Nokia sets sights a little lower

Okay, when I said "lower," I meant, LOW, and Nokia is taking respectable measures, to put it nicely. The world's largest mobile phone maker just announced a 66% yearly drop in Q2 profit, as well as lowering its market share target for 2009. Nokia is definitely feeling the pressure from its closest rivals, Apple, RIM and Samsung, which coincidentally, lead the smartphone market.

This looks to really spell trouble for Nokia. They had actually expected their market share to rise in 2009, but it looks like they set their sights a little too high. Nokia had probably expected an increase in market share because of the successful launch of its flagship phone, the N97, but other than the S60 groupies, the N97 hasn't actually received critical acclaims... not even anywhere close. With their trump card, the N97, receiving bland reviews (probably because it was launch after its competitors with no real advantages or revolutionary features) and with nothing special being announced by Nokia, their troubles may have just began.

N97 Live pics

Here are some live pics of the upcoming Nokia N97 for those interested. I must say, its definitely looking suhweet!!! I didn't think it would be that small! I figured it would be around the same size as the Nokia E90. Either that or that dude's hands are freakin big! I can't wait to see the white one.

Its said to be the best phone running on the S60 platform to date. As mentioned before, its slated to be released early 2009 (which for me, should be Jan-March) though I'm somewhat doubtful of that. But then again... "early 2009" can be relative or mean early fiscal year 2009. But don't worry, we'll give you guys the heads up when it arrives at our shores!

And to Nokia, make sure you guys fix all the bugs before its release. We don't want your ever-so-famous first batch of buggy phones!

Nokia N97

Is Nokia finally going to take the full jump into our soon-to-be touch screen world of mobile phones? The 5800 was their first effort (which was already released in some countries), but got mediocre reviews, but this one looks promising (but actually, so did the 5800 haha!).


The N97 was just announced in Spain a few days ago during the Nokia World '08 event. This feature-rich handset is dubbed by some as the “Facebook Phone” mainly because this device is geared towards users who are into social networking and multimedia. Based on the specs though, this “handheld computer” device can also cater to the power/business user. But then again, here in the PI, who really cares about what the phone is originally or supposedly for?! Its all about what it can do, how it looks and what it says about the user. And this one looks great, its a high-end phone (for sure!) so not everyone is going to be able to buy it... horray for us!

Here are some of the more common specs...

• 3.5″, 640 x 360 resistive touch screen
• QWERTY keyboard
• Tri-band HSDPA 3G
• 802.11 b/g WiFi
• A-GPS and Stand-alone GPS for directions and geo-tagging
• 32GB Built-In Memory
• microSD expansion support for ADDITIONAL 16GB
• 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics
• Flash Lite 3.0 support and Flash Video in web browser
• Music player up to 36 hours playback time
• Share and Ovi services support

For the complete phone specs, check out GSMarena.

Check out some video demos of the N97 here & here!

Verdict? Well, it really does look promising, especially for those who loved any of the previous communicator phones by Nokia. Its packed with features, looks-wise, is a definite head turner and for certain, a phone that confirms you're social stature. Though for me its still iPhone: 1 and all other phones: 0!

HTC Touch HD reviews

I've always told people that if I didn't have my iPhone or if the iPhone never came out, the HTC Touch HD would be my phone of choice. It would be the phone I'd be carrying in my pocket right now. With its gorgeous, large and in charge, screen along with its slew of other impressive features, its a no brainer for a techie like myself.

Reviews are calling this "HTC's best Windows Mobile phone yet," along with other great praises in lines with features and battery life (which is very important for a lot of people). Of course, it still has its drawbacks, such as it running on the Windows OS, its size and it's lack of US 3G bands. But honestly, who really cares about 3G here in the PI?! Anyways, give the links a click for more in depth reviews!

CNet
Phone Arena
Slash Gear
Pocket Now