GDC: First official details of N-Gage 2 emerge

The first details of the next N-Gage device, which is expected to be demonstrated at a press event in mid-April, have been revealed at GDC, with Nokia's developer relations chief discussing major revisions to the platform.

Kirsi Kotilainen told developers at a session on developing N-Gage titles that the next revision of the game deck would have its speaker and earpiece mounted on the face of the device, like a conventional mobile phone, rather than making users hold it side-on to their faces in order to make calls.

The new version of the system will also fix the problem of game swapping which has plagued the original N-Gage by allowing players to change game cards without having to dismantle the back of the system.

It's long been expected that Nokia would add further devices to the N-Gage platform, with the company's head of global marketing Sari Tollet telling gi.biz last September that the firm had a roadmap for improving on the N-Gage hardware going forward.

Most commentators expected that N-Gage 2 would appear for the first time at E3 in May, but it has emerged today that Nokia is planning a major press event on April 14, which will probably feature the first look at the new device. The original N-Gage was first shown off to the world's media at a global press event at the London Eye in early 2003.