Nokia’s new N97, I was hoping it would be the next great phone. But looking at a review in AAS, it looks like they totally blew it on the keyboard. There are only three rows of keys, which means that the space bar is in completely the wrong place. Gak!

ZDNet UK notes that the touchscreen is resistive instead of capacitative and apparently this results in a substantially less appealing touch compared to the iPhone. Yet another strike against.

Finally, I note that the camera is still the 5MP unit in the N95. I have that camera. It’s good, but it’s not great.

Despite the fact that the new home screen looks really cool (and much better than iPhone) and that it actually has keys, this means that we’re not looking at the next great Nokia device that I was expecting. My search for a great device that combines a huge touchscreen and a decent keyboard/keypad apparently will have to continue.