| A new smartphone in the Nokia N-series will be | | | | superior to the iPhone's (and to those of most other |
| coming out in January '09, the Nokia N97, and already | | | | smartphones currently on the market) with |
| all the buzz is whether or not this will be the iPhone | | | | 5-megapixels, Carl Zeiss optics, an LED flash, and |
| Killer that's been prophesied for so long. Here is a | | | | DVD-quality video recording with built-in video lighting. |
| heads-up on how the two devices stack up. | | | | The iPhone still has that meager 2-megapixel relic with |
| On the face of it, the Nokia N97 looks more like the | | | | neither a built-in flash nor manual focus. |
| iPhone than any other Nokia to date. It's got the | | | | The N97 also beats the iPhone in memory - both in the |
| slender candybar shape (more slender than the | | | | way of onboard storage (32 GB vs. 8 GB or 16 GB) |
| iPhone's, in fact) the minimalist buttons (two instead of | | | | and expandable memory (up to the 16 GB extra vs. |
| one) and the 3.5" touchscreen occupying the bulk of | | | | none at all). |
| the face. In the hand, you come to realize that, while | | | | The most noticeable difference between the N97 and |
| slimmer, the N97 is also thicker and heavier than the | | | | the iPhone is that the Nokia has a slideout QWERTY |
| iPhone. | | | | keyboard in addition to its Apple-comparable |
| While possessing the same size touchscreen as the | | | | touchscreen keypad. |
| iPhone, the N97's screen resolution puts the iPhone's to | | | | Both the iPhone and the Nokia N97 have built-in GPSs |
| shame, with 16:9 true widescreen (640 x 360 pixels) to | | | | (the iPhone's including 3rd party geo-location apps and |
| the iPhone's 3:2 (320 x 480). So for multimedia and | | | | GoogleMaps, the N97's including an electronic compass |
| video playback, gaming, and photo managing, the N97 | | | | and NokiaMaps). Both have HSDPA, Bluetooth, and |
| comes out well on top of the iPhone. | | | | WiFi connectivity. |
| And whereas both the iPhone and the N97 support | | | | No one can expect, however, that the Nokia store will |
| most audio and video formats, the N97 has the added | | | | ever be able to offer N97 users the range and variety |
| advantage of supporting Flash Lite, Flash Video and | | | | of smartphone apps that the iTunes App Store offer |
| Windows Media 9. This Flash support is not to be | | | | iPhone users. |
| undervalued, as it will allow N97 users to render web | | | | Though prices have yet to be released, particularly in |
| pages a lot more completely than the iPhone 3G is | | | | US dollars, it seems clear at least that the Nokia N97, |
| currently able. The iPhone also lacks browser-based | | | | with all its advantages over the iPhone, will also cost |
| Java support; the N97 may or may not, it is still unclear. | | | | more to purchase than the iPhone. |
| The digital camera on the Nokia N97 is also far | | | | |