Back in December I had the opportunity to get a first look at Nokia’s new flagship device, the Nokia N97. The mobile phone, or as Nokia likes to call them: “mobile computer”, was just released in the market recently, selling for about 450JDs in Jordan. I’ve been fortunate enough to play around with it for the past few days and discover what it has to offer.

The N97 is a touch-screen phone, with the touching feature being a massive improvement over Nokia’s previous touch-screen phones. You don’t have to press as hard as say the 5800 Xpress Music phone, although there are some buttons that require a double-touching, which takes a bit of getting used to. However, the most apparent feature of the N97 is the QWERTY keyboard that pops up from the side and tilts upwards at an angle designed perfectly for typing. It makes typing simple for human beings; a species that prides itself on the use of its opposable thumbs.

The second feature is the home screen, one that is incredibly user-friendly and customizable. Essentially, the screen consists of widgets that you can edit, remove, add and even drag around to position them where you want them to be. The main widget, and one of the most useful, is the “favorite contacts” list. Four of your most commonly used contacts rest atop the screen and with a tap on their icons you can instantly choose to call or message them, without having to scroll through a contacts list. You can add a second widget of another four contacts as well.

Other interesting widgets include Accuweather, to get instant weather updates, as well as Facebook, allowing for easy access to the social network as well as a widget that displays your current status update. The Gmail is another useful widget that can update itself to display the latest emails. A whole other series of widgets include, AP news, Amazon.com, Bloomberg and the Music Player. You can also customize shortcuts to access applications instantaneously. This home screen is really what turns this device in to a genuine mobile computer, connecting you to the online world quickly and easily. You’ll need to be connected to the Internet or have a data plan with your local carrier, but it’s well worth it if you like to stay connected while away from your computer.

On the screen itself there’s a menu button that takes you directly to the menu, where there are a few additions, including the Ovi Store. Now I haven’t tried out the store where you can supposedly access a bunch of applications, however, I have heard a few criticisms about it, specifically when it’s compared to the endless amount of applications that Apple has to offer for its iPhone. Open-sourcing the process is what makes all the difference I suppose. Most of what’s available on the Ovi Store are third-party applications, some of which are free, while others can be purchased.

The music player and camera interfaces have been changed to make life really simple. A touch of a button snaps a photo, launches an extended menu, changes the flash setting, or records a video. On the side of the phone is the traditional camera button to launch the application, but you can just as easily lower the shutter-cover to access it. Perhaps an interesting improvement is that the camera launches very quickly, much more so than my current phone, the N95, which makes a whole lot of difference when you need speed to capture something happening in the moment. Meanwhile, the music player allows you to set up podcast feeds, so if you’re connected, it will download your favorite podcasts.

Memory-wise? Well, suffice to say that once upon a time, I thought my N95′s 8GB was all I’d ever need, but along comes the N97 with 32GB and an expandable slot for 16GB of more memory.

As for other features, well, at the top of the list is the GPS. The N97 comes with Assisted GPS sensors and an electronic compass, and along with its on-board computer, it intuitively understands exactly where it is. This brings about the feature of having a “social location”; the ability to let your friends know where you are and what you’re up to. Even better, if you travel from one area to another, the phone’s A-GPS recognizes the move and updates the Accuweather widget to display the temperature where you are. Unfortunately, with GPS still banned in Jordan (hopefully not for long) this isn’t a useful feature for most people.

While the phone, uhem, I mean mobile computer, works brilliantly as just another device to keep one connected and access all the fundamental applications we need, the N97 is really taken to a whole other level when it’s connected and online. Remember when the calculator and notes applications were things we couldn’t do without, or even the camera and the music player? Well, the N97 may just be setting the bar for the next generation of smart-phones, allowing us to stay connected to the social networks we’ve grown attached to over the years.

It’s a hefty price tag, and with a data plan it might run you a bit more. But for the truly inspired, the N97 is less of a phone and more of an investment. All it needs now is a Twitter (or watwet, hint hint) widget, which according to Nokia is on the way.