadgets were also fewer and further between, though there were still a few notable announcements.
With all the furore over the Palm Pre this past week, many have forgotten that it will come up against another QWERTY-equipped, sliding touchscreen smartphone when it launches in the first half of 2009. The Nokia N97 made a discrete showing at CES, bearing a newer (though still nowhere near final) software build than the version we last saw, and SlashGear sat down with the handset to find out some more details. After the cut, we talk Facebook, widgets and design decisions.
Many phones running the popular Symbian S60 operations system can be partially disabled by a malicious coded text message. Many Nokia handsets such as the N95, N79, and E71 just to name a few. This curse is being called “The Curse of Silence.”
The Nokia N97 may still be six months away, but that hasn’t stopped Mobile-Review from putting together a fiendishly comprehensive “preview” of the QWERTY smartphone. They’ve found the touchscreen handset to be sturdy and robust, with a solid hinge and, thanks to the elongated casing, a narrow feel in the hand. The display comes in for compliments, too, both for its quality and finger-friendliness.
Chrome OS: Waiting Is The Hardest Part…Though Necessary
Apple is no longer the Nordstrom of Tech, they’re the “New Nordstrom”
Can Anything Replace Windows XP As the Best Netbook Operating System?
Hey, Premium Notebooks or Netbooks, Get the Basics Right!
SlashGear Japan
