The new Nokia N97 was supposed to be the Finnish manufacturer's secret weapon, when we first heard of it in October 2008, to counteract the conquering Apple iPhone but when you look closer, there's a sense of underachievement, a subtle air of deja-vu and the feeling that Nokia "could have done better".
We call it the "Motorola Syndrome"; it describes a condition where a mobile phone company, like Motorola, can't break away from their legacy and create something anew. Motorola never really got away from the Razr and the Nokia N97 still feel like the two-year old N95 or the slightly older N800.
Don't get us wrong. Nokia is not the world;s number one phone seller for nothing and the slide out keyboard, an idea pioneered by Psion 5MX nearly a decade ago, will win it kudos. Their Nokia Labs as well are producing great innovations like their mobile web server.
But, and there's a big BUT, Nokia is now facing a resurgent Microsoft, a consumer-friendly Blackberry, Apple's iPhone and Google's Android Platform. The last three came to the consumer market - where Nokia gets most of its revenues - in the last 18 months.
The N97 should have been the secret weapon that should have been a break from the past. Instead, it firmly cements the N-series as the one which tries to do everything right but ends up doing only a few bits.
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