Nokia launched its 2009 flagship model, the Nokia N97 with much fanfare in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, ahead of the Palm Pre and the new Apple iPhone which are expected to be available in the next few months.

Techgoondu had the chance to lay our hands on a Nokia N97, which Nokia says will bring the power of a mobile computer to a compact package.

The N97 is well-designed in several aspects, including its large 3.5-inch touch screen, solid build quality with a slide-out screen and an extensive suite of onboard software.

Nokia ovi

A year after announcing its ovi online services, Nokia today showed off a near-complete version of its answer to Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s online offerings here in Singapore.

At a demo for reporters at the Geek Terminal cafe here, it presented new features like remote file sharing and sync’ing of contacts.

ovi is Nokia’s attempt to hook up its phone users to online services, seeing how Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are reaching out to mobile users through their Web-based e-mail, calendaring and productivity offerings. Let’s not also forget Apple and its tightly-integrated iTunes and recently, MobileMe application.

When fully ready, Nokia’s ovi offers the usual calendaring, contacts backup, as well as maps and games. Sounds like Google? Yup. Reminds you a bit of Apple’s iTunes and AppStore? Uh huh.