Nokia announced the N97 smartphone earlier today at Nokia World 2008 in Barcelona. The N97 is a Symbian-powered smartpone with a similar sliding/tilting keyboard design as the HTC TyTN II , a 16:9 widescreen display, GPS and a whopping and expandable 32Gb of onboard storage (beat that iPhone).

So is this the high-end touchscreen phone that's been rumoured ever since the wraps were first taken off the 5800 Xpress Music? From the specs it would appear so. First up that large 3.5in touch-sensitive screen that's the same size as the iPhone's but boosts the res to 640x360 - placing it second behind only the HTC Touch HD for size and sharpness...

Update: Lots more pics and a hands-on video, after the cut. 

Then there's the 5mp camera that Nokia's taken great pleasure in describing as a "proper" shooter next to the iPhone's toy lens. Just to rub things in a little further, it'll shoot video too, in widescreen "DVD quality" - which usually means VGA resolution at 30 frames a second.

Add to the already mammoth built-in storage an additional 16GB microSDHC in the box, giving a combined total of 48GB - or more than most netbooks - and we can start to see why Nokia is describes this as a "mobile computer".

Which makes it all the more peculiar that this isn't being touted as a high-end business machine, but a social networking device, with personalised home screens and tools for sharing your (sound the marketing buzz word alert) social-location - or so-lo as Nokia cringingly christens the phenomenon it's just made up.

We are, though, pleasantly suprised that the N97 will come in at a shade under the over-priced (and now, by comparison, underpowered) N96. The keyboard - which may or may not be an attractive feature depending on your preference (see our T-Mobile G1 review) - also adds suprisingly little bulk. According to dimensions we've seen, the phone, sorry, "mobile computer", is only 2mm taller, 3mm wider and, for the most part, just 1mm thicker than the 5800 XpressMusic - although at the camera it does bulge an extra 2mm. That's some bulk, but not nearly as much as we might have feared.

The Nokia N97 will be available in Europe "in the first half of 2009" with an unlocked price of around €550 (currently £470) plus whatever VAT stands at by then.

Update: Endgadget has a hands-on video that shows the N97 being used. It looks like a sophisticated device, but that interface stirs up uncomfortable memories of the Nokia N810 ...

Here's what we know of the N97's specification so far, followed by the Nokia press release.

Nokia N97 specification

• Symbian S60 (5th Edition) operating system with N-Gage support
• 3.5in (640 x 360) touch-sensitive screen (16 million colours)
• Slide-out Qwerty keyboard
• 32Gb onboard storage
• microSDHC Card slot (16Gb card included)
• A-GPS with electronic compass
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
• 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens
• 16:9 DVD-quality video capture
• Tri-band HSDPA and Wi-Fi
• 1500mAh battery
• 117x55x16mm (18mm at camera), 150g

Desktop. Laptop. Pocket: The era of the personal Internet dawns with the Nokia N97

Tilting touch display, QWERTY keyboard and personalized home screen - a true mobile computer

Barcelona, Spain - Nokia today unveiled the Nokia N97, the world's most advanced mobile computer, which will transform the way people connect to the Internet and to each other. Designed for the needs of Internet-savvy consumers, the Nokia N97 combines a large 3.5" touch display with a full QWERTY keyboard, providing an 'always open' window to favorite social networking sites and Internet destinations. Nokia's flagship Nseries device introduces leading technology - including multiple sensors, memory, processing power and connection speeds - for people to create a personal Internet and share their 'social location.'

"From the desktop to the laptop and now to your pocket, the Nokia N97 is the most powerful, multi-sensory mobile computer in existence," said Jonas Geust, Vice President, heading Nokia Nseries. "Together with the Ovi services announced today, the Nokia N97 mobile computer adjusts to the world around us, helping stay connected to the people and things that matter most. With the Nokia N97, Nseries leads the charge in helping to transform the Internet into your Internet".

Sensing your 'So-Lo'

The Nokia N97 introduces the concept of 'social location'. With integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass, the Nokia N97 mobile computer intuitively understands where it is. The Nokia N97 makes it easy to update social networks automatically with real-time information, giving approved friends the ability to update their 'status' and share their 'social location' as well as related pictures or videos.

Widescreen - Internet and entertainment

The home screen of the Nokia N97 mobile computer features the people, content and media that matter the most. Friends, social networks and news are available by simply touching the home screen. The 16:9 widescreen display can be fully personalized with frequently updated widgets of favorite web services and social networking sites. The Nokia N97 is also perfectly suited for browsing the web, streaming Flash videos or playing games. Both the physical QWERTY and virtual touch input ensure efficiency in blogging, chatting, posting, sending texts or emailing.

The Nokia N97 supports up to 48 GB of storage, including 32 GB of on-board memory, expandable with a 16 GB microSD card for music, media and more. This is complemented by excellent music capabilities, full support for the Nokia Music Store and continuous playback time of up to 1.5 days. The Nokia N97 also has a 5-Megapixel camera with high-quality Carl Zeiss optics, 16:9 and DVD quality video capture, and support for services like Share on Ovi for immediate sharing over HSDPA and WLAN.

The Nokia N97 is expected to begin shipping in the first half of 2009 at an estimated retail price of EUR 550 before taxes or subsidies.

For more information and materials on Nokia World 2008 event and announcements, please visit:

http://events.nokia.com/nokiaworld

www.nokia.com/press/nokiaworld08

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