Nokia announced earlier today the release of the Nokia N97 during the Nokia World ’08 event at Barcelona, Spain. This feature-rich handset is dubbed by some as the “Facebook Phone” mainly because this device is geared towards users who are into social networking and multimedia. But based on the specs, this “handheld computer” device can also cater to the power/business user.

Basic features:

• 3.5″, 640 x 360 resistive touch screen
• QWERTY keyboard
• Tri-band HSDPA 3G
• 802.11 b/g WiFi
• A-GPS and Stand-alone GPS for directions and geo-tagging
• 32GB Built-In Memory
• microSD expansion support for ADDITIONAL 16GB
• 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics
• Flash Lite 3.0 support and Flash Video in web browser
• Music player up to 36 hours playback time
• Share and Ovi services support

Photos:

Below is a promo video of the Nokia N97

It has almost all of the features that I’d love to have on one phone – 3G, WiFi, touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard, 32 GB memory (expansion slot for a 16 GB microSD card) and 36 hours of playback time (something that my AT&T tilt is lacking at). Aside from the 3.5″ touchscreen display, full QWERTY keyboard and other features listed above, one thing I like about this phone is the “tilting” display which is similar to my current phone, the AT&T Tilt aka HTC TyTN II. This feature makes sending text messages and emails easier and makes the device more comfortable to use.

Although some people might think of it as an iPhone killer type of phone, the Nokia N97 is a totally different phone and has its own unique features that the iPhone doesn’t have. According to reports, the Nokia N97 will be available in Europe by mid next year with an estimated retail price of €550. No word yet if it will be released in North America or in the US but hopefully Nokia would release it here even by the end next year. I’m sure Nokia fans here in the US won’t mind waiting.