As Planet N97 reported, the Nokia N97 may soon to be getting a little brother. The N97 Mini has been pictured, and sent to engadget.

Slightly smaller, thinner and without the D Pad, and without the camera cover on the back.

Engadget are still sceptical, and given there is seemingly little difference between the handset that is already available, we cant help but wonder if the Nokia N97 mini was a design reserve to cope with economically challenging times and consumers less willing to part with huge wads of cash.

If it is for real, then owners of the fully fledged N97 (and potential owners) should not despair. If it is a scaled down version, it should mean that the operating firmware and development for both devices will form a part of Nokia’s portfolio for a long time to come.

The report is really positive about the phones capabilities, and shows the touchscreen in action. As we reported earlier, there is comment on the change of charger to what will become an “industry standard” micro USB charger,possibly the bigest change for die hard Nokia fans.

Exclusive news just in for the Nokia N97 Members Club: the Nokia Nseries flagship will start shipping to stores worldwide from this week! Keep an eye out for more online updates about when the devices will be available for purchase in your country.

Those members who have pre-ordered their new handsets will be one of the first in their country to receive the new Nokia N97. Expect an email from the online store shortly with delivery dates.

Have you pre ordered – have you got the email? If so you could be some of the lucky ones to get your hands on the N97 earlier than expected!

As you might expect, Nokia are hard at work promoting the upcoming N97, and at their blog they have posted the above video of the N97 in action.

Enjoy this preview of the N97, there will be lots more to come before it hits the shops.

Nokia today unveiled the Nokia N97, the world’s most advanced mobile computer, which 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″ 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.’

“From the desktop to the laptop and now to your pocket, the Nokia N97 is the most powerful, multi-sensory mobile computer in existence,” said Jonas Geust, Vice President, heading Nokia Nseries. “Together with the Ovi services announced today, the Nokia N97 mobile computer adjusts to the world around us, helping 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”.

Sensing your ‘So-Lo’

The Nokia N97 introduces the concept of ’social location’. With integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass, the Nokia N97 mobile computer intuitively understands where it is. The Nokia N97 makes it easy to update social networks automatically with real-time information, giving approved friends the ability to update their ’status’ and share their ’social location’ as well as related pictures or videos.

Widescreen – Internet and entertainment

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 ensure efficiency in blogging, chatting, posting, sending texts or emailing.

The Nokia N97 supports up to 48 GB of storage, including 32 GB of on-board memory, expandable with a 16 GB microSD card 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.