A little while ago, a moderator on the Nokia Forums let slip [intentionally?] that a mini or lite version of our beloved Nokia N97 would be being released later this year. No additional news has been released and some sources suggested this slip was an intentional ploy by Nokia to jump ahead of the game, as a rival company was also due to release a smaller version of a competitive model using the word 'mini'. The thread in question was eventually edited along with a handful of user responses.

Now just a couple of days ago, Engadget blogged about the N97 mini with Eldar Murtazin as a source. Eldar is well known in the Nokia world and his voice carries weight. Eldar claims that the mini N97 is very much real with some slight modifications to counter the drop in size.

The mini is said to come in 8GB and 16GB versions. Other tweaks include the removal of the analogue touchpad and the reconfiguring of the keyboard, along with the removal of the camera lens cover. This 'downsizing' is also rumoured to be dropping the price by a good 100 euros.

As for official confirmation, Nokia World is next month... Keep your eyes peeled.