On the night before I receive my N97 from Nokia WOM World for a brief trial, just for fun I looked back at my N999 concept/vision from December 1, 2008. And what the heck here's the N999 concept updated for July 2009 (notable updates are in bold):

1. screen with as many pixels as the 5800 Tube or iPhone (sorry but QVGA doesn't cut it in 2009!)
2. S60 simplified and fixed as Rui describes
3. 5 megapixel camera with cover and Xenon flash with 3x optical zoom and 640x480 30fps video (basically re-use the awesome N82 camera hardware and software and combine with the N93 optical zoom)
4. Quad band GSM and 3G (i.e. works on Rogers and AT&T in North America AND European 3G out of the box just like the N85, no funky North American model)
5. Built in ShoZu (with 10MB limit removed for 3G and WiFi, make the limit 50-200MB for 3G and WiFi) - killer app for photographers and videobloggers - Qik is built  into the N97 why not ShoZu? (I can't stand Share Online's limit of 6 photos at a time since I take over 50 a day; hope it's removed on the N97)
6. Bult-in Qik (killer app for videobloggers!) - Qik is built  into the N97 can't wait to try it!
   
7. Awesome web browser (Nokia's Web Kit browser was great in 2006, it is now far behind Apple's)
8. Lots of available RAM (as much as the N95 8GB please!), 8GB storage on built-in card - Reviews are mixed on the N97, sounds like it has a lot of RAM (more than the N95 8GB)  but with widgets it takes up a lot more. - I doubt I will use widgets!
9. Built in Nokia viNes to take advantage of Nokia's great GPS hardware (killer GPS app!) - viNes apears to be dead. Nokia Sports Tracker appears to be alive, soI'd rather have that built-in
   
10. Built in Twitter App i.e. built in Gravity

Now I know the above list is not possible given today's processors and batteries but in that case I can live without optical zoom! Everything else is doable as far as I can tell.

I still don't need:

1. QWERTY keyboard - I'd rather have an awesome camera and flash than a touch or QWERTY keyboard. And for me touch keyboards are just as good as QWERTY.
2. Email (Email is dead to me (ok email isn't dead but my resolution is to take any email thread  that I need to keep that has more than 2 replies to a wiki or blog); I continue to use it  for work and to communicate with "normal" folks!) - If the browser is as good as the iPhone's, then webmail clients work just fine.
3. Touch (would be nice, but not convinced Nokia has the software chops for this; I am not interested in S60 transmogrified with touch, I would prefer touch to be part of a totally revamped user interface that's NOT S60.) - Unfortunately it appears that Nokia's current touch interface s*cks. I hope I am proven wrong by my N97 trial.
4. Micro SD card slot
5. Calendar (would be nice but that's what my laptop is for :-) !) - Again with a good enough browser a web client would be good enough)
6. IM (Twitter is IM enough for me and I am fine with using it in the browser)
7. VOIP is dead to me except for Skype
8. MMS - I am not convinced I need it, I can always use ShoZu email photos :-) but I was wrong about SMS (so maybe I am wrong about MMS) - I am pretty sure I am wrong about MMS and I am pretty sure (unfortunately) I will be MMSing my relatives with pictures since they all finally seem to have MMS plans and devices and none of my luddite :-) relatives still use flickr or any of the other public or private photosharing sites!
   

Here's my very rough draft Nokia Sports Tracker Tutorial for the recently released version 2.06. It still is too complicated and harder to use than Nokia viNe but appears to be regularly updated unlike viNe. And it still doesn't remember my Live Sharing Pref which I think is a bug and is annoying because I want my maps to be always shared ]!

It's been 6 months since a few mobile folks met in Helsinki for Nokia Open Lab 2008 as Mike Maddaloni and CT Moore have pointed out and my mind is still reeling. It's time to start thinking about a Mobile Open Lab 2009. I say worldwide, done via our mobiles, self organized and distributed! What say you? [the following is in the order it was on the 2008 wiki, forgive me for omissions and typos!] Mike, Steve Dembo, Rebecca, Whatleydude, Gwapz, Eddie, Nick, Solobasssteve, Philip, CT, Glenn, Mickipedia, Rahul, Steve Rumsby, Chletten, Apocalypso, Jussi, Jason, Rafe, Jen, Thej, cybette, tnkgrl, Matti, Mikko, Nate, Antti, Nick, Vinnie, Kristine, Yuhui, Anne, Janne, Anssi, Brian, Luis, and Stefan please update the Mobile Open Lab 2009 wiki page with your ideas or leave a comment here! And let's get the ball rolling!

