Nokia’s hoping some star power and a little Nostalgia will you get you itching for an N97. The ad is a remixed version of ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ by LL Cool J. It’s full of snappy one-liners like, “don’t call it a comeback” and, “over the competition I’m towerin’.” If only your phone wasn’t $700, Nokia. If only. You can see the whole video below.
Tag: iphone competitor
Coming between what are probably the two biggest smartphone launches of the year, Nokia unveiled their new contender to the throne, the N97. The Finnish phone maker packed their newest device with plenty of features you’d want in a decent phone. There’s just one thing they overlooked – price.
The N97 comes in at a whopping $700. Of course, that’s outside contract, which serves to explain the price. Plenty of cells, including this year’s big launches, would sell for that amount if purchased without a contract. The problem, for Nokia at least, is that American consumers are so conditioned to contract subsidized pricing that $700 is going to feel like a swift kick to the groin.
Feature by feature, the N97 closely matches the Palm Pre and the iPhone 3GS. It’s got 32GB of internal memory, a multi-touch touchscreen, and a slide out QWERTY keyboard. Nokia has said on several occasions that they would like to be more competitive in the U.S. market. How they hope to do that with phones at more than double the major carriers’ premium prices is beyond me.
You know what they say, though; freedom isn’t free, but aside from the folks who really despise contracts, I doubt you’ll see many N95s in hand this summer.
Sprint and Palm have officially announced the release of the Palm Pre for June 6, starting at $200 after contract and the included $100 rebate. If you’re worried you won’t be able to get Palm’s new beauty in your area, fret no more. The phone is being sold nationwide starting on the 6th and will be sold in Sprint stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack, and even some Wal-Marts.
So what do you think of the date? It’s a Saturday for starters, which could mean both the manufacturer and the service provider are hoping for big weekend sales. It’s also two days before Apple’s Keynote Presentation at WWDC where it’s no secret people will be waiting for a very special iPhone announcement. I suppose if you have some sort of buying disorder you might not want to want two days.
To me it seems like Palm must be a little uneasy about the iPhone refresh. It would be so easy to wait a few days, or even a week, and then pitch the Pre against the iPhone’s shortcomings, like running background apps. They may be planning to do that anyway, but then why have an understated launch 2 days before a potential boon for Apple sales.
Truth is, I think we all know the iPhone isn’t going anywhere, and pitching the Pre as an “iPhone-killer” would likely turn Palm’s blade against themselves. I’d say the best they can hope for is a load of sales because their device is something different. If we’re lucky, the competition, meager as it may be, will push Apple to improve the product the world loves.
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