iPhone Killer n97

Nokia takes on the iPhone with the new touch-screen multimedia N97 smartphone

The Finnish mobile phone giant has dubbed its new N97 handset the "world's most advanced mobile computer", and promises it will bring users closer to the internet on the move.

The device combines a large 3.5in touch-screen, similar to that found on the Apple iPhone, with a slide-out Qwerty keyboard reminiscent of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and the T-Mobile G1. Unlike the Apple iPhone, the N97 will be able to play the Flash videos used on many websites, including our own Telegraph news pages. It also supports instant-messaging and email on the go, boasts a five-megapixel camera, and a huge 48GB of memory, capable of storing thousands more songs than the Apple iPhone and many other leading devices.

"From the desktop to the laptop and now to your pocket, the Nokia N97 is the most powerful, multi-sensory mobile computer in existence," said Jonas Geust, a vice president at Nokia. "The Nokia N97 mobile computer adjusts to the world around us, helping stay connected to the people and things that matter most."

Nokia has put high-speed web access at the heart of its new device, along with one-button, 'always-on' access to social-networking sites such as Facebook. The phone also uses its built-in GPS technology to provide location-specific information. Nokia, which calls the service 'social location', said that it will enable N97 users to update their social-networking profiles with precise details about their location and find nearby friends.

"Today, we are at the threshold of another profound change in the way we connect and interact with each other and with our world," said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, chief executive of Nokia. "This is a world where you will have the power to tailor and personalise your internet how and when you like, to make your day-to-day life easier and more fulfilling."

The new N97 will tie in closely with Nokia's Ovi platform of software and services, which include music downloads, photo-sharing services and mapping software. A new-look Nokia Maps program on the N97 will allow users to pre-plan a journey on their computer and then synchronise the route across to their mobile phone.

Nokia has also promised that it will follow the lead of Apple, Google and Research in Motion, makers of the BlackBerry, by making it easier for third-party developers to write additonal software and programs for Nokia handsets. Owners of the N97, which runs the Symbian operating system, can already download thousands of applications to their phone, and Nokia said it is creating "new opportunities" for third parties to develop innovative widgets and internet service applications for Nokia devices.

The Nokia N97 is expected to go on sale in the first half of 2009, and will cost around $800 without a contract.

Nokia, which has more than a billion customers worldwide, faces stiff competition from newcomers to the mobile phone market, such as Apple, with its hugely popular iPhone, and even Google, which has helped to develop the open-source Android operating system that will be running on several phones next year, and which promises to bring the desktop computing experience to mobile devices.

Although some technology commentators and analysts are sceptical whether the Nokia N97 has the potential to be an 'iPhone killer', others are more upbeat about its prospects.

"With the N97, Nokia has produced the first phone that will truly challenge, and even transcend, Apple's best," said Robin Landy, of mobile phone review website Omio.com. "Nokia has brought together a lot of common smartphone features, such as GPS, Wi-Fi and 3G internet, in one gorgeous device. Crucially though, they've combined the standard stuff with features that really matter to users, but are often missing from rival handsets.

"A proper Qwerty keyboard will make a huge difference to the everyday user experience, and the huge amount of memory means that even people with large music collections can leave their iPods at home.

"The N97 lacks the in-your-face dazzle of the iPhone, but it does strike a balance between understated good looks and functional practicality."

n97 wins over the iphone because of its good 5 mp camera and video recording.You can add songs to it from any source. But on iphone you have to buy from apple store. iphone also lacks sms and copy-paste feature.

Other good Nseries Phones:

N78 N95 N81

Which one would you go for??

Back to XP from Vista

Microsoft will have almost one billion users on Windows by the end of this year, most running Windows XP, after the total failure of Vista. Those who tried to upgrade their PCs feel cheated.

But, of course, they would feel that way. Windows XP is much faster than Vista on the same hardware, and works using much less RAM and hard drive space. Service Pack 3 makes XP even faster. However, the same cannot be said of Vista Service Pack 1.

So we need to step down. The problem is downgrading a Vista PC to Windows XP can be a tedious process, the more so if you want to do it without reformatting your hard disk.

This is how you go about it.

Make sure you have several gigabytes of free space on your C:\ drive from where your computer will boot. You will need a genuine Windows XP installation CD; if all you have is a recovery disc that came with your computer, use the “Start from Scratch” process.

• Option 1

Back up your entire hard drive; if you have Vista Business or Ultimate, you can do it with the Complete PC Backup and Restore tool. There is a reason for this. Should this process run into a snag you can jump back into Windows.

Take a deep breath. Insert the XP disc into your drive and turn on your PC, then press the spacebar when it says “Press any key to boot from CD...”.

(If you don’t see this message, you will have to enter your PC’s BIOS setup. Change the boot options so that your CD drive appears above your hard drive in the boot sequence list.)

When XP Setup starts, press R on the first page to open the Recovery Console. If you are asked to choose a Windows installation, type a number (usually 1) and press Enter. In some cases, you may be asked for the Administrator password at this point. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following commands to prepare your hard disk for XP:

fixboot

fixmbr

cd \

ren windows winvista

exit

When your PC restarts, boot into your XP CD once again, and then proceed with setup normally. When you are through, copy your My Documents folder, the contents of your desktop, and any other personal data that you will need from Vista’s now-defunct C:\Users folder into XP’s C:\Documents and Settings folder. Also, reinstall all your applications and device drivers, and finally delete the abandoned C:\Winvista folder.

• Option 2

Start from Scratch: Without a proper XP Setup disc, you cannot use the Recovery Console. Your best bet is to use your PC’s recovery disc, applicable, if your PC originally came with Windows XP.

Again, back up any files you want to keep. Unfortunately, you cannot use any of Vista’s built-in backup software for this, because XP does not have any tools that can read Vista backups. The best way to go about this is to copy your data onto an external hard disk manually so that you can easily get it back once XP is up and running.

Make sure you back up the entire C:\Users folder, which will have your Documents directory, anything on your desktop, and application data such as stored e-mail.

There are several recovery procedures depending on the make of your PC, so consult your PC’s manual for details. Typically, the recovery software cleans the hard drive and places a preinstalled copy of Windows onto the drive. It will have all the drivers and demo software that you got with your PC when it was new. When it’s done, connect to your backup drive and copy the files back into their respective positions.

• Option 3

Virtual Machine: The other option, and a good one, is to use a virtual machine, such as Microsoft Virtual PC (free from www.microsoft.com/virtualpc) or VMware Workstation (30-day trial at www.vmware.com) to run XP in a window from within Vista. To set it up in Virtual PC, click New, and then use the New Virtual Machine Wizard to create a virtual machine. When prompted, choose Windows XP as the platform and specify at least 512MB of RAM. Complete the wizard, and click Start to open the new virtual machine. Insert your Windows XP Setup CD, and from the CD menu, select Use Physical Drive D:.

Now you will be able to install XP as if the drive D: were a separate computer. When you’re done, you will have a functional virtual XP PC that you can start from your Vista desktop any time you need it; you can even copy and paste between both platforms and share files over its virtual network interface.