Ideas from Roland Tanglao (Vancouver, Canada)

flickr: roland, twitter:rtanglao, nokia chat:rtanglao, jaiku:roland, qik:roland

(NB these are just brainstorming ideas!!!!!! No commitment implied :-) ! )

1. the "original 50" are all co-organizers and responsible for organizing in their home town
2. the original 50 must present a mobile 10 minute or less "1 year later" status/way forward/whatever and must recruit at least 1 participant in their home town to present as well!
3. done via mobile video streaming e.g.ustream, qik, kyte, mogulus, etc. for 2 days world wide & archived
4. the 2008 workshop presenters will reprise their workshops in a 2009 stylee
5. Outcomes:
   1. a user vision of the way forward for nokia and the mobile industry
   2. "raise a barn " i.e. create a mobile app / site / something that we all agree on beforehand for a cause that we all believe in
6. Things I can help with: Drupal, Bug Labs Bug, S60 Python, "dis-coordination" :-), blogging, wiki gardening
7. Things I am not so good at: getting sponsors (do we need any?), politics, web design
8. Looking forward to the cool ideas from others!

It appears nobody in Vancouver uses Nokia phones and ShoZu even though it's FANTASTIC because nobody has taken me up on my free ShoZu help in exchange for coffee offer. Bloodied :-) (ok, not really!)  I am but undaunted as well, here's another offer: Free photo GPS tagging tutorials using Nokia ViNe and Nokia Sports Tracker and Nokia phones in exchange for coffee. Interested? Email roland AT rolandtanglao.com or text me: 604 729 7924 or twitter rtanglao

From Geotags help locate photos by Jeffrey Simpson in the Georgia Straight

QUOTE

An avid cyclist, Tanglao takes photos during his rides and has more than 44,000 photos on Flickr, a great many of them geotagged. Recently, he’s been taking pictures with a Nokia N95, a smartphone with a five-megapixel camera whose image quality rivals that of some basic stand-alone digital cameras. With a built-in global-positioning-system receiver, the N95 automatically tags photos with geographic data

END QUOTE

Or at least it appears to. The N97 proof is in the pudding which is the user experience including hardware and software (skeptical about S60 but willing to be convinced), but at first glance appears to be great. Hope it's both North American and European 3G and available in Canada officially soon! I trust it has lots of RAM and will run ShoZu, Qik and viNes in short order! Vive la competitiion! Go Nokia go!

QUOTE [From Nokia N97 - The Nseries Dream Device: Nokia S60 News and Reviews]

So what makes this Nokia's Dream Device? The N97 is the first Nseries device with QWERTY keyboard!!!!! Now thats not the only thing that makes this a dream device... and let me just state that the endearing term "dream device" is solely based on my own initial impression and opinion of the device.

END QUOTE

QUOTE [From Meet the Nokia N97 - The New Nseries Flagship!]

On first glance the N97 compares to the 5800 in size and seems like it’s older brother … until you slide the keyboard out and realize you’ve got an altogether new breed in hand. While it’s not a small device, the N97 feels great in your hand and can easily be used while walking without needing two hands in most cases. The virtual keyboards (numbers and T9) were clear and the softkeys seemed eas to access for quick data entry. Of course for larger text needs a quick flip and you’ve got a real keyboard at your disposal. Weight (Approx. 150 g) felt semi-comparable to the E71 and in the front pocket of my jeans it was not in any way uncomfortable.

END QUOTE

QUOTE [From Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger » Blog Archive Nokia N97: the ultimate Facebook device «]

Nokia just announced the N97. I got a chance to play with it last night and realized they have built the ultimate Facebook device. Now, I’m sure, lots of you will wonder how it compares to the iPhone. Well, for a Facebook user it isn’t even close: the new Nokia device wins hands down. Why? Let’s compare:

1. It does 16:9 video. The iPhone doesn’t even do video. So, how can you go to a Daft Punk concert and record it to taunt your friends?
2. It has a 5 megapixel camera. The iPhone only has 2, and the quality isn’t even close. The camera also has a dual LED flash, so you can take pictures in the dark where the iPhone can’t.
3. I can type three Facebook status messages on the N97’s nice QWERTY keybord in the time that I can type two on the iPhone.
4. It does copy and paste, so you can copy URLs to send to your friends. The iPhone can’t do that.
5. It has replaceable batteries so you can charge up three batteries and Facebook for days, while the iPhone needs to be hooked back up to the wall for recharging after a few hours.
6. The GPS device does turn-by-turn and has a built in compass, so you’ll get to your parties faster than with the iPhone, which doesn’t have a compass and doesn’t do turn-by-turn.

OK, so how else does it compare to the iPhone? It has a touch screen, with a cool customizeable home screen. You can add a Facebook component and can drag and drop different components with your finger. You can also use gestures so you can “flick” through your photos. That part is very similar to the iPhone, so you can see that Steve Jobs had a big influence on the user experience.

The device itself has only one button and you can see Jonathan Ives’ challenge taken up all over the device. Close your eyes and touch the device and you don’t feel buttons or other things protuding. Smooth.

END QUOTE