Nokia’s flagship device — the N97 — has just landed at our doorsteps (courtesy the lovely girls at WOM World, UK) and we are looking forward to living with it for a complete fortnight. Coincidentally, today also saw Nokia releasing a software update for the N97 (remember we told ya?) and things couldn’t seem more promising.

We were not really impressed by the 5800 XM, Nokia’s first S60-based touchscreen phone, and are hoping that the N97 will set the record right for Nokia.

From today, we will look at different aspects of the N97 (the good, the bad and the ugly) and figure out whether the N97 lives up to the daunting task of being the global leader’s flagship device. Also keep tuned in to our Tweets for spontaneous updates.

And now for our first impressions…

The slide and tilt mechanism is smooth and addictive. We could not stop ourselves from opening and shutting it in quick succession just to hear the ‘click clock’ sound that it makes. Just beware, others in the vicinity find it exteremely irritating.

On a more serious note, many have raised eyebrows on whether the plastic hinges would be able to last long. We too had our doubts initially, but it does feels polished enough to us at the moment.

Unfortunately, it does not have a capacitive display, which means that it is not as responsive as the iPhone. Unlike the latter, on which we do long sweeps on the touchscreen for fast scrolling, the one on the N97 appears a bit sticky. A word of advice, use your finger nails than the skinny part of your thumb to register inputs. A stylus has been provided in the box that hangs from an eyelet on the device. But that just ruins the phone’s sex appeal.

We are yet to get used to the QWERTY keyboard. It is not your everyday keyboard as the spacebar has been shifted to the right and we still keep looking for it in the middle of the lower row of keys. We are certain that we will get used to it but the question remains — why should the user re-learn how to type?

It uses a microUSB charger and can be charged over USB as well (we are yet to try that out). The package comes with an adapter that will enable you to charge the device with older Nokia chargers – both the thick and the thin pin ones.

Well, that’s all that we will reveal today. Check back tomorrow for live pictures and intimate details about the UI.

(Thanks Dons!)