Whats your "So-Lo"?

Ask the N97! The A-GPS and Electronic compass on board tell the Nokia N97 where it is and it uses this data to dynamically update social networks with real time information. So your Orkut/Facebook status could have the location of the coffee bar you are sitting at and you could share pics and videos relating to the same with your friends. Chatting and staying online all the time would be like second nature to its owners.

The concept of "So-Lo" or Social Location is another first from Nokia and can only come from a company with years of insight into how people use their mobile phones and expect from them.

Another major insight...? Well the Nokia N97 automatically geo-tags the pictures you take in the EXIF data. So you can almost always know the exact spot where you took a particular photo :-| |

Battle of the Smart Phones - Nokia N97 V/s Apple IPhone

We love to hear what our avid readers and subscribers have to say and this article is entirely dedicated to them! Many of you asked for a detailed comparisons...this one goes out to you! We have picked up THE major competitor of the Nokia N97...you guessed it right, the Apple IPhone 3G. Now you will say what about the Sony Ericsson Xperia, Blackberry Storm and Samsung Omnia etc? Well, lets look at the real competition. The competition which is making friends turn into foes, the animosity between the Nokia users and iPhone users! Both these phones are top-of-the-line products from their respective companies and are in a similar price range. In this comparison what we have tried to do is to interpret the specs from a user's angle and look at the practical aspects of using some of these features. Our team has narrowed down the comparison to top 10 features which we feel make the most difference to users. Sure smart phones are primarily used to make phone calls, but they are more than just that. We envision this comparison to become a real life competition of sorts. Some thing like a new Olympic Decathlon! (Imagine if Olympics really has something like that...Phone users competing against each other for supremacy..there'll be bloodshed!).Here's starting off this debate with an in-depth analysis on using these 10 features given by the team from the point of view of comfort, convenience and usability.

Let the Battle begin!

Feature	Nokia N97	Apple IPhone 3G
Touch Screen	A large 3.5 inch resistive touch screen display of this phone is first one from Nokia that works without a stylus. The power of this screen shall be visible only after launch	A 3.5 inch capacitive touch screen gives IPhone the key edge over its competition. The multi-touch display makes moving around menus quite easy
Messaging	A 30 degree slide out full QWERTY keyboard should make it the fastest SMS device among all smart phones	No QWERTY is surely a disadvantage. Also, some of the basic symbols are not available in the direct keyboard
Imaging and Video	A 5 Mega Pixel Carl Zeiss camera is sure to put old digicams to shame. Twin LED flash adds that extra punch. DVD video recording make this the perfect all in one device	A 2 Mega Pixel camera is good to take pictures in daylight. Compact camera but it’s without any flash light. No Video recording support is surely a major drawback
Music	An audio out port and a high quality built-in speaker is the right ingredient in this phone for the music lover. Album art support and preloaded music albums give it the edge	The IPod legacy continues and all the interactivity and convenience of the IPod are part of the IPhone. The speaker phone is not that powerful and you need to relay on your headphone which are also quite great.
Storage	Inbuilt 32GB memory and support for an additional 16GB make this the largest phone storage on the planet	32 GB IPhone has just been announced but the ones available on the Apple store are only 8GB and 16GB versions.
Internet, Maps and GPS	Nokia’s Symbian platform comes with an in built browser that supports almost all sites. Assisted GPS in the N97 and pre loaded Nokia maps provide it the extra edge	The OS platform supports a mobile Safari version that has a much better browsing experience. Integration of the GPS with Google Maps also gives route info in certain countries
Applications	Nokia doesn’t have an application store for the N-Series yet. As most applications are free or third party, there is a lot of scope for improvement here.	The Apple store is one of the biggest selling points for IPhone. With almost 10k applications to choose from this is one place where IPhone has a clear edge
Gaming	The N-Gage gaming platform has been evolving with the N-Series hardware upgrades. Now touch screen games with accelerometer support such as Asphalt Racing are expected soon	Apple has a number of games running in the IPhone but no tie up with any major gaming labels
Connectivity	The phone has 3G support, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. Support for the OVI platform adds a zing to the connectivity support of the N97	With 3G and Wi-Fi, the phone fulfils the requirements of a smart phone. However absence of any online or Bluetooth sync capabilities is a hindrance in some cases
Vital Stats	150 gms in weight and 6.5 hours of talktime on GSM,this baby can surly survive for long	133 gms in weight and a talktime of over 7 hrs on a GSM network make the IPhone a part of your survival kit
Software	The latest Symbian S60 version 5 operating system has widget support and is faster and better than ever before	No one can write software like Apple does. A mini version of the Mac make the software fast and responsive
Overall Verdict	Nokia N97 is power packed, innovative and a dream device for some one on the move with this music,movies and games. An application store would compliment the abilities of this phone to large extend	Apple IPhone has tested the market for a while but has still devoid its users with the features of video recording and Bluetooth. However, the fun of applications does come out with the IPhone

The fun in getting lost

Take the path less trodden. Explore that inner street. There is fun in getting lost and finding your way back. With the Nokia N97, you can extend your adventure with the A-GPS onboard and the electronic compass inbuilt. Download maps online and be the master of the city. The Nokia N97 puts directions and locations at your command.

A-GPS stands for Assisted-GPS which means that you will never lose signal. Conventional GPS has difficulty providing reliable positions in poor signal conditions. Cases like when it is surrounded by tall buildings (resulting in multipath), or when the satellite signals are weakened when a GPS device is indoors or under trees. An A-GPS uses an assistance server so that it can connect to the server based on which cell site it is in. Also, the inbuilt electronic compass intuitively tells the N97 about directions so that maps start to make so much more sense. 

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