Nokia has finally released N96, their newest Nokia smart phone in their popular Nseries line. This successor of their previous N95 model is said to be packed with many new capabilities. It has been geared to be the "all-in-one" business and entertainment phone. Its release was officially announced in the Mobile Congress in Barcelona 2008, and was said to will be publicly available to the public starting September (to be released per location in the globe).



As the N96 claims powerful features, it should not disappoint those awaiting its release. With regards to connectivity, it boasts a Quad band GSM / GPRS / EDGE: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, enabling it to connect to almost any part of the globe with a cell site. Aside from this, it also is with Dual band UMTS / HSDPA: UMTS 900 / 2100 N96-1 (RM-247, Global), UMTS 850 / 1900 N96-3 (RM-247, Global), no UMTS N96 (RM-297, PR China) capability. This alone is enough to define connectivity! But if this is not enough, it also has 3G and WLAN features, allowing its users to download data through the server and the net at high speed.

Together with its internet capability, it also allows GPS navigation accessed to the phone via USB. It also allows full HTML browsing, as well as instant uploading to Flickr, Vox, Yahoo! and Google. Indeed connectivity is of not barrier with the N96!

If this is not enough, the phone has amazing onboard camera capabilities. With the retention of its 5-megapixel camera lens from the N95, the N96 however now has a dual LED camera flash which allows better lighting of pictures (N95 only had single LED). What is great is that its memory is even bigger than ever. If the N95 8gb version left you short with your memory files, the N96 now is capable of storing up to 16GB and even expandable via its micro SD card slot, allowing up to 32GB more of memory. That means you can have as much as 48 GB of solid memory right in your mobile device!

As for the entertainment side, the N96 is sure to keep you amused wherever you may be stuck. With the addition of Windows Media WMV9 video codec, you can play your MP3/AAC/HE-AAC/WMA music files, and MPEG-4 SP/H.264/RealVideo/WMV9/Flash video files with no problem at all. If this is not enough, you can now listen with better radio clarity with the addition of RDS. But wait, what if now, you can watch TV at your very own mobile phone! Yes, the N96 has the Mobile TV capability. If your server is able to provide this feature, then you would have a blast with the N96. If watching is not your idea of entertainment, then you may also enjoy the gaming function of the N96. The capabilities of their gaming phone, the N-gage, is now included in the phone.

The N96, having an upgraded Symbian OS v9.3 S60 3.2 Edition, user interface and Java ME engine MIDP 2.1 is no joke. Its capabilities are more than enough to suit the needs of the on the go business man or hardcore phone user with high entertainment demands. Indeed, this may be the true all in one phone!