I am using the N97. How ever, it cuts money from my credit by simply going to facebook, news and weahther reports that i dont like. Forget the fact that I removed hose apps. I am a heavy typist and I hate to play with my phone much. So the N97 is not much of a problem if you just call and cut. Never load the memory with apps and files coz be sure the phone will never stop stalling. iphone is much faster,sexier and a stylish phone and N97 has the worst camera I EVER used on a mobile in the history because of its 2 LED lights in the wrong position.

But i seriously hate touch screen phones. coz when I'm at a mosque and the phone accidentally rings coz I forgot to silent the phone, I suddenly become the DEVIL there. People stare at me coz the phone was ringing the whole time and I couldnt silence it like old button phones at the instance. Your phone shouldn't ring at the mosque or a church or anything like that in Asian countries, people seriously claim you to be satan here!

altough the iphone is limits what you can do... for some reason its seems to do the things it can do really well?!
Than again i love my n97 for all its features (50% of which i don't use on a regular basis) :P

Most if not all of the things you posted are nonsense and I'll bother to explain: (please don't confuse n00bs on this)...

6. Games: Even though I admit my iPhone makes a great gaming platform, I always rather use my PSP or my XBOX 360 for that... Besides nGage platform is more robust than anything else mobile out there... Have you seen nGage games?

5. Built in HTML email: Nokia Messaging it's been out for a good while with HTML support. My Nokia N97 is a great email platform as a matter of fact. A great contender for my iPhone 3G

4. Tweetdeck: Have you tried Gravity? There's simply no substitutes for Gravity on any platform as of yet.

3. Video Autofocus: However true, the lack of autofocus on video is fixable through a firmware upgrade or patch (perhaps even hacks) so that lacking alone it's not worthwhile.

2. Multitasking: What? Since when iPhone has become a multitasking OS? That's not multitasking brother!... That's just some gimmick Apple invented to let the user think he's multitasking... But don't be fooled!

1. Web Browsing: True, iPhone's web browsing experience (since iPhone One) it's been awesome.. Too bad it does not display ActiveX, Javascript and most importantly (for many) Flash content like the N97's browser that can display pretty much everything I throw at it...

So, don't confuse people here okay?

Cheers!
RayanMX

I won at N97 this week at a developer conference and was wondering if I could use my iPhone 3GS SIM in it in order to check it out full-time for a while. I did put the SIM into the N97 and it works just fine but I'm worried about data charges. I've heard the iPhone data plan doesn't work on the N97 and AT&T will charge you per kilobyte.

Mark, since you were switching between the two devices can you confirm this?

MULTITASKING??? ARE YOU MENTAL!!!

The Iphone cant multi task! Every time you go back into an app it has to load up, yeh it might go back to where you left it but you still have to load it! That is not multi tasking!!!!

On the N97 i have Nimbuzz, Browser, Maps, Video, Music, Iplayer, Facebook and whatever else i want running all at the same time, and can switch between apps just by pressing the menu hardkey.

The Iphone has no multi tasking feature at all that i can see. You have to close each app and load up the next one individually. That is not multi tasking!!!

please tell me 6 reason y shd i buy n97 n nt i phone 3gs

How come Nokia didn't push Ovi on the N97. I know it has the Ovi Store but that's ok. How come they didn't push Ovi Contacts, Calendar, and all the other services they offer to really boost them. The only way to get Ovi Contacts is to download and install it. All of it should have come preinstalled on the phone when they shipped.

