Isaiah's Tech

So, today's the day. Bell has just released both the Samsung I7500 Galaxy and the Nokia N97. The Galaxy is Bell's first Android-based handset and the N97 speaks for itself. The Galaxy is available here for $99.95 CAD on a 3-year contract, while the N97 is available here for $199.95 CAD on a 3-year contract. Let's see how many people I see walking around with an N97 now. I've only seen two in the flesh - one of them being my girlfriend's brother.

Samsung Galaxy Now Available On Bell: Mobile Syrup
Nokia N97 Now Available On Bell: Mobile Syrup

We've known for a while that the Nokia N97 would be hitting Canada's Bell Mobility. Well, now Mobile Syrup is hearing that the launch will take place on December 10th (this Thursday) - which coincidentally is the same day they are scheduled to release the Android-based Samsung I7500 Galaxy. The price hasn't been mentioned yet, but I'm sure a couple of people are looking to buy this regardless of the price - especially since it'll be compatible with Bell's new HSPA network.

[Mobile Syrup]

It used to be just a rumour, but now it looks like Bell will really be launching the Nokia N97. Bell will have exclusivity rights to this handset and they plan to launch it on their HSPA network - of course. With the Samsung Omnia II, the iPhone 3GS, and now the Nokia N97 it looks like Bell will really be a force to be reckoned with. In case you forgot, the full spec sheet of the Nokia N97 is here.

[Mobile Syrup]

It looks like Vodafone is now taking pre-orders for the Nokia N97 Mini! According to their website here, they'll be launching it on October 29th for free on an 18-month / 2-year contract. Of course, you'll have to pay more monthly on the 18-month contract - around £40 ($65 USD) monthly. Check it out here.

Before I say anything, Bell has confirmed themselves that their launching an HSPA Samsung Omnia II as well - as you can see in the picture, which is great news. Bell Mobility - in Canada - has just announced that they will unlock your phone after at least 30 days of service, with an extra free of course. And we're hearing that it'll cost up to $250 CAD, and we still don't know if the iPhone will be unlockable.

On a side note, I also didn't know this but Bell could be launching the Nokia N97 as well... Goodbye Rogers.

[Boy Genius, Mobile Syrup]

Nokia has just announced that they have sold 2 million N97's ever since it went on sale in June. Even more surprisingly, the 5800 and the N97 combined have sold 10 million units combined in the past 10 months. These numbers are surprising to me.

[Engadget Mobile, Electronista]

We've already heard about the Nokia N97 Mini and we've already seen it reviewed, which wasn't a good look for Nokia. Anyways, it's now official. At Nokia World today, Nokia announced that the N97 Mini be available for free in "many markets" this October and will include: a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 3.2-inch resistive touchscreen display, built-in Lonely Planet guidebooks aka GPS, and Facebook "Lifecasting." The US release date hasn't been announced yet, but it should launch for around €450 ($639 USD) before subsidies. For a lot of live photos of the Nokia N97 Mini, check out this Pocket-Lint link here.

[Engadget, Gizmodo, Phone Arena]

We heard that a high-end Maemo-based smartphone will be unveiled at Nokia World 2009 this year and people are guessing that it could be the Nokia N920 - but it could be a bit too early for that. This smartphone is expected to be higher-end than the recently announced Nokia N900 Maemo-based smartphone and the Nokia N97, so what could it be? We don't know, but maybe it'll be this smartphone.

This is the Nokia Alvin and it has just passed the FCC with: 32GB of internal memory, tri-band WCDMA / quad-band GSM connectivity, Bluetooth / WiFi support, and a 1,320 mAh battery. These features match the N900, but it seems a bit too thin to be the N900. I'm sure we'll see it announced at Nokia World this year. I'm excited.

[Unwired View]

A couple of days ago, I reported that the Nokia N97 Mini just passed the FCC. Well, it's set to launch later this year, but it recently got reviewed. Unfortunately, the review was not great. The folks over at Mobile-Review got the first hands-on with this device. They went on to mention that it's not that small and the keyboard is actually worse than the original N97, which is definitely a negative. If you really want to read more, head to Mobile-Review.

