The Nokia N97 gets v20 and a new lease of life


"Yes, it's out. For some product codes at least, with a changelog below. The next-gen Nokia N97 v20.2.019 firmware (a.k.a. PR 2.0), the biggest, most ambitious and most eagerly awaited firmware update in Nokia's history, is now available via Nokia Software Update. In short, RAM management is better and you effectively get a lot more flash memory on C: - plus the delights of kinetic, intuitive scrolling in all applications, transforming the S60 5th Edition experience, and a mountain of smaller fixes.You can check for updates by going into the 'Sw update' application in your phone. Although the Nokia N97 does include UDP (User Data Preservation), and you should be able to apply this update over the top of your existing v11 or v12 installation, for anyone with any technical knowledge, I'd suggest taking a slightly longer route.Firstly, I'd suggest a backup (to memory card or PC), just in case. And then a sync of your data (e.g. to Outlook or Ovi or Google), just in case(!) Then, if you don't want to apply the update straightaway, wipe your N97's C disk with the usual *#7370# (default password 12345) and THEN apply the update. Then you can restore your data and files from memory card, PC or online source in the usual way.Doing what I suggest might seem like a pain, but this is a major operating system update and you'll end up with a faster, leaner phone with more space on C: free.

Improvements in firmware 20.2.019 are:

  • A reworked memory mapping model - this means that applications use the (relatively) limited RAM much more efficiently and you should rarely see any memory errors. Note that the available 'Free RAM' after booting is now a lot less (around 47MB), but don't take this raw number too literally - apps use less RAM than before
  • Kinetic scrolling in the User Interface in all lists and larger-than-screen views
  • The keyboard driver has been enhanced so that a long press on any key brings up its associated 'function' symbol (or number)
  • Music player shows album art more reliably, plus extra MP3 ID3 information
  • Half a dozen new social media and services widgets have been added by default
  • Camera still and video improvements
  • Offline mode for homescreen widgets (shown below)
  • The N-Gage client is now included (shown below, saving 10MB of your C disk, compared to the current situation)
  • Ovi Maps 3.1 is now included (shown below, saving 7MB of your C disk, compared to the current situation)
  • Ovi Contacts and Ovi Store clients now integrated (saving more space)
  • More responsive touchscreen driver (so fewer 'missed taps') and the usual minor bug fixes across the board
  • Improvements to Sync system

What's missing from the v20 firmware:

  • A Skype client - this will arrive as a separate download in 'Sw update'
  • Nokia Internet Radio - when, oh when, will Nokia realise that, while not a show stopper, it's a much-desired application that surely can't be that hard to adapt for a touchscreen?" via allaboutsymbian.com



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