OK IVE NEVA USED THE N97 BUT I LOVE THE WHITE COLOUR N97.. .. BUT WHAT I WANNA TELL IS THE MAIN PROBLEM ABOUT THE IPHONE TAT EVERYONE IGNORES.. I HAD A IPHONE 3G WHITE.. EVERYHTING WAS FINE APART FROM SMALL PROBLEMS LIKE THE PHONE HANGING AFTER DOWNLOADING APPLICATIONS FROM THE APPLE STORE.. THEN ONE DAY I DROPPED THE IPHONE WHILE TRYING TO REPLY TO A MSG.. STUPID SHIT SLIPPD FROM MY HAND WUD HAVE BEEN BETTER IF IT HAD KEYPAD.. AFTER THE PHONE FELL THE SCREEN CRACKED.. I TOOK MY 2 MONTH OLD IPHONE TO THE APPLE STORE N THEY TOLD ME TAT I HAD TO BUY A NEW ONE.. THE STUPID PHONE IS IRRITATING TO MSG WIT IF UR USED TO PHONES WIT KEYPADS.. IT HANGS IF U DOWNLOAD APPLICATIONS FROM APPLESTORE. THE CAMERA IS BELOW SATISFACTORY FOR A PHONE OF THAT PRICE.. N IT DOESNT MATTER IF U HAVE THE IPHONE OR 3G OR 3GS THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME..ITS AN OVERHYPED CRAPPY PHONE WIT LOTS OF CONS TAT GOES UN NOTICED UNTIL U ACTUALLY USE IT.... N IF THR IS ANY APPLE FANBOY OUT THR WHO THINKS IPHONE IS THE BEST THEN PLZZZZ GO TO EBAY N BUY MY PHONE.. ITS FOR SALE..

Here's one reason to consider the iPhone: Nokia's blatant lack of tech support for its North American customers.

Every phone I have had since I got my first cellphone has been a Nokia, but I had not bought a new phone since 2003, when Nokia was still king and its smartphone (the 3600) was the first. Recently bought an E75 from Dell and it was RIDICULOUSLY buggy. Several times it came up with the RESTART FAIL screen. Got it to restart twice using advice on this and other sites--Nokia was no help telling me to ship it back to Dell and get another one. Hoped that v. 110. firmware I kept reading about would help since it was released in what, June? To this day, not available for the NAM version. Finally just gave up and shipped it back Dell.

I'm trying to stay committed to Nokia (briefly tried an HTC last year, but discovered I don't really like touch screen or WinMo), but this was heartbreaking 'cuz I had read about it, waited for it and finally saved enough money for it. So even though touch screens and I don't get along, what options do I have?

HERESY!!! Why don't you just call your site the iphone 3gs blog!! And go and join other self masturbating drones.

If you are trying multitasking with backgrounder you should also get mquickdo from cydia

With a swipe of your finger on the screen it shows you all apps which are running and you can drag one of them to the bottom to close it etc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_YEZW2Gmwk

I owned all high end Nokia devices since the 2110 from the early 90's. Never had an issue until I started my new job last year and was offered the iPhone. We rely on push email a lot.

I thought my N95 would be up to the task, I was wrong. Not only did it not support HTML, the Exchange client was lacking to say the least.

I tried using RoadSync, but it had no support for HTML on Exchange 2003 SP2 either.

I finally gave the iPhone a shot and although I want to throw it through a wall everyday because of dropped calls....when it comes to the Exchange and HTML support....it works really well.

I had the N97 on pre-order for a long time, bragged about it at work how it was going to replace the iPhone.

Lets just say that it came up short. I was like a kid at X-mas when the box arrived. Loved the design, build and was glad to have my camera back. The iPhone blows @ taking pictures. The UI was a bit clunky, but I would be able to live with it.

The browser was decent, not as snappy or easy to use like the iPhone, but again...I was willing to live with it.

The deal breaker was the Exchange support with HTML. I cant believe in this day and age, a company like Nokia that has a good relationship with MS, does not have a solid Exchange client or email app.

With the iPhone it displays my email perfectly, I can even open up all my docs right there in the email, no need to save.

If an iPhone had a better camera with flash and dropped less calls I could honestly say it would be a perfect phone. Jailbroken of course, without the draconian Apple bs.

This is coming from someone that swore to never purchase an Apple device.

Very disappointing last couple of years from Nokia. First the BS they pulled with the N96 and now the N97.

Wake up Nokia!!!!!!

