Rather than trying to explain it all, click here for more information. If you’re too lazy, here’s clue 1:

While a gentle caress is likely to please
Haptic and Tactile are two types of these
The aluminium case we like very much
Making the N97 a pleasure to _ _ _ _ _

…not tricky, methinks. Except, if you type in the answer at the Official Search for N website, it doesn’t work At least, if a red X means wrong, that is….VERY cryptic

By the way, here are the release dates for all the clues:

Clue 1 – 26th May @ 12:00 p.m.

Clue 2 – 28th May @ 12:00 p.m.

Clue 3 – 30th May @ 12:00 p.m.

Clue 4 – 31st May @ 12:00 p.m.

Clue 5 – 2nd June @ 12:00 p.m.

Scarcity is always a good tactic to employ to cascade a viral marketing campaign, and Nokia’s latest idea to generate buzz in the lead-up to the release of the Nokia N97, whilst not a new concept in marketing, is certainly going to achieve the desired result.

The prestige of being one of the first people to own its new N-Series phone is obviously not something to be scoffed at, especially if you plan on getting some media exposure out of it. That aside, let’s spell out what’s involved:

There are several N97’s scattered in different countries across Europe & South-East Asia.

Clues released via various blog sites will gradually unravel the cryptic clues, which are being released in stages up until the official release date of the N97 in the USA (2-5 of June according to various sources!)

Once you have all the clues, you still have to find the N97.

If you live in the UK, here’s a clue I found this morning (originally posted here):

Search for th N - teaser clue 1

…make of it what you will: more clues coming soon

Here are the links for the participating countries:

• United Kingdom
• Singapore
• France
• Netherlands
• Malaysia

Time to pre-order

Mobile Phones Direct - the first UK company to post details of Vodafone tariffs for the N97

Although there’s no release date yet, Mobile Phones Direct is offering the N97 for £39.15 on an 18-month Vodafone tariff. What’s interesting is that they’ve released this information on their website before Vodafone have any details of costs. By the time you read this, things might have changed, of course!

…but it’s fascinating that Mobile Phones Direct has the ’scoop’ on being able to pre-order the N97 on a tariff before the likes of CarPhone Warehouse & the other major distributors of contract phones.

I phones Vodafone to ask them if they had any details of their business tariffs for the N97 – all they could tell me at the moment is that the business tariff will roll out sometime in July. Presumably they’re awaiting the final release date from Nokia themselves before committing themselves, which is sensible.

The Nokia N97 represents the first high-end multimedia, web2.0 and business phone all in one package. It’s specifications show that, whilst it’s not at the top end in terms of hardware, the simultaneous release of the N97 alongside Nokia’s OVI store shows that the Finnish company is attempting to muscle in on Apple’s current dominance in the smartphone arena.

Obviously Nokia isn’t the only company to try and get slice of this still-in-the-oven pie: Samsung & Sony Erricson have both released high-end smartphones this year, and the battle for market dominance of this emerging technology is only in its early rounds, as mobile phone manufacturers bring on board ever-more sophisticated syntheses between new microprocessors, software and web integration. The Nokia N97 will certainly take centre-stage if Nokia is successful in its marketing (and it stands a good chance if it gets it right with the Ovi Store) – but don’t forget, there are three more digits before we reach the magic 100, so it’s obvious that Nokia still has plenty up its sleeve to compete with the specifications of the higher-end Samsung Omnia that was released earlier this year.