Analysts Pan Nokia's iPhone Killer (NOK)
The WSJ calls it an all-in-one phone:
The N-97 has the touch screen popularized by Apple Inc.'s iPhone, a real keyboard that appeals to users of BlackBerrys and Nokia's own E-Series devices, and fast Wi-Fi Internet access to complement third-generation broadband access.
The phone also has an accelerometer, a widget-friendly OS, a still and videocamera and a 3.5 inch screen.
But other analysts don't think the phone will do much to help Nokia avoid what's expected to be a 1% to 9% industry-wide decline in sales next year.
"[Nokia] tried to cram in lots of different technologies such as a touch screen, full qwerty keyboard and plenty of memory, but it had to make trade-offs in its size and features," CCS Insight's Research Director Ben Wood told Reuters. "It has ended up with a relatively thick device that lacks some of the benchmark features expected in flagship products in mid-2009."
Said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi: "It might give Nokia a little edge, but it's six months until this reaches the market."
The model we briefly handled tonight in NYC was, of course, the Euro version, with no U.S. 3G (and, sadly, no Wi-Fi). Its handlers were keeping it close to the vest, and with no connectivity there wasn't much testing to be done, but we can say that the hardware is indeed pretty—befitting a $700 Nokia piece. The desktop Symbian widgets look nice, but the drawbacks of a resistive touchscreen (there, as always, to ensure character recognition via a stylus for Nokia's Asian market) were immediately noticeable when dragging widgets around the desktop.
Those desperate to see the N97's every angle should check out Engadget's slide show.
See Also:
Nokia To Show Off iPhone Killer This Week? Another Tablet?
Add nok to the Fukd company list. Stock price should still go down by another 50%.
What the story misses is that the symbian OS isn't even the second best mobile OS anymore to mOSX. Now it's Android and even RIM's OS is arguably better for the coporate specific features.
How can a company like Nokia get totally killed so quickly? I guess this is a testament to just how hard it is to develop a superior mobile OS. More kudos to the Apple team.
The dead pool is filling up fast: Nok, Palm, LG, Samsung, SonyEric, msft, basically everyone that's not Apple, Google, or RIM. Can't wait to see what happens to profitability when these guys all start killing each other trying to deliver the subsidized free handset in mature markets like N.America. Buckle up for safety!
Steve Frechette has a good point -- matching the iPhone OS X is very, very hard, and Nokia amongst others simply aren't capable of doing it.
I have to say it has the features worthy of a $700 device. I don't know if it will make it a better smartphone than the iPhone, but in theory it darn sure has some nice individual features.
I was hoping for specs to match the new Sony Xperia X1, specifically the gargantuan helping of memory and the high-res screen.
I'm an enormous Symbian fan, but this phone is 6-10 months away for the US market and it's inferior in many ways to the currently available Samsung INNOV8.
I've had my Nokia N93 since the day it launched, and Nokia seemingly refuses to release that kick-ass product that makes me need to own it over my current phone.
It really seems to me that HTC and Samsung are walking away with the high-end phone market.
As for the N97, I bet it'll sell well in Europe, and won't even be a blip in North America without any carriers subsidizing it over here, much like how Nokia's smartphones always seem to go.
Xperia has 8 or 16 gb - N97 has a minimum of 32gb
Xperia has 65k colour screen - N97 has 16 million colour screens
Iphone needs to charge permanently from mains - N97 charges whenever whererver with changeable batteries
Iphone is like surfing in syrup
I cannot really agree that critics are panning this device. Quite a misleading title.
I also see Serefina is pumping her companies phone and bashing the iphone again. Nice try Serefina, but you are in a very small minority. It is a well known fact that the iphone is the leading product on the market with other companies scrambling to try and catch up. And from what I have seen coming out of other companies Apple has nothing to fear.
Funny how a computer company had to show them how it's done.
The screen color on the Xperia is a knock against it, but the 800x480 resolution more than makes up for it, I think.
And I never said I liked the iPhone. Quite the contrary. The battery is annoying, but WiFi browsing is pretty fast, for a phone at least.
The ipone is a great product and an industry changer. That does not make all other products by default crap. OSX is for instance by all standards a better OS than anything MS has made lately but that does not mean that MS7 by default will be crap.
Apart from superior iconisation and menu integration I just cannot for the life of me think where iphone beats everyone else. When it comes to battery management for a cell, SE is by far the best without a doubt. As far as feature integration Nokia rules the roost. As far as email connectivity Blackberry is by far the better product. and so on.
But to write off everything else by default is shortsighted and dangerous.
Look at any industry report and try telling me how the iPhone isn't crushing the economics for everyone else. Or better yet, why don't you buy nokia stock if you're such a believer. Of course, if you like to make money, you might want to short it instead, or maybe buy aapl stock when the market bottoms.
Everyone else is dead in mobile. they just don't know it yet which is why they'll waste more money on bricks like this. It's all about the UI and App momentum.
Just imagine if VZW had the iPhone on their network right now. No one would question apple's dominance.
We're all Mactards now whether we want to be or not.
Ouch. Thats pretty harsh. You must remember we Euro-trash see the movie IDIOCRACY as a documentary about America, not as a work of fiction. The iPhone is better because it uses electrolytes ;)
I guess I should take this abuse posting on alley insider because this is like walking into the lionapple den.
A comparable apples versus apples approach then will be interesting.
Personally I think a QUERTY is coming ;-)
1. 10,000 apps on the App store now. By June, the app store will be creating its own weather and continental drift.
2. 32Gig will probably be here for MacWorld in January
3. Why waste space, $$$ and weight on a “better” camera? It’s still crap.
4. June? June! June is an eternity from now. You would think that these companies would learn from Apple and keep quiet on this stuff as long as possible. They've been building phones for how long now and they can't get this thing out the door by Christmas?
5. Developers, developers, developers. The app store is the first end-to-end development/distribution/marketing/billing system for everyman.
6. Forget about Apple, they better start to worry about RIM and Android.
7. Even Sony/Ericson is trying out Windows Mobile, they are so frustrated with Symbian.
8. "Apart from superior iconisation and menu integration I just cannot for the life of me think where iphone beats everyone else." Hugh? Is that from Dilbert management speak? The iPhone is just flat out FUN and a joy to use. Does anyone say that about other phone OSs?
Apple pre-announced iPhone but that's because it had a touch screen, real web browser and OS X, and Apple needed to 'educate" new users while it was also convinced that no other company would be able to copy it for quite a while. What does the N97 have that others can't copy - a 5MP camera with flash?, a qwerty keyboard? Pathetic.