The idea of the Nokia N97 'Mini', or Nokia N97 Lite, first raised its head earlier this year when a Vodafone View forum administrator let it slip. Now, it seems there may well be truth in the rumour, as images of what looks like a smashing new Nokia handset have emerged online. Check out whether this 'unannounced' device could well be the Nokia N97 Mini....

The Nokia N97 is very much at the forefront of breaking news, whether it's the fact it's outselling the Nokia 5800, or just that it's so damn good. So, is Nokia about to launch a stable mate for this thoroughbred smartphone?

Images have emerged online at Engadget Mobile that certainly suggest the Nokia N97 is about to be joined by a 'Mini' version of everyone's favourite QWERTY. From the pictures we can see the Nokia N97 Mini is slimmer and slighter than the current model. It looks as though the screen has been downsized to the same 3.2-inch panel as that found on the Nokia 5800.

Interestingly, the trackpad sitting along the keyboard has been taken away, which allows for a more compact keyboard device. On the rear of the device, you'll also see that the camera cover has been removed and the mounting changed.

These changes would suggest the Nokia N97 Mini is a slightly striped down model, so where will it sit in the touchscreen pecking order – supposedly between the Nokia N97 and the Nokia 5800, with the Nokia 5530 being the entry-level touchscreen of the line.

Other than these few physical differences, there is very little else to note. However, we can expect it to run Symbian S60 5th Edition and most likely come with a little less than the N97's 32GB of internal memory.

Now, with Nokia World 2009 just around the corner, we're not expecting any further developments or official announcements to come out of Nokia Central. However, it looks like Nokia has started to turn up the heat about what we can expect to see at the show!

So, what's your verdict, fake, real, or something to get excited about? Let us know what you think in the Comments below.

Via: Engadget Mobile

Need convincing? Check out the Nokia N97 Mini image gallery: