Nokia expects the handset -- with a large touch screen, retailing for 550 euros ($693) before taxes and subsidies and due to reach market in the first half of 2009 -- will bolster its N-Series smartphone offering.
It has promised to introduce touch screen models across its portfolio. Nokia was the last major handset maker to introduce touch screen phones after the runaway success of Apple Inc's iPhone, and last month started to sell its first such model.
Its ailing position in the high end of the mobile phone market worries investors and analysts as this is expected to weigh on the Finnish group's profit margins.
"Without a doubt Nokia needed a high-end touch screen phone," said Martti Larjo, analyst at Nordea.
The new N97 is a direct rival to Sony Ericsson's X1 and HTC's Touch Pro -- both of which use Microsoft's Windows software -- and analysts said by the time it goes on sale more direct rivals will likely have appeared.
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