The UAE will be one of the first countries in the world to receive the highly anticipated Nokia flagship phone, the N97, when it begins selling early next week, it was announced yesterday.

The touchscreen smartphone, which will also have full-Arabic support, will be available in black and white and will retail for approximately Dh3,050 at all major retail stores across the UAE.

The N97's availability comes close on the heels of the opening of Ovi.com, Nokia's online software and content store, which went live last week. Often referred to as "the Swiss army knife of mobile phones" by enthusiasts, the N97 will feature a 3.5inch screen and both a touchscreen and a glide-out Qwerty keyboard, a five megapixel camera and a 32GB expandable memory, among others.

Calling it "the world's most advanced mobile computer", Nokia, still the world's largest handset maker, has vowed to transform the internet with the N97.

"We have tried to make the most personal internet device out there. Personal internet devices these days mean high connectivity and heavy networking. Everything around the product has been geared around this," said Juha-Pekka Sipponen, Product Director for the N97, based in Espoo Finland.

After the UAE launch, the device will be available in 75 countries by mid-June, of which 30 will be in the Middle East-Africa region, he said.

The manufacturer has also invited Arabic developers by announcing the Calling All Innovators "Bil3arabi" (sic) competition, a mobile and web application developer contest for developers to submit applications and content for upload to the Ovi Store and for use on Nokia devices. Winners for the contest, which began yesterday, will be announced in December with $125,000 (Dh459,000) in prize money.

A direct response to rival Apple's extremely popular App Store, the Ovi.com store can be accessed by more than 50 million Nokia users, according to the company.

The N97 has also been touted by observers as the Finnish company's first serious attempt at taking the wind out of Apple.

Meanwhile, competition is hotting up in the smartphone arena, with Palm's Pre and Apple's new iPhone both set to be launched later this week in the US.

Chris Braam, Vice-President, Sales, Nokia Middle East and Africa, said the N97, along with the Ovi Store, will be "the ultimate device in mobile computing" on the market. "With the N97, Nseries leads the charge in helping transform the internet into your internet," he said.