The cream of the crop of this year's announcement from Nokia is the Nokia N96, dubbed the "supercharged N95" depending on how you view it. Of course before the formal announcement everybody pretty much knew what this phone was all about.
Here are my first takes of this phone, being present in the Q & A session with the Nokia N96 product manager:
- The phone is definitely more attractive aesthetically in person, as someone who didn't necessarily liked the design of it based on the leaked and press images.
- The kickstand doesn't feel durable enough, and could be easily snapped if not cautious handling the phone.
- One of the rendered press release pictures has the N96 in landscape mode with a game from N-gage, but in reverse position. If this holds true in production models, having the d-pad to the left, would be more in line with popular gaming controllers. This would make the transition to N-gage gaming more seamless.
- The phone is a fingerprint magnet, even the product manager had to wipe it off with a cloth at one point.
Mini Rant:
The multimedia menu that is activated with the
multimedia button is redundant, as with the Nokia N81 and N82. I hope
Nokia at one point realizes that few people actually use this menu, and
allow us to configure what the button does.
For more pictures, please check out my Flickr.
For reference here are the detailed specs:
Video and TV
Watch high-quality video on the 2.8 inch display•Store up to
40 hrs of video on the 16 gigabytes of memory, and expand storage further with
the microSD card slot•Video playback at 30 fps, for a wide array of formats•Access
internet video feeds through Nokia Video Center•Transfer videos from compatible
PC, using Hi-Speed USB 2.0•Watch Live TV (operator service using DVB-H or
streaming over 3G, where available)
Music
Enjoy great audio through standard 3.5 mm jack headphones,
built-in 3D stereo speakers or Bluetooth technology•Easily control playback
with the dedicated media keys•Digital music player with support for playlist
editing, equalizer and categorized access to your music collection•Podcasts,
stereo FM Radio with RDS and Internet Radio •Search, browse and purchase songs
online in Nokia Music Store (for availability, please visit www.music.nokia.com)
Maps and Navigation
A-GPS receiver, downloadable maps and satellite images*•Multimedia
city guides and navigation services available* for purchase. Drive: voice
guided car navigation, or Walk: pedestrian-optimized turn-by-turn guidance.*
Availability varies by country –see www.maps.nokia.com
Photos
Location tagging of pictures captured, and online sharing•Organize
photos by albums and tags, and synchronize with PC•Easy playback of videos and
photos on compatible TV using TV-out cable or WLAN/UpnP
Explore
True internet experience with Nokia web browser, featuring
visual history, mini-map, Flash video and progressive download•Get the latest
headlines with RSS web feeds•Nokia Search (local & internet search) •Ready
for N-Gage (when compatible version is available for download)•Email (SMTP,
IMAP4, POP3), MMS, SMS
Technical Profile
System:WCDMA900/2100
(HSDPA), EGSM900, GSM850/1800/1900 MHz (EGPRS)•User Interface:S60 3rd Edition,
Feature Pack 2Multimedia Menu•Dimensions:103 x 55 x 18* mm (L x W x H)(* local
depth up to 20 mm)•Weight:125 g•Display:2.8 inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) with
up to 16 million colors•Battery: Nokia Battery BL-5F, 950 mAh
Media
Memory:16GB on-board memory,expandable via
microSD memory card slot•Video playback:MPEG-4 / SP and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264,up to
30 fps, up to VGA resolution (scaled max QVGA on device, SDTV on
TV-out)RealVideo up to QCIF @ 30 fpsWindows Media (WMV9) up to CIF @ 30
fpsFlash Lite 3.0 / Flash Video in browser•Music playback:MP3, AAC, eAAC,
eAAC+, WMA
Main Camera
Lens:Carl Zeiss Tessar™•Image capture:Up to 5
megapixels (2592 x 1944) JPEG/EXIF (16.7 million/24-bit color)•Video
capture:MPEG-4 VGA (640 x 480) at up to 30 fps•Aperture:F2.8•Focal length:5.2
mm •Flash:Dual LED camera flash and video light
Operating Times
Talk time:Up to 150 min (3G), 220 min
(GSM)•Standby time:Up to 200 hrs (3G), 220 hrs (GSM) •Video playback:Up to 5
hours (offline mode)•Music playback:Up to 14 hours (offline mode)•TV
playback:Up to 4 hours
Connectivity & Data Services
WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g with
UPnP support •Micro-USB connector, Hi-Speed USB 2.0•DVB-H class C,
470-750MHz•3.5mm stereo headphone plug and TV-out support (PAL/NTSC)•Bluetooth
wireless technology 2.0 with A2DP stereo audio, enhanced data rates (EDR)•GPS
receiver with support for assisted GPS (A-GPS)
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