Nokia N97 to get new firmware tomorrow

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

• North

  Someone is bitter they got fired from Nokia

• hieu

  i have this phone and even after the update it still suck like shit

• bitflung

  wow, there’s some serious dislike on this site. i just thought i’d add my opposing view; it should be relevant as i own an n97.

  keyboard? sure doesn’t suck. i love it. sure, it’s got some minor issues, but far better than not having a physical keyboard at all. and also much better than the T9 input on my old n95. iphone keyboard? i can’t argue honestly, i haven’t tried to use it for prolonged periods, but my short term experience was very frustrating.

  UI parity with iphone? nope, won’t happen. i wish it would, but this is not as important to me as other facets of the device. for an easy analogy, compare windows to macosx. sure, macosx is prettier (to me anyways) but that’s not why it’s better than windows. a proper microkernel and more freedom of choice in your software. right: there’s not as much mac software as there is windows software, and much of the ‘required’ apps are windows only. but the software to choose from is entirely more capable of being great software on the mac. likewise between n97 and iphone. the iphone has development locked down to prevent access to sensors except at apple’s will. that’s just bad mojo. my n97 enables great software to be written just as the macosx enables great software to be written: through openness and making frameworks, APIs and raw hardware all available to developers.

  don’t like the n97? fair enough – buy an iphone or an android phone or a moto razr for all i care. personally, i love this thing. it’s got kinks, but compared to the iphone i’m still happy to have spent my money where i did. my biggest complaint? the self-destroying camera lens. that’s huge. i bought a replacement for $12 and am looking into how to add a chamois to the sliding mechanism before installing it. this little flaw is unforgivable and the only place where my opinion of the device falls considerably. iphone? no lens cover at all. i suppose that’s better than one that does damage. you win!

  -bit