Meego-based Nokia N9 Changes Everything with a Swipe

SINGAPORE CITY, Singapore – Nokia is in the run for getting its crown back, and this ray of hope can be seen with the launch of the Meego-based Nokia N9.

The Nokia N8 and N900‘s successor was announced in Singapore, but may be the first and last Meego smartphone, seeing that Nokia is moving to Windows Phone 7. This can be a disadvantage for customers, who will see a limited support lifetime. There is a limited developer edition of this handset, going by Nokia N950, but there are details on the differences.

The turning point of the game is the home key being given amiss, and everything connected to the homescreen is done with just a swipe across the screen, so while in midst of an application, a swipe from the edge of the display just takes users to the homescreen, it is that simple.

The UI of the homescreen provides with the maximum functionality that is used by a user, apps, notifications on mail and social networking sites, and switching between activities. Those with an eye for detail will notice that the display is laminated in deep black, translating to the UI floating on the surface of the handset.

The Nokia N9 is nothing short of a premium device, and even the materials used to make this handset. The body is precision-machined from a single piece of polycarbonate and really works its way flawlessly into the beautiful curved glass.

It is the first Nokia smartphone to bring a 1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, but in comparison to other new high-end smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S II, the Nokia N9 specs show a lack of power as it has a single-core CPU instead of newer dual-core ones. Although at this stage in mobile game and app design there won’t be a major impact, customers may think twice before buying it.

The device will not disappoint multimedia fans as it incorporates the latest advancements in camera, navigation, and audio technology for the most immersive multimedia experience. What would really set-apart the Nokia N9 is its deign, with a total non-key approach, giving birth to the term, “all touchscreen” smartphone.

The display itself measures 3.9″ with WVGA resolution and AMOLED technology, packaged in Gorilla Glass. The polycarbonate material also works for better antennae reception resulting in better call quality, reception, and fewer dropped calls.

The camera housed on the N9 is an 8-megapixel unit with Carl Zeiss lens, autofocus sensor, dual LED flash, wide-angle lens, HD recording at 720p at 30fps, and the large-lens aperture produced the best captured pictures even in the lowest light conditions.

The N9 is also the first Nokia to be Dolby Digital Plus decoding certified, hence a Dolby Digital experience is provide with the use of any normal off-the-shelf headphones.

The Meego smartphone comes in complete with NFC and Wi-Fi capabilities, so now transferring contents between NFC enabled handsets, or viewing content on DLNA certified devices is wireless and at the same time click-free, meaning that there is no need of any need to touch any buttons. Nokia has also launched the Play 360, an NFC-enabled wireless speaker for thumping sound output. The Nokia C7 is another NFC smartphone currently available from the manufacturer.

“With the Nokia N9, we wanted to design a better way to use a phone. To do this we innovated in the design of the hardware and software together. We reinvented the home key with a simple gesture: a swipe from the edge of the screen. The experience sets a new bar for how natural technology can feel”, said Marko Ahtisaari, Nokia’s head of Design. “And this is just the beginning. The details that make the Nokia N9 unique – the industrial design, the all-screen user experience, and the expressive Qt framework for developers – will evolve in future Nokia products”, he concluded.

The handset looks promising and a definite game changer in the market flooded with iPhone, Android smartphones and the like. The Nokia N9 really needs to be accepted by the buyer for Nokia to get back lost grounds, from the camera, to communication technologies, the Meego device has some of the best incorporated within  and this might just be the walking path for its handsets in the future.