Coming in 2009: Nokia's touchscreen N97

I thought we were done with big phone announcements for the year, but it looks like Nokia had one last trick up its sleeves. Behold the N97, a sleek new touchscreen handset with 3G data access, a slide-out QWERTY keypad, and customizable widgets. Count on a hefty price tag, though.

Nokia invited a small group of reporters and bloggers—including me—to check out the N97 (due in the first half of 2009) at the Midtown Manhattan Nokia store Monday night. We only got a brief look (hence, this is not a review), but from what I've seen so far, the N97 looks like a significant step up from the 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia's first stab at a touchcreen phone.

First, the basics: We're talking 3G HSDPA access (a version of the N97 will be tailored for U.S. HSDPA networks), GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (including a stereo Bluetooth profile), and a whopping 32GB of on-board memory—plus a microSD memory slot, for a potential total of 48GB of storage. (Compare that to just 16GB of flash storage—tops—for the priciest iPhone 3G).

The N97 boasts a sharp-looking 3.5-inch touchscreen (same size as the iPhone); slide the screen to the side and you'll find a backlit, full-QWERTY keypad. With the phone open, the touchscreen tilts at a 30-degree angle relative to the keypad—a nice touch.

Of course, a slide-out keypad also means more bulk; in the N97's case, that means 5.2 ounces, with a girth of 0.62 inches, which puts it somewhere between the iPhone 3G and the bulky T-Mobile G1.

Besides its QWERTY keypad, the Symbian S60-powered N71 boasts another cool trick: Customizable "widgets" for the home screen that let you tap into your e-mail, upcoming events, favorite contacts, music, oft-used applications, and more. Five of the rectangular widgets fit on the home screen at one time, and you can tap and drag them around the display as you see fit. Nokia reps said they'll be encouraging developers to cook up their own widgets, so expect examples from Facebook, MySpace, Friendster ... you name it.

Unlike the Noka 5800, the N97 is a full-on Nseries handset, and that means access to Nokia's "Ovi" suite of online tools, including new universal messaging features, online file storage, and the ability to sync driving directions—from PC to phone, and vice versa after you've completed your journey—with Nokia Maps (now enhanced with topographical features and satellite views). Also on tap: N-Gage gaming.

Multimedia features look promising, including 30 frame-per-second video playback, a 3.5mm headset jack, TV out, and a 5-megapixel camera capable of VGA-quality video capture—nice.

The N97 is slated to get the same robust messaging features that I've seen on Nokia's other Nseries handsets, including POP, IMAP, and Exchange e-mail access. If you don't want to use the slide-out keypad for composing messages, you can tap on a virtual keypad (both numeric and QWERTY) or use the phone's handwriting-recognition features (with help from the included stylus). As far as Net surfing goes, the impressive Nokia HTML Web browser—complete with Flash support—is present and accounted for.

Overall, sounds pretty cool—but keep in mind that Nokia's phones (especially its Nseries handsets) are never cheap, and the N97 is no exception. While U.S. pricing hasn't been set yet, the N97 will go for a cool (unsubsidized) 550 euros when it debuts in Europe next year. I'm guessing an unlocked version of the phone will cost in the $500-$700 range once it arrives Stateside ... ouch.

Stay tuned for a full review once I get my hands on a review unit.