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Mini-me

<p>NOKIA HAS SHAVED a couple of millimetres off the dimensions of its flagship N97 touch-screen smartphone and the result is the N97 Mini. It didn't smack with me with its sex appeal when it emerged from its box; nor did the substantially solid device feel in any way "mini" in my hand. Less than brilliant first impressions aside, Nokia's new smartphone is easy to use, offers a wealth of applications and makes broadcasting every tiny detail of life as easy as setting up a Twitter account. </p>
<p>The N97 Mini features a customisable home screen with a live Facebook widget. The phone's interface can be personalised further by a visit to Nokia's Ovi store, which houses a host of additional applications. Arguably most useful is Ovi Maps, which virtually obliterates the need for a separate navigational device. Ovi Maps provides voice guided drive navigation as well as pedestrian navigation. I loved the interactive city guides in the widget, which allow you to search for points of interest, coffee shops, etc. Alternatively, you can just tap on buildings on the 3D map for more information and directions on how to get there. Best of all, Nokia Ovi Maps is completely free of charge. </p>
<p>I'm a BlackBerry user, so a full touch-screen phone usually leaves me pining for a responsive QWERTY keyboard. I'm happy to report no pining was done during my road test of the N97 Mini. The touch-screen features haptic feedback, so I felt a small vibration when pressing a button. Best of all, a full QWERTY keyboard slides out from the phone, making typing emails truly a breeze and, although I hate to admit it, better than my BlackBerry, thanks to the well-spaced out buttons and the angle of the screen to the keyboard. </p>
<p>The N97 Mini's multimedia capabilities are impressive and 8GB of internal storage is at your disposal (down from the N97's 32GB). I liked the podcast application, which allows you to subscribe to audio and video podcasts in Nokia's fairly extensive directory. Watching video on the N97 Mini's 3,2-inch screen isn't much of a wide-screen affair, but good resolution, bright colours and decent audio more than make up for the smallness of the screen. The camera is a five megapixel, with dual LED flash. In terms of connectivity, the N97 Mini allows you to connect to the web via Wi-Fi, 3G and HSDPA. </p>
<p>The Nokia Music Store application comes standard with the phone. My first-time experience with the widget was pretty painless, but whether you think the R10/song price tag is a tad on the steep side is another story. An FM radio is also included. </p>
<p>The original N97 received mixed reviews but was most widely criticised for the Symbian S60 operating system, which is long in the tooth. However, things were improved with more recent software updates. </p>
 
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