[Slash Gear]

An incomplete FCC filing has just outlined what appears to be the Nokia N97 Mini. At the time, this handset has been unconfirmed to be the N97 Mini, so we'll just have to wait until more information pops up. I believe that it is the N97 Mini though. It's got a camera in the same location as the N97, but this time without the camera lens cover. We'll definitely see an announcement at this year's Nokia World.

[World at Nokia]

This photo shows a bunch of Nokia handsets; we know some of them, but not all of them. Clearly, the Nokia N97 Mini is in the photo and so is what looks to be the Nokia E72 and the Nokia E55. There's also a handset (below) that looks similar to the 5800 XpressMusic but it actually has a silver chrome outline - similar to what the iPhone has. The handsets at the top of the screen look to be a bunch of mid-end Nokia handsets that we should probably see Nokia announce at this year's Nokia World. If you're interested, check out the link below.

[The Nokia Blog]

Last week, we got our first look at the possible Nokia N97 Mini. Well, now it looks like it's a real device and Nokia will officially announce it at Nokia World 2009, which will take place in Stuttgart on September 2 - 3. The good thing is that today, we have the specs on this baby. The Nokia N97 Mini is basically a smaller replica of the original N97, so the specs really haven't change. The only spec changes here is the smaller 2.9-inch display and the on-board storage space, it's been reduced to 8 / 16GB. The point of this new N97 Mini is to make it more portable and, of course, to shrink the large price tag of the original model. It's expected to launch about €100 ($144 USD) cheaper than it's larger sibling. We don't know when it will launch, but it'll be sometime after September 3.

[Unwired View]

Back in June, we heard word about a Nokia N97 "Mini" launching on Vodafone later this year. Today, arised what could be the first real photo of the Nokia N97 Mini. Basically, it's a smaller N97 and the keyboard is slightly altered since the d-pad is missing. It could be real, but it's just a rumour right now - it looks real though. However, it could be overpriced and underpowered similar to the Nokia N97.

[Engadget]

The Nokia N97 - that's overpriced in North America - is available on Vodafone UK for free, that's probably why it's Vodafone UK's top selling mobile phone of July - so far at least. In second is another Nokia handset, the 5800 XpressMusic. The Sony Ericsson W595, C510 CyberShot, and Samsung Jet round out the top 5 mobile phone sellers on Vodafone UK. The bottom five of the top 10 include (in the same order) the: Samsung Tocco Ultra Edition, Samsung Steel L810, Nokia 6300, BlackBerry Storm, and HTC Magic. I just though it was interesting to mention this since the Nokia N97 used to be one of my favourite mobile phones until I read all of the reviews. Top on my list now is the gorgeous and updated Samsung i8910 OmniaHD.

[Unwired View]

As I was cruising around Vodafone's official website - looking for the free Samsung NC10 netbook - I came across the 32GB Nokia N97. I don't know how long it's been available, but the Nokia N97 is free on Vodafone UK on a £40 ($64 USD) per month plan. I just thought this was interesting, seeing how everywhere else the N97 is overpriced.

Just in case your forgot, the Nokia N97's got: a 3.5-inch resistive touchscreen display, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 5MP camera, GPS, WiFi, 32GB of internal memory, a microSD card slot (up to 16GB support), and HSDPA connectivity. Check it out on Vodafone's official website now.

[Vodafone UK]

For those of you still interested in the Nokia N97, it is now available on Amazon for a low, low price of $599 USD. Shipping for this handset will be free, but I think that the bundle from last week was a sweeter deal than this. Check it out at Amazon here and save yourself 15% from Nokia's official price.

[Boy Genius]

A new bundle is available online and it's pretty sweet. You can get a Dell Vostro A860 and a Nokia N97 for $730 USD. Keep in mind that the N97 is already expensive as it is, so bundling a - basically - free Dell Vostro should make the deal a bit sweeter. Check out the deal here.

[Engadget]