n97

In case you haven't heard, Nokia's launched its answer to Apple's App Store, the Ovi Store. To help kick things off, Nokia and its Ovi Store are giving away an unlocked N97 Mini to one lucky Crave reader (sorry, service isn't included).

Nokia describes the Ovi Store as a one-stop-shop for free and paid content, with support for a range of device types--from smartphones to feature phones. "Globally, Nokia device owners, in more than 180 countries, across more than 100 Nokia device models in 30 languages have access to the Ovi Store," according to … Read more

Nokia, the world's largest maker of cell phones, on Wednesday announced new phones loaded with more music features and better integration with Facebook, as well as pricing for its upcoming Netbook.

The company announced the new phones and services at its Nokia World Conference in Stuttgart, Germany.

Tops on the list of new phones is the N97 Mini, a slightly smaller version of Nokia's existing flagship N97 smartphone. This new, smaller N97 has a shorter battery life than the earlier device and also less memory (8GB compared to 32GB), and a smaller touch-screen display. The device is expected to ship in October. Its list price at 450 euros, or about $639, is not much less than that of the full-fledged N97, which initially went on sale in the U.S. for $700.

The new N97 Mini also will have Nokia's Comes With Music service integrated. This service increases the cost of the device, but provides users with a free download music service. And the device will be the first Nokia phone to have tighter integration with the popular social networking site Facebook. Nokia has struck a deal with Facebook to let users update their location and status directly to the Web site through a Nokia Ovi account.

Nokia plans to offer the Facebook integration on other phones as well.

The handset maker also announced two new music phones: the X6 and the X3. The X6, which has a touch screen and 32GB of built-in memory, will be Nokia's new flagship music phone.… Read more

Nokia World 2009 began on Wednesday in Stuttgart, Germany, and to kick things off, the Finnish cell phone manufacturer introduced several new handsets, including the Nokia N97 mini.

As the little brother to the Nokia N97, the smartphone actually isn't all that much smaller than the N97. The mini measures 4.4 inches tall by 2 inches wide by 0.5 inch thick (compared to the N97's 4.6 inches by 2.1 inches by 0.6 inch) and features a 3.2-inch tilting touch screen. It still offers a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard sans the directional keypad, … Read more

Piggybacking the Nokia N97 announcement, the Finnish cell phone manufacturer announced on Wednesday that is has begun global shipments of the Nokia N86 8MP.

The N86 debuted at GSMA 2009 and is an 8-megapixel camera phone with advanced features, such as a mechanical shutter, variable aperture, and a dual-LED flash. The S60 device also has 8GB of internal memory in addition to a microSD expansion slot that can accept up to 16GB cards.

Other highlights include a 2.6-inch, scratch-resistant OLED display, stereo Bluetooth support, Wi-Fi, e-mail support, an FM transmitter, a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack, and video-out capabilities. … Read more

Correction 5 p.m. PDT: The Nokia N97 is not yet being sold in Europe, and AT&T sells the E71x with a two-year contract. The E71 is an unlocked version of the phone. The article has been changed to reflect this.

Clarification 5 p.m. PDT: See below for more information about data plans that can be used with the N97 through AT&T.

For a company that has said it wants to be a player in the U.S. market, it doesn't look like Nokia is trying very hard.

On Tuesday the mobile phone giant said its flagship smartphone, the N97, which was announced in December, has gone on sale in the U.S. at the whopping price tag of $699. This price isn't that shocking considering the phone will also be offered in Europe for a comparable price. But in the U.S. where consumers are accustomed to paying $200 for a smartphone, it seems a bit ridiculous.

The reason the price of the N97 is still so high is that Nokia is not selling it through any particular carrier. Instead it will be sold to U.S. customers in Nokia flagship stores in New York and Chicago as well as online.

Nokia has made other phones for the U.S. market and has also sold them without carrier backing. The N95, the previous generation N-series Nokia phone sold in the U.S., retails for about $369 to $468, according to Nokia. In April of 2007, when the phone was first introduced, it sold for about $750 to $800. But a phone priced at $700 in the U.S. market is likely to be too high for U.S. consumers, especially when most devices sell here for $200.

Nokia also couldn't have picked a worse time to debut the N97 in the U.S. market, which happens to be just days after two of the most anticipated smartphones of the year have been launched. On Monday, Apple announced its latest phone, the iPhone 3G S, which will go on sale next week. And on Saturday, Palm started selling the much-hyped Pre.

Each of these devices can be bought for far less than the Nokia N97. The 16GB iPhone 3G S will sell for $199. And the 32GB model, which has the same amount of built-in memory as the N97, will cost $299 when the phones go on sale next week. Apple has also cut the price of its 8GB iPhone 3G, introduced last year, to only $99. The Pre, which also has a slide-out QWERTY keypad and a touch screen like the N97, is $199 with a $100 mail-in rebate.… Read more

We've long said that the Federal Communications Commission holds a treasure trove of information on upcoming cell phones, and this week it's really true. Over the past few days we've seen not only the (cue trumpets) Palm Pre pass through the agency's gates, but also a Nokia N86 with an 8-megapixel camera, the North American version of the Nokia N97, and a dual-mode (CDMA/GSM) HTC Touch Pro 2. It would seem that everyone is getting ready for the busy month of June when the Pre will make its long-awaited debut in two weeks and the … Read more

Apparently cash is still king in Spain, according to one listener. And here I thought it was Juan Carlos. We also notice how Craigslist is getting CraigsPissed over the adult services issue. And Dell says Windows 7 may be great and all but it's also going to be expensive. And that's just not so much of a good idea in this economy.

South Carolina eyes ‘criminal investigation’ of Craigslist http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10242507-93.html

Napster relaunches with $5 a … Read more

As if the first week of June wasn't packed enough with potential smartphone announcements, here's another one to throw into the mix. According to The Nokia Blog, the North American version (NAM) of the Nokia N97 will ship on June 2.

The Nokia Blog reported on this after it learned that the Finnish cell phone manufacturer contacted one of its North American distributors with the date. The N97 is available for preorder now from Nokia's Web site for $699. If you order now, Nokia will also throw in a free Nokia Bluetooth headset with your purchase.

It looks like the deal to embed Skype clients on Nokia phones is meeting some resistance among wireless operators and could dampen the scope of the planned integration.

The Web site Mobiletoday.co.uk reported earlier this week that sources at O2 and Orange say the companies are "furious" that Nokia plans to pre-load the new high-end N97 smartphone with Skype, which allows users to make free calls over the Internet using a data connection.

The carriers may refuse to carry phones with the Skype feature embedded. Instead, they may insist on selling only Nokia phones without the … Read more