Nokia N96 First Thoughts Preview
Has unveiled its latest high-end Symbian/S60 smartphone with a multimedia focus, the N96. This model will be an upgrade for the N95, and will offer 16 GB of internal storage, twice as much as the current model. This smartphone is on display now at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and Brighthand's Kevin O'Brien was able to spend some time with it.
He said: The phrase "would you like some coffee in that sugar" comes to mind when you look at the Nokia N96. It seems more like a media device with a phone strapped on than a phone with media capabilities. Users can decide if they find this a good thing or a bad thing, but overall I think it works out well. The Nokia N96 is very media oriented, with duplicate controls for music and video applications. In portrait mode users can operate media functions through the center control, which lights up media controls beneath the black surface. In landscape mode the hardware function keys to the left of the screen are used, and the other media keys disappear. Going further with the media device role, the N96 has a flip-out stand that pops out from around the camera, to let the user prop up the movie player... err phone when watching movies.
An Overview of the Nokia N96. Like its predecessor, the upcoming smartphone's two-way slider concept will make it easy to switch between different modes. A numeric keypad slides out from one end of the device while dedicated media keys can slide out from the opposite direction... more >>>