I have been a Nokia fan for over 15 yrs now and my N97 was supposed to be the best thing to happen to me since sliced bread. I HATE it!! so many times it has nearly ended up being thrown against the wall. Everyone keeps talking about apps and how good/bad they are, IT'S SUPPOSSED to be a phone, and the PHONE part of it SUCKS. My N95 and N93 had better call features and reliability. It takes forever for you to answer a call when the phone is locked, i end up missing the call and have to call ppl back. IT SUX!!!

change the setting to anykey answer, you can then just press the menu hard key

Top reason why i prefer Nokia 5530 over iphone 3GS-
http://5530xpressmusic.com/nokia-5530-xpressmus...

6. Games. Sure, the iPhone has some cool games. But it does lack a community based on gaming, and for me, that's much more experience-extending, than some game titles or solutions.

5. HTML email. I'm using over a dozen email accounts, but I can't remember having ever really needed HTML support in them. Anyways, Nokia Messaging is still there if you're nitpicky. Not built-in, but with an open platform like S60, we don't need things to be built-in.

4. Twitter. Hmph. I don't see the hype about it either (a recent study I read, just showed how unpopular Twitter actually is among youth), but Gravity performs just fine too. If one doesn't follow everyone and their cousins, there's no need for grouping, because things won't get confusing anyway. That said, I'm quite sure it's only a matter of time before an application with the grouping feature makes its way onto S60 too - and that's not one device, but a whole wide range of devices and the community using them.

3. Video autofocus. Lol, okay, congrats, you found the one feature in the camera that the iPhone knows and the N97 doesn't. So what? Anything else and the iPhone camera is still inferior.

2. Multitasking. ...you didn't really just brought up a point against the N97 that iPhone just QUASI-able to do, did you? You complain about the N97 not having BUILT-IN HTML email just a few lines above, but you go with an argument for which, to be true in its entirety, the iPhone needs to be JB'd...? Please.

1. Web browsing. I lol'd. Seriously. Okay, it doesn't need to reload pages because of memory. Is that good? If you're saving on your data plan, then yes. But apart from that? There might be tons of new stuffs on the site, which you won't know of unless you manually reload the page. Bothersome. And then, only one word to add here: flash. And if you say "who needs flash in a browser?", well...pretty much everyone. It's rather convenient, you know, not to need to fire up a separate application just to watch those youtube videos, for example. And yeah, there are other browsers too for the S60, unlike for the iPhone.

Final words? iPhone has a great User Interface, and in case of the 3GS, strong hardware. I've never argued that. But beyond the UI and the hardware? It's just a ghost, not a solid body. And I don't wanna go on listing a whole bunch of other things about the iPhone just now, cuz it would be off-topic. That said, the iPhone OS still runs on virtually one hardware, and it's quite old and polished (how long the Mac OS X has been around exactly?), whereas S60 runs on dozens of different devices, not to mention the fact that the 5th Ed. is still quite new and young. Just to remember that, 'cause it's sorta not all the same.

Thanks for replying and you've got some valid points. However in regards to flash/youtube support on the Nokia N97... unfortunately the iPhone 3GS opens up the Youtube app and plays the video much faster than the N97 browser can load up the video within the same page.

Mark is not a phone geek, he's a phone user. Why are people surprised he likes the iphone? Also he only used the iphone for 1 week... Let see how he feels after a month, that is when things can really be measured and he'll begin to hate touch only devices like I do... And when winter comes, he'll start complaining the capacitive touch... NYC gets pretty cold. And he's still on honeymoon... Wait til the iphone iBills pile up. Cheers.

This is great to see comparisons of both phones. James I really like your picture comparisons and your feedback. It's a tough choice between them. They both have good points and their flaws. I'm stuck right now trying to decide between them. I have an N95 right now but really want to upgrade. I bought the N97 but haven't opened it yet until I've decided which to go with. Unfortunately my decision is even harder as my main two features that I want is a good camera and a good browser. I like having as much in one device than having to carry extras. Especially a camera. Mark, are you going to keep both phones and use both or are you going to keep the N97 as your primary phone?

