Nokia unveils handset to rival iPhone

BARCELONA: Nokia, the world���s largest mobile handset manufacturer, on Tuesday unveiled the N97 handset, another potential rival to Apple���s iPhone, and showcased updates to its navigation and messaging services.

The N97, Nokia���s second touch-screen device in as many months, will begin shipping in the first half of 2009.

The company���s president and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo described it as the most powerful mobile computer the world has ever seen.

The handset is being seen as an attempt by the Finnish company to regain lost ground in the touch-screen market. Nokia has power packed the N97 ��� the handset comes with a 3.5-inch, 16:9 touch-screen, up to 48 GB of storage, a Qwerty keyboard, 5-megapixel camera with a dual LED flash, A-GPS (Assisted Global Positioning System), HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) and Wi-Fi.

���We are transforming the Internet. This is a world where you will have the power to tailor and personalise your Internet, to make your life easier,���Mr Kallasvuo said.