Intoducing Nokia N97 MiNi

Introducing Nokia N97 mini

By JBC on 02 September 2009

STUTTGART, Germany – Following in the footsteps of its bigger, older brother, the Nokia N97 mini was unveiled this morning at Nokia World 09. Sporting new homescreen widgets and a host of usability improvements, the N97 mini still packs 8GB of storage, a 3.2-inch touchscreen and full QWERTY keyboard into its 14.2mm thin frame. It’s also the first Nokia device to sport Lifecasting with Ovi – a new partnership with the world’s largest social network, Facebook. The N97 mini is based on the same tilt display design of its N97 big brother, built into a smaller body complete with new design touches.

Lifecasting enables users to update their Facebook status directly from the device’s homescreen. It doesn’t stop there though as location details can also be updated, enabling a whole new level of social sharing and communication. With the ability to completely customise the homescreen, users will be able to make their N97 mini truly unique.

The 3.2-inch touchscreen opens up a new world of software improvements including flick scrolling and a range of new experiences including new homescreen widgets. What’s more, the software update will also be available next month for existing N97 devices.

The Nokia N97 mini works seamlessly with Ovi Store where users can add new applications, widgets, ringtones and other content to their device. It also sports Ovi Maps and comes with integrated A-GPS and compass along with with voice navigation for driving or walking. Over 155,000 points of interest are also available through Lonely Planet guides and restaurants through Michelin Guides.

Up to 12 days standby time are on offer and up to 28 hours music playback (in offline mode). The 5-megapixel camera comes with dual LED flash and video light, along with a Carl Zeiss Tessar lens. The 8GB of on board memory can be expanded to 24GB with the addition of a 16GB microSD card.

The Nokia N97 mini will be available next month for an estimated retail price of EUR450 before taxes and subsidies. Check out our preview gallery below. And see the Social Media Release here.

Reliance set to revolutionise mobile services

The Reliance Infocomm juggernaut will roll on December 28 to coincide with the 70th birthday of late Dhirubhai Ambani [ Images ], founder chairman of the Reliance Group.

And going by what the company has in store, it is all set to revolutionise India's telecom sector, not to mention give a run for their money to the existing players in the arena.

At its sprawling 140-acre under-construction Dhirubhai Knowledge City in Navi Mumbai [ Images ], the Reliance Group, on Friday announced the details of its limited mobility services to be offered under the Reliance Infocomm umbrella.

A subsidiary of the Reliance Group of Industries, Reliance Infocomm will formally start operations from December 28.

Mukesh Ambani [ Images ], chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries [ Get Quote ] unveiled Reliance IndiaMobile, a nationwide limited mobility or Wireless in Local Loop network with a tariff that is the most ambitious ever listed by a telecom company in India.

For the IndiaMobile, Reliance Infocomm, will offer three schemes for consumers. The first introductory offer would be the 'Dhirubhai Ambani Pioneer' offer.

Under it, consumers will be given a free digital mobile phone, unlimited free incoming calls, billing at 15-seconds pulse rate, for a one-time fee of Rs 3000 as membership charges and Rs 600 per month as telephony charges.

All incoming calls would be free and outgoing calls would be charged at 10 paise for 15 seconds. The cost of a national long-distance call to any Reliance phone in the country would be 40-paise for a minute. In addition, users would get 400-minutes of outgoing calls free.

Value added services like voice mail, call waiting, call hold, call divert, call identification,, call conferencing, dynamic STD/ISD locking and text messaging would be offered for free.

Internet access through the phones would also be free initially.

"The pricing system is in line with Dhirubhai Ambani's dream and directive of making phone calls affordable for every Indian. It has been made possible due to the significant capital productivity achieved," said Ambani.

Nationwide demonstrations to consumers would begin on January 15 and bookings would start in early February. By the end of March Reliance Infocomm will close bookings for the Pioneer scheme.

"The key feature of this scheme is that a Rs 10,500 handset comes free for users and this all facilities offered will be valid for three years," Ambani said.

The Pioneer scheme would be a three-year plan. It will be valid only till the end of March.

Users can also opt for the 'Regular' scheme which involves an upfront payment that covers only talk time, and 'Standard' plan that will be a monthly payment plan.

Bookings for the Standard and Regular plan will open only after March.

Tariff for those plans would be all incoming calls free and Rs 1.20 for three minutes and Rs 200 as rentals. In these schemes, consumers would have to buy their own handsets for which financing options will be made available.

Here's a snapshot of the various schemes.

Scheme	Tariff	Period	Telephony services	Value added services
1. Dhirubhai Ambani Pioneer Scheme	Financing scheme: Rs 3000 as membership charges Monthly charges of Rs 600 to be paid for 3 years. Total cost: Rs 24,600 over three years. Handset included.	Lockin period of three years	*All incoming calls free *Local outgoing calls at 10 paise for 15 seconds. *National long-distance call to any Reliance phone at 40-paise a minute. *400-minutes of outgoing calls free. *Handset to be provided by Reliance as part of the package	FREE: *Voice mail *Call waiting, call hold, call divert, call identification, call conferencing, dynamic STD/ISD locking and other call management services *Text messaging *Video downloads *Audio downloads *Internet surfing
	Self Financed: Rs 21,000 over three years. Includes handset.
2. Standard	Rs 200 as rentals + telephony charges based on usage. Tariff of Rs 1.20 for three minutes	Based on monthly billing. No lockin period	*All incoming calls free *Outgoing calls billed at Rs 1.20 for three minutes	All value added services to be charged.
3. Regular	Prepaid service that covers only talk time	No lockin. Validity till expiry of the prepaid card	*All incoming free. *Outgoing calls billed at Rs 1.20 for three minutes	N/A

Reliance Communications' New SMS Offers

Reliance Communications has introduced two new SMS tariff plans for its users - 1 paise per SMS and Unlimited SMSs at Re. 1 per day.

The new SMS tariff plans are add-on plans and are applicable for all Reliance Mobile customers irrespective of CDMA or GSM network as well as prepaid and postpaid customers.

All Reliance Mobile customers, regardless of the tariff plans for voice and data services, can avail of the 1 paise per SMS plan by subscribing to a Standard Tariff Voucher of Rs. 11 per month. Also, the unlimited SMS plan can be subscribed to by Reliance Mobile customers on a daily deduction of Re. 1 per day from their prepaid balance.

To prevent SMS offers being misused by telemarketers, a usage cap of 15,000 SMSs per month is applicable on the Unlimited SMS plan, the telecom operator said.