Neonode, the Sweden-based mobile company, announced the US availability of its latest handset, Neonode N2, starting from the second quarter of 2008.

Considered by some users better than Apple's iPhone, Neonode N2 has a stylish design and comes in a very small size, measuring only 77 x 47 x 14.7 millimeters and weighing a bit more than 60 grams. Despite this, the handset manages to pack several great features. Neonode N2 is a GSM quad-band device with GPRS, working in the 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz frequencies. It is powered by a patented open source user interface called neno, and features the zForce optical touch screen technology to provide an intuitive navigation experience.

The handset comes with a MiniSD card of 1 GB and, if you want, you can extend its memory for up to 32 GB! That will be more than enough for basically anything you might like to store on the phone. Neonode N2 also features a 2 Megapixel camera, Bluetooth, WAP 2.0 browser and Media Player.

"Our main focus is the user experience, which is the true key behind Neonode N2 - starting with how consumers interact with Neonode N2, enable through zForce, the optical touch screen, down to simplifying how applications and content can be accessed, which we solved through the combination of zForce and neno, the user interface," declared Mikael Hagman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Neonode.

Some drawbacks of Neonode N2 are its 2 inch display and the fact that it doesn't feature 3G, not even EDGE, so many North Americans will be a bit disappointed. Of course, as in the case of any mobile device, there will be users who will love Neonode N2 and users who will hate it. Also, because of its touchscreen interface, the Neonode N2 will be considered an iPhone clone. But this would be wrong, since Neonode used the touchscreen technology some years ago for its first phone, the N1, so it's illogical to say that the Swedish manufacturer copies the Apple handset.

Neonode N2 is already available in Europe at about $500, but the retail price for the US version is unknown yet. The handset is presented at the CES 2008 these days, so those interested to see it live should buy a plane ticket for Las Vegas (where the CES is held) or wait for the phone's official release.