New York, USA – According to Mark over at the TheNokiaBlog, getting some hands-on time with the new Nokia N97 made him “happier than a fat kid in a candy store”. As well as twittering his experience live from the Nokia Store in New York, Mark has written a full post giving his (second) first impressions with the device (he’d played with it previously when it was first announced).As is the way with these things, the N97 is evolving rapidly before it launches later this year and the version Mark got to play with, although still a prototype was a big improvement over the version at the announcement in December. What’s more he’s still in love with it. (Disclosure, I have to admit, I am too – it’s the first device since the N95 where I would actually sell some prized possessions to get my hands on one).
Some highlights from Mark’s hands-on include:
- Having a physical keyboard/touchscreen combination was great for web browsing
- The angled display makes it very convenient to watch videos or slideshows on a flat surface
- Using the touchscreen to change camera settings is easy and much faster than going through the menus with a d-pad
On a less positive note, Mark noticed a delay in transitioning websites from landscape to portrait mode, but we have to remember that we’re looking at prototype here so things like that are most likely still being worked on.
One of the most anticipated devices of 2009, the Nokia N97 is destined to find a place in plenty of pockets when it launches – I know it’ll certainly be my next device (sorry E71, but your time is coming to an end). Thing I’m looking forward to the most? I think it has to be the homescreen/touchscreen stuff. There’s clearly been a lot of work and thought gone into this and as I personally move more of my life into “the cloud” it makes sense to be able to access that stuff in the way the N97 will enable me to.
How about you?