Nokia have announced that it will reveal a new phone device in conjunction with the Nokia World 2008 conference, and provided a countdown website sparking speculation all over the internet as to what it would be.Many predicted that this new device would be a phone which would rival the Apple iPhone and T-Mobile G1, but the announcement revealed that the device would be the latest phone in its Nseries, the Nokia N97.Nokia expects the handset due to reach market in the first half of 2009.

The Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia showed off at an event in Barcelona the new Nokia N97, so here’s a little run down, you will get a touchscreen on the N97, a real slide out keyboard as well as speedy WiFi plus 3G, you will be able to customize your Nokia N97 with widgets, although you don’t need to download them onto your device, you use the applications straight from the web. It gives you fast access to Facebook and MySpace, among others, with just a few clicks.

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.

The Nokia N97 sports a 5-megapixel camera plus DVD quality video capture for great that what you would find on the iPhone or BlackBerry Storm, you can get free access to Nokia’s catalog of music which contains over four million tracks and listen on the built in music player, you can also connect the N97 to your TV through the output jack.

If all this isn’t enough then you also get 32GB of onboard memory, eat your heart out Apple. However Nokia are not giving any information away regarding carriers but as usual you would probably get a good discount if you take out a price plan.

Nokia continues to dominate the global market for smartphones, handsets with computer-like features such as e-mail ,but it sold less of them in the third quarter than a year ago, losing market share to Apple and Blackberry-maker RIM.The Vice President of Nokia’s Devices unit, Jonas Geust, told Reuters of the N97: "This is really the start of the new N-series … really kicking off the next wave."

Technical Specifications:

• Size: 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm* *18.25 mm at camera area
• Weight: Approx. 150 g
• Memory: Up to 48GB (32 GB on-board memory, plus 16GB expansion via microSD memory card slot)
• Display: 3.5 inch TFT with up to 16 million colors nHD 16:9 widescreen (640×360 pixels)
• 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)
• Image capture: Up to 5 megapixels (2584 x 1938) JPEG/EXIF (16.7 million/24-bit color) with dual LED flash.

It’s extremely comfortable to hold, easy to use, and represents a solid evolution of the Nokia smarthphone line.The Nokia N97 will be made available in the first half of 2009. Pricing has been quoted at around $699 or 550 Euros,SIM-free, but it will almost certainly be free on a monthly contract. You can watch Nokia’s promo video for more information.

Tags: BlackBerry Storm, facebook., iphone, myspace, nokia, smarthphone, T-Mobile G1