The Nokia N97, one of the most advanced mobile computers to date, will begin selling in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia mid June, marking it as one of the first markets in the world to receive Nokia's highly anticipated flagship device.

The new Nokia N97 will be the first Nseries device to feature a dedicated homescreen shortcut for the easy-to-use Ovi Store, which has now become globally available featuring thousands of applications, games, videos, podcasts, productivity tools, web and location-based services, and much more.

With the availability of the Ovi Store, Nokia announced the Calling All Innovators 'Bil3arabi' competition, a mobile and web application developer competition that challenges developers to submit best-in-class Arabic applications and content for upload to Ovi Store to use on Nokia devices.

Nokia will award cash and prizes, in addition to helping the winning developers distribute their mobile applications through the Ovi Store. The competition begins June 2nd and content can be uploaded to Ovi Store until October 30 2009, with winners being announced by December 7h 2009.

Chris Braam, Vice President, Sales, Nokia Middle East and Africa, said: 'This is a very exciting time for us as we bring the ultimate device in mobile computing to the market. Together with the Ovi Store, the Nokia N97 mobile computer adjusts to the world around us, helping us to stay connected to the people and things that matter most. With the Nokia N97, Nseries leads the charge in helping to transform THE Internet into YOUR Internet.'

'We are also very proud to be introducing our developer competition focused on Arabic content. The Middle East and Arabic speakers around the world represent a large and dynamic group of consumers, and we are seeking native Arabic developers to help us offer them what they want. With the Ovi Store now available, Nokia is offering developers a unique opportunity to publish content with 70% revenue share and a world-wide distribution,' added Braam.

The Nokia N97: the era of the personal Internet has dawned

The Nokia N97 will transform the way people connect to the Internet and to each other. Designed for the needs of Internet-savvy consumers, the Nokia N97 combines a large 3.5 inch touch display with a full QWERTY keyboard, providing an 'always open' window to favorite social networking sites and Internet destinations. Nokia's flagship Nseries device introduces leading technology - including multiple sensors, memory, processing power and connection speeds - for people to create a personal Internet and share their 'social location.'

The home screen of the Nokia N97 mobile computer features the people, content and media that matter the most. Friends, social networks and news are available by simply touching the home screen. The 16:9 widescreen display can be fully personalized with frequently updated widgets of favorite web services and social networking sites. The Nokia N97 is also perfectly suited for browsing the web, streaming Flash videos or playing games. Both the physical QWERTY and virtual touch input to ensure efficiency in blogging, chatting, posting, sending texts or emailing.

The Nokia N97 has 32 GB of on-board memory for music, media and more. This is complemented by excellent music capabilities, full support for the Nokia Music Store, and continuous playback time of up to 1.5 days. The Nokia N97 also has a 5-Megapixel camera with high-quality Carl Zeiss optics, 16:9 and DVD quality video capture, and support for services like Share on Ovi for immediate sharing over HSDPA and WLAN.

Ovi Store by Nokia: Now open for business

The Nokia N97 will be the first Nseries device to feature a dedicated homescreen shortcut for the easy-to-use Ovi Store; a one-stop-shop for thousands of applications, games, videos, podcasts, productivity tools, web and location-based services. Ovi Store will contain paid and free content from a range of global and local content providers and developers, including Facebook, MySpace, Paramount Pictures, Shazam and Qik.

Ovi Store by Nokia is now available globally to an estimated 50 million Nokia device owners across more than 50 Nokia device models. Customers can visit store.ovi.com through their Nokia device browser to immediately begin downloading, personalizing and making their devices smarter and more fun.

'Ovi Store is open for business and we've stocked the shelves with both local and global content for a broad range of Nokia devices,' said Lorenzo Leone, Head of Service and Software, Nokia Middle East and Africa. 'Ovi Store makes shopping for content and applications easy and fun for feature phone and smartphone owners alike.'

Calling All Innovators 'Bil3arabi': Nokia's developer competition for Arabic content

The Nokia Calling All Innovators 'Bil3arabi' developer competition for Arabic content is open to anyone with bold ideas and tremendous talent. Whether it is someone new to mobile or an experienced coder, Nokia is offering new opportunities for local developers to grow their business. The competition challenges mobile and web application developers to submit entries for Arabic content in any category within Ovi Store (Applications and Widgets, Video, Personalization, Games, Audio, Flash & Active idle widgets) with a focus on Internet Innovation, Flash, and Mobile Games.

The entries can be submitted to Ovi Store and registered on www.callingallinnovators.com/Bil3arabi from June 2nd until October 30 2009, with winners being announced by December 7 2009. All eligible entries received will be judged by the sponsor, industry experts, promotion entities and local consumers for 1 month from Ovi Store upload. Criteria for choosing the winner include quality and functionality; uniqueness and innovativeness; usability and creativity; and ability to fulfil users' needs in terms of relevancy and customer adoption.

Grand prize winner will receive cash; 'spotlight' placement featuring the winning application for 4 weeks on the top page of Nokia's Ovi Store; and paid travel to demo the winning application at a Nokia specified event. The winning application will also be reviewed by Nokia for possible preload on future Nokia devices.

Second place will also receive cash; and 'spotlight' plcacement featuring the winning application for 3 weeks on a revelvant catergory page on Nokia's Ovi Store.

The remaining top ten submissions will be given the 'Judge's Choice Award,' which will give them a one-year membership in Forum Nokia Launchpad, enabling members to receive access to exclusive resources and support to accelerate mobile application development and elevate developer's business visibility in the mobile world.