Simon Hendery: Great gadget, stratospheric price

The Nokia N97 smartphone has several features but a hefty price tag. Photo / Supplied

Cellphone maker Nokia's latest offering, its flagship N97, is an impressive device which comes with an equally impressive price tag.

Launched on to the Vodafone network this week, the N97 shot straight into the most-expensive slot on the telco's website store phone line-up with a handset-only price of $1799.

By comparison, another top-of-the-line smartphone, the 32GB version of Apple's new and improved iPhone 3GS (which matches the N97's memory capacity) will cost $1379 when it debuts through Vodafone tomorrow.

N97 buyers will receive a discount if they buy the phone on a fixed-term Vodafone contract calling plan but will still be forking out a sum that could net them a pretty reasonable laptop, so what will they get for their money?

Nokia's managing director for the New Zealand and Australia region, Emile Baak, admits the device comes with a "significant price tag" but says that is because it is packed with features, including both a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard, along with the promise of what the company calls a "customisable internet experience".

The phone's 3.5-inch touch screen tilts up to expose the keyboard. Testing the phone out this week, I found the requisite two-thumb typing approach, combined with the occasional poke at the touch screen, was a relatively fast and effective way to send text messages and emails, or even bash out a rudimentary text document.

The N97 comes with seemingly every conceivable piece of cellphone gadgetry, including a reasonable web browser, a good-quality 5 mega-pixel camera, wi-fi connectivity and GPS location tracking, not to mention a slew of other features too numerous to list. Importantly, the device appears to have the processing grunt and memory capacity to run its many features effectively.

For the deep-pocketed mobile fanatic who wants a phone that does everything, the N97 will not disappoint. But, be warned, the high cost of the N97 may not end once you buy the device.

Smartphones make it all too convenient to gobble through mobile data, which remains relatively expensive, so ensure you either curb your desire to download over the mobile network, or sign up for a suitable data plan.

On top of the data costs, some of the N97's add-on applications, such as Nokia's navigation service, come with subscription charges (after a free trial period) and software to add even more functions to the phone, available through Nokia's online Ovi Store, appears generally more expensive than the equivalent Apple service for the iPhone.

It is unfortunate the device is not also available on Telecom's new XT Network because cross-network rivalry for N97 customers could have resulted in some more consumer friendly pricing. While Nokia does have a version of the N97 capable of running on the 850MHz XT network, the company says there has not been enough demand for that particular model amongst telcos in New Zealand and Australia to justify bringing it to this part of the world.

A CLEVER INVESTMENT

For Nokia, the N97 opens another front in a vital battle that's raging within the wider war among mobile phone makers: the fight for market share in the lucrative feature-packed "smartphone" segment.

IT and telecommunication research firm Ovum predicts global shipments of smartphones will jump 18.7 per cent this year, while the overall mobile phone market will fall. Ovum expects smartphones to account for 29 per cent of the global handset market by 2014.

Phone makers have realised that cashing in on the smartphone boom is about more than just selling clever devices; they also need to back up their hardware with a strong line-up of ad-on software and other content - such as music and games - for users to download.

Apple has led the way on this, notching up more than a billion downloads through its App Store in less than a year.

Nokia, which has suffered a declining share of the smartphone market as devices such as the iPhone and the BlackBerry have gained in popularity, is hitting back through its own Ovi Store. The N97 is the first phone shipped with pre-installed direct access to the Ovi Store which sells (or in some instances provides free access to) software, games, music and GPS-based services. The Ovi platform, which also allows Nokia users to store and share pictures and files online, is a way to retain customers, Nokia's Baak says.

If the cellphone maker can offer customers a compelling experience spanning the way they use both their phone and the internet, they will have a good reason to stick with Nokia when it comes time for them to buy their next handset, he says.

Nokia has invested heavily in Ovi which, as a result, is beginning to become a useful resource, now available to users of 75 different Nokia handsets.

That wide range of devices capable of tapping into Ovi is both a strong selling point for the service and a potential hurdle because each application on offer needs to be tweaked to work effectively on multiple handsets.

As a result, for example, the initial line-up of applications for the N97 looks a bit thin, especially compared with the plethora of tools available to iPhone users through Apple's online store.

PERSONAL CONNECTION

The boom in smartphone sales doesn't just have the cellphone makers salivating. Everyone - from the telcos, who benefit from more data traffic flowing over their networks, through to the chip makers whose technology makes the devices work - is looking to cash in.

Nokia and chip maker Intel last month announced a new "long-term relationship" aimed at developing smaller, more powerful circuits to meet the increasing demand for mobile, broadband-connected devices.

Long-time Intel staffer Dan Anderson said that as a result of exploding use of wireless broadband, small, ultra-portable "netbooks" had grown rapidly to account for about 15 per cent of the laptop market and the market for smartphones was predicted to soon eclipse demand for PCs.

As a result, Anderson recently stepped into a new role: liaising with telcos in New Zealand and Australia, helping them to market Intel-powered mobile broadband devices to their customers.

Until recently, the telco industry used to measure the percentage of households with computers and internet connections, but that had changed, Anderson said.

REVIEW

Nokia N97 Smartphone

Price: $1799 (cheaper if bundled with some Vodafone term contracts).

Summary: Nokia's top phone, which does everything and is priced accordingly.

Rating: ****/5