Well the same here, I am a Nokia fan, but with this n97 I have had 3 in my hand and the All 3 the same bugs... So I decided give a try to iPhone 3gs and let mr tell u I'm happy now, I miss the Carl zeiss too but I prefer all the positive points of iPhone than the good camera and lot bugs of Nokia n97 I'm sorry for Nokia but they messed up with this model....

As a person who owns the two devices...Who cares about games!...moreover the 3gs browser does not support flash...E-mail I agree with you...you can not judge a phone by an application that it doesn't have like the twitter application you are talking about...video I do not agree with you at all, man the N97's video recording is dvd quality.....multi tasking I don't agree with you

Hi Mark,

I tried the iPhone 3GS for a little whilst but quickly realised that it was not for me. I agree with your points but I had to also think about the contract that I was on. Also, I grew to dislike the camera. It's not all it's cracked up to be.

The iPhone 3GS seems too rounded. That might seem like a pathetic excuse to not like the iPhone but syncing with iTunes and the QWERTY keyboard quickly seemed a repetitive process and annoyed the hell out of me! The keyboard on the N97 gives me the best of both worlds.

Now if only they can sort S60 out, happy days!

Hey..

if your going to "toss" your n97 away.. "toss" it to me hahaha.

6. Games: fair enough. iphone developers have better utilized the platform's abilities. why S60 developers don't is beyond me.

5. built-in html email: yup, again fair enough. lose the word 'built-in' and you still don't have a good solution on S60.

4. tweetdeck: seriously? common. i just dont understand so many ppl's adoration of twitter. maybe i'll go tweet that, "i don't find twitter interesting".

3. video focusing: yup - that would be nice on the n97. not a deal breaker for me, but one of those "would be nice" features. can't argue against it, but i wouldn't bother arguing for it either.

2. multi-tasking? uhh... what? this is supposed to be a comparison between the 3gs and the n97, right? adding a feature to the 3g, making the 3gs _almost_ able to multitask... makes it better than a phone that _actually_ multitasks? either i'm missing something here, or you are. i don't think it's me.

1. web-browsing: oh great! the microsoft argument! i like windows because my apps were written for it. well, this argument looses steam here because with very few exceptions all iphone webapps run great on the n97. bam. and if you get a site where the developer was really an ass and forces the user-agent to be 'iphone' then, well, use the python user-agent mod to make your n97 claim to be an iphone. or use Ozone [http://o3mobi.com] or @web [http://www.digia.com/browser] or... you get the picture: there are options on S60. With the S60 browser, Ozone, and @Web - you've got 3 full featured browsers based on Webkit (just like Mobile Safari). Of course, each one has it's strengths: S60 browser is fully integrated, Ozone has full database support etc, and @Web (as well as S60 Browser) offers flash support for sites like youtube.

and if you've got a Zeemote [http://zeemote.com] then even the venerable Skyfire [http://get.skyfire.com] is fully usable - allowing the N97 to playback hulu, and any other online video we wish.

iPhone, web-browsing, winner? err... i'd be very disappointed with Apple myself. No alternative browsers are allowed, flash is blatantly missing, and pretty much everything out there that is 'iphone only' online is artificially made that way.

---
my list, would have included these few subtleties:
- N97 is not as stable as the iPhone
- N97 is missing VoIp (truphone is available to iphone users now)
- N97 camera lens cover is self-destroying
- iPhone has no moving parts
- iPhone app store allows reinstallation of apps

and the converse list:
- N97 Openness allows greater variety of apps
- N97 Openness includes extensions to current frameworks
- N97 openness includes access to ALL hardware compnents (gps, sensors, etc)
- iPhone is a walled garden eco-system
- iPhone has a shitty little camera
- iPhone STILL doesn't really multi-task at all
- N97 has a qwerty keyboard

i'll stop now, but both lists could be expanded on quite a bit. essentially i feel like this list of 6 points is really pretty poor.

It can multitask if you jailbreak, obviously still not as fluid as say the Pre. I think multitasking is kind overrated even though quintessential part in the very definition of a smart phone. Given all the 3GS' advantages I can totally live without it. But that's just me.