A lot of people want to know the release date of Nokia N96 mobile phone. Some bloggers have already said that it must be at 7th of May this year. Few days ago Meraj said the same thing here. I think he was right. And you, what is the day you think Nokia will release Nokia N96? Comment down here.

Rafe over at All About Symbian has reviewed the Nokia N78. The important relation between the N96 and N78 is definitely the Operating System.

I decided to provide the readers with some extracts of the software bits contained in his review. A lot of this is ungrouped, and everything is really Rafe’s words:

The usual standard suite of software is present, including the PIM trio of Contacts, Calendar and Messaging. Web, Search and various office applications are all present. Feature Pack 2 brings a number of minor updates to these applications, but it is usability changes to the user interface that get most of the immediate attention.

The most obvious user interface change is the addition of a central softkey. This, for the most part, explicitly labels functionality that was already there, but should make things clearer to new users. Multi-tasking is made more obvious thanks to a redesigned task-switcher and the addition of an ‘Open applications’ item to the top of all Options menus.

Other changes that should be popular among N78 users include support for progressive downloads (start playing media during download), faster loading Java applications, full-screen picture caller ID for incoming calls, the inclusion of Flash Lite 3 (watch YouTube and other Flash videos in the browser), and inclusion of the WRT runtime (widgets).

The N73’s Gallery application was notorious for being sluggish, especially when viewing carousels of photos (thumbnail drawing rarely kept up with on screen movements). The good news is that the carousel has been re-designed from the ground up for the new Photos application and it also benefits from the faster processor of the N78. The end result is much better performance, with little or no lag time when moving around the carousel or viewing photos. A nice touch is the inclusion of an on-screen indication of where you are on a carousel, making it easy to navigate around large groupings of photos. When viewing an individual photo, you are able to add album and tag information, as well as the usual send, print, edit, slideshow and use image commands.

Share online, which allows the upload of media to online services such as Flickr, Share on Ovi, and Print online, which allows you order prints directly from your phone which are subsequently delivered by post, are all available out of the box and serve as ways of getting photos off the phone. Share online is particularly important here, as it integrates with both the Camera and Photos application, allowing for one click uploads to the web.Photos is a new image and video viewing application, replacing Gallery in this role. Photos and videos can be viewed by a number of pseudo-categories: Captured (recently captured images), Months (by time), Albums (user defined categories), Tags (user defined taxonomy), Downloads and All. Once you drop into one of these top categories and choose a month, album or tag photos are viewed using the familiar photo carousel.

As with the N96, the onboard UPnP software has been upgraded, compared to earlier Nseries devices – there are now extensive sync options, making it easier to copy media off the phone. Practically this means that the UPnP functionality offers a way to automatically sync home and mobile media content. It’s potentially an easy way to show off your captured media on your TV via a DLNA compatible device, such as the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360, and is especially relevant for the N78, given the absence of TV-Out. A copy of SimpleCenter (a Windows PC UPnP media server) will also be included in the box. However, I cannot help but think that Nokia should think about creating their own UPnP software – perhaps something that integrates with Nokia Photos?

Video is played back via the RealPlayer application, which supports various formats including the usual 3GPP formats (including H.263), MPEG-4 and H.264.

The Video Centre application facilitates the downloading of video from a variety of sources. Some sources are preloaded on the device and more are available via an ‘Add videos’ link. Video centre also allows you to add your own sources (as RSS feeds); there are a increasing number of these video podcasts becoming available and they serve as an easy way of getting free video content onto the device.

The N78 has the standard Nseries Music player application, with the music library, album art, visualisation, 6-way equaliser, active idle plug-in and integrated podcasting support. With no music playback controls on the device, you have to access the Music player application itself and use the D-pad to control music playback. Fortunately, the in box headset does include media remote controls, which provide a workable, if less widely applicable, alternative. Format-wise, the N78 supports the usual suspects, including MP3, AAC, AAC+ and WMA; it also includes DRM support for both Windows Media and OMA 2.0.

As we’ve mentioned in previous Nseries reviews, Podcasting, with its on-device subscription and downloading, is a particular highlight. Nokia have continued to embrace web-based media delivery with the inclusion of the Internet Radio application in the N78. This plays audio streams of radio stations delivered over the Internet and uses shoutcast (MP3 and AAC) streams. A large number of radio stations are predefined in the application, but you can always add your own. Support for RealAudio streams (as used by the BBC and some others) is on the product roadmap for Internet Radio, but is unlikely to be in the version that ships with the N78. Internet Radio does require a flat rate data plan and uses more battery than a FM radio, but on the other hand it can access many more stations, does not require you to plug in a headset for use as an aerial and can provide superior quality audio.

Source: All About Symbian

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NOKIA unveiled some of its much-anticipated mobile phones, including the N96, the successor to the popular top-of-the-line N95 It also previewed three other feature-packed phones – the N78, 6220 Classic and 6120 Navigator.

The dual-slider N96 is optimised for video and TV thanks to its large 2.8in screen, 16GB of internal memory, built-in DVB-H tuner and support for high-quality videos in a wide range of formats.

N96

The N96, which supports common video formats including MPEG4, WMV and Flash video, can store up to 40 hours of content.

