Nokia Unveils Mini N97 Smartphone; X6, X3 Music Phones

Nokia World 09 started off with a bang on Wednesday as Nokia pulled the curtain off of a trio of hot new mobile phones, including a shrunken down version of its popular N97 smartphone.









The Nokia N97 mini (shown) takes several design elements from its big brother, the Nokia N97, and puts them into a smaller package.

According to Nokia, the scaled-down N97 smartphone features new home screen widgets and a host of other updates.







The miniature N97 is the first Nokia device to feature Lifecasting with Ovi, a new pairing with popular social networking site Facebook that lets users update their Facebook status directly from the N97 mini's home screen and also lets location information be updated for social sharing.

The Nokia N97 mini's home screen is also fully customizable. It can be personalized with applications and widgets, and also has access to the Ovi Store, which offers thousands of applications and services such as games and video and lifestyle and productivity tools.

The compact N97 packs in 8 GB of storage, a 3.2-inch touch-screen display and a full QWERTY keyboard. It also features the same tilt display design as the standard Nokia N97. The 8 GB of on-board memory can be expanded to 24 GB with the addition of a 16-GB microSD card.

The device offers up to 12 days of standby time and up to 28 hours of music playback, Nokia said. It also features a 5-megapixel camera with dual LED flash and video light, with a Carl Zeiss Tessar lens.

The N97 mini measures in at 113mm x 52.5mm x 14.2mm, while the standard N97 is 117.2mm x 55.3mm x 15.9mm. The shrunken N97 is also about 12 grams lighter than its bulkier brother.







According to Nokia, the Nokia N97 mini will be available next month for about $640 (450 euro).

Along with officially unveiling the N97, Nokia gave a sneak preview of two of its new music-centric mobile phones, the X6 (shown) and the X3.







The X6, which is Nokia's newest flagship music phone, comes bundled with Nokia's Comes With Music service. The handheld is based on Nokia's Symbian S60 operating system.

The Nokia X6 also features a 3.2-inch widescreen display, a 5-megapixel camera with dual LED flash, 32 GB of built-in memory and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It also features A-GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and HSDPA connectivity.







The X6 measures 111mm x 51mm x 13.8mm and offers up to eight hours of talk time, up to 406 hours of standby time, up to 35 hours of music playback and up to four hours of video playback.

The Nokia X3 (shown), the X6's kid brother, runs on the S40 operating system. The smaller music phone features a built-in FM radio, a 3.2-megapixel camera and a 2.2-inch display. The X3 can store up to 16 GB of data on a microSD card. The X3 also features a 3.5mm headphone jack.







The X3 measures in at 96mm x 49.3mm x 14.1mm and offers up to 7.5 hours of talk time, 380 hours of standby time and up to 26 hours of music playback.

Nokia said both the X6 and X3 (shown) music phones will be available sometime in the fourth quarter. The X3 is expected to cost about $165 (115 euro), while the X6 is expected to run $655 (459 euro).