Nokia launches its N97 'mobile computer' in Nigeria

By Benjamin Amu

July 22, 2009. Nokia yesterday launched the highly-anticipated N97 mobile phone touted by the Finnish technology company as a "mobile computer" into the bustling phone market in Nigeria.

Equipped with a tilting 3.5” touch display screen, a QWERTY keyboard and a fully customizable home screen, the Nokia N97 will offer integrated access to the newly opened Ovi Store.

General Manager Nokia Nigeria, Philip De La Vega , said at the Lagos launch that “the Nokia N97 is an important step towards our vision of delivering a highly personalized Internet experience, fuelled by a multitude of media and applications through the Ovi Store. The Nokia N97 transforms the internet into an experience that’s completely tailored to the tastes and interests of its users”.

The Nokia N97 is the first device to ship with Ovi Store, a one-stop shop for a full catalogue of applications, games, videos, podcasts, productivity tools, web and location-based services and features. Ovi Store has paid and free content from a range of global and local content providers and developers, including Facebook, Hi5, Paramount Pictures and Qik, as well as Twitter applications.

According to the Nokia executive, the beauty of the device is taking it out of the box just like the desktop PC as people can constantly improve and refresh their Nokia N97 with new features, functions and fixes so they can do even more with the device.

Nokia added that an exciting roadmap of new features and functions is planned to roll out in the second half of 2009, including software updates for Voice over IP (VoIP) functionality, an integrated Skype application and extended kinetic scrolling.

The Nokia N97 also has direct access to the huge catalogue of music in the Nokia Music Store. With multiple high-speed connectivity options and 32GB of storage (up to 48GB using a microSD card) it is possible to directly download and store tens of thousands of songs on the handset.

High-quality images and video clips at 30 frames per second (fps) can be captured using the 5 megapixel camera with integrated Carl Zeiss optics. Images can also be geo-tagged to specific locations and shared instantly with friends or uploaded online via Ovi Share, Twitter, Flickr or Facebook.

Other features includes free application downloads, N-gage games, Nokia Maps and Navigation are some of the services available on the N97.

The N97 comes with 12 months warranty and is available in leading Nokia retail outlets in Nigeria .