And for added convenience, the phone features a ”kickstand” on the back that allows for hands-free viewing.

The storage capacity of the N96 can be further expanded with an optional microSD card, such as the new Nokia 8GB microSD which increases the available memory of the phone to a total of 24GB.

The phone has a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, dual flash and video light. It can also record DVD-quality video at 30fps (frames per second).

N78

The phone also has an integrated GPS, so users can tag their pictures with location data and share them with their online communities.

Its lesser sibling, the N78, features a 2.4in display, 72MB internal memory, an integrated GPS, WiFI, HSDPA, a 3.2-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, and a microSD slot.

The novelty of the N78 is its integrated FM transmitter that allows music to be played on any FM radio, in a car or at home.

Guiding hand(phone)

The 6210 Navigator is the company’s first GPS-enabled mobile device with an integrated compass.

6210 Navigator

Combined with an accelerometer which measures changes in direction and orientation, the built-in compass makes it easy to follow the map on the phone when strolling about on foot.

Also, the integrated Maps 2.0 application will plot the quickest route to the desired destination and illustrate it on the map.

The phone is ready for use out-of-the-box, even without a SIM card, and local maps will be preloaded on the 1GB memory card that will be bundled with the phone.

6220 Classic

The 6210 Navigator also features a 3.2-megapixel camera, MP3 player and stereo FM radio.

Moving on, the highlight of the 6220 Classic is its 5-megapixel camera with Xenon flash and Carl Zeiss lens, which Nokia claims is on par with many single-purpose digital cameras on the market.

It features an integrated TV-out which allows photos on the phone to be viewed on a TV.

Plus, the phone’s high-speed HSDPA connection makes it easy to update blogs and upload photos and videos online.

Also, the phone uses Adaptive Multi Rate-Wideband speech coding technology to give a more natural sound to human voice in phone calls. This helps when having a conversation in a noisy environment, according to Nokia.

All the phones are expected to be available locally in the second half of the year.

New Maps

At Showcase Nokia 2008, Nokia also announced it has updated its mapping and navigation software, Maps 2.0, by improving its pedestrian navigation, adding multimedia city guides, offering satellite images, and redesigning the user interface.

The pedestrian navigation feature or “Walk” will help users find their way when they are on foot by giving them visual turn-by-turn guide. It also helps you to locate yourself by giving information about the surrounding buildings, streets and parks.

In newer handsets, like the 6210 Navigator, it will point the direction in which you are walking by using the handset’s built-in compass for orientation.

Users will also be given the option to purchase multimedia guides that feature photos, videos and audio streams, which are supposed to make the journey more enjoyable.

A beta version of Maps 2.0 can be downloaded from www.nokia.com/ betalabs.

Meanwhile, Nokia’s Ovi Internet services gets a boost from Share on Ovi, a new free personal media sharing service that makes it easy to upload, manage and share files through a mobile, desktop or other connected device.

Share on Ovi offers allows users to socialise, interact and collaborate and is designed for more than 100 different media types with unlimited storage and unlimited uploads.

To sign up for an account go to http://share.ovi.com.

Source: The Star Online

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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aK-uKD2AiQ

The glossy-black finish hides buttons that illuminate from below…so cool. The sliding mechanism is much improved over the N95 – springy and snappy at the same time, it’s incredibly satisfying. The music controls illuminate upon sliding the N96 down. A kickstand pops out from the rear, making video and TV viewing convenient. Oh yea, and the TV (DVB-H) is smooth and crisp. Overall, the Nokia N96 is slightly (emphasis on slightly) longer than the N95, with about the same width and thickness, but feels lighter and more solid. And, speaking of solid, did I mention that much improved sliding mechanism? If you just bought a Nokia N95, I’m sorry to say that the Nokia N96 is the new hotness. The Nokia N95 is still the cat’s meow, but the N96 gets the lion’s share of the glory. That glossy-black finish might not be your cup of tea, but damn if I didn’t love it.

Source: IntoMobile

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The integration of this Google software will begin in select markets on Nokia N78, Nokia 6210 Navigator and Nokia 6220 Classic. Nokia N96 is also included in this group. However, Google search will be extended to additional models in the future.

This feature, will be available in over 100 countries, serving mobile owners speaking 40 languages. Nokia is improving its market share and launching more and more mobiles “mini personal computers”, as the company said.

“As we continue to free the internet from the limitations of the desktop, we are taking mobility into a completely new realm of possibility,” Nokia Chief Executive Officer Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said.

Nokia Executive Vice President (Mobile Phones) Kai Ostamo, while commenting on its new range of phones, said “we would like to be called Mobile Experience Company and not just a mobile phone company.”

Last Friday Nokia Shares (NOK) ended with a loss of 0,69% while Google shares (GOOG) lost 0,49%

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A bigger battery means a bigger device, so to Nokia it was more important to keep the device comfortable to hold in our hands. Also the software was made to provide all Nokias N96 more efficiency. So no worries about he battery. Right? Or not?

My friend Meraj, when he done his review to nokia N95, that deficiency in the device was an aspect that reduced the classification to him. We hope this not happens in the Nokia N96!!!

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