Nokia N96: Multi-Media Magic
Written by Adam Gosling   
Thursday, 14 February 2008
Nokia has evolved its previous top of the line N95 8GB with the release of the N96, a longer, slightly slimmer and fatter device that packs double the storage, DVB-H TV, cool backlit N-Gage controls, a little kick stand to make it sit up and beg and finally, decent thigh speed broadband with HSDPA support. It weighs a couple of grams lighter than its predecessor too.

Nokia has optimised this device for watching video with the inclusion of a very neat looking foldaway stand that lets you sit the handset up at an angle for easy TV viewing, if you are lucky enough to be in a country where DVB-H TV is being transmitted, that is. Of course in other regions of Europe and Asia (including Australia) where HSDPA networks are prolific you can watch the streaming video provided by your carrier thanks to the high speed 3.5G capabilities of the standard.

The phone is equipped with the Nokia Video Center, which offers a single interface to discover and access a variety of mobile content ranging from movie trailers and comedy to news from world-leading content brands such as YouTube, Reuters, and Sony Pictures. The Nokia N96 supports common video formats including MPEG-4, Windows Media Video and Flash Video (such as YouTube).

The phone has a whopping 16GB of storage on-board and that can be boosted with the addition of an 8GB microSDHC Card taking this to a (higher than the new iPhone) total of 24GB and a seriously impressive 60 hours of video content.

The N96 is a dual-slide like the N95 and has a nice, large 2.8-inch QVGA screen, so watching video will be comfortable enough, but if you aren't into that, there's plenty of other great ways the N96 makes use of its display. The device is a pretty reasonable camera with 5 megapixels and Carl Zeiss optics all lit up with a Dual LED camera flash and video light that will not only grab photos in low light conditions, but will shoot DVD-like quality video at a healthy 30 frames per second.

Once you've snapped your shots, the N96 has the same integrated A-GPS (assisted GPS) and geotagging features found in other new Nokia which allow you to link location data to the photos so your friends and family can see where you've been when you upload the pics to a photo sharing site or other online community.

Of course with GPS on-board you get all the other advantages of Nokia's personal navigation system Nokia Maps which now offers richer maps with urban details and satellite views and has upgrade options such as City Guides, turn-by-turn pedestrian mode and voice-guided car navigation.
Alternatively you could use the screen to play your favourite N-Gage games, thanks to the new back-lit game control buttons and the navigation button that serves as a D-Pad.  The gaming buttons actually morph depending on your activity, so if it's music your after, the controls will function for play, stop, forward and rewind as you playback your tunes. Same applies for video content of course.

In short this little puppy has just about everything you could imagine in a mobile phone, but you won't find it at all until at least the third Quarter when it will hit the streets with an estimated sales price of approximately 550 euros, before subsidies or taxes.




Nokia N96 Features and Specifications

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 2 and Multimedia 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 TessarTM
  • 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)

www.nseries.com/n96


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