Hello all you symbianholics! This is a review and a preview of the latest Nokia N96 prototype. This is the latest addition in the symbian S60 3rd Edition 9.2 portfolio of Nokia and some say it is boring, however I do disagree with that. It looks like a modified combination of the Apple Iphone and the Nokia N95 8gb. However, with a built in phone memory of an astounding 16gb and the ability to extend it further with another 8gb of swappable memory card, it seems space really will never be an issue in terms of building a good mp3 database library inside the phone and carry it on with you.

The screen of the phone is around 2.8 inches which makes it capable to be a mini movie theater if you want it to be. The bitrate refreshes very fast per pixel as it is a QVGA 16 million color schemes LCD TFT screen, so playing high quality DVD movies will actually be quite an experience, a positive one of course! The battery life, well so far it seems that its the same 950 Lithium Ion battery N95 8gb has and though some people complained about the battery life with the N95 8GB, I think Nokia will make sure that this doesn’t happen again with this one. Let’s keep our fingers crossed about that, shall we? What makes the Nokia N96 stand out from N95 8gb is its more dependable OS, increased efficiency and better hardware chip sets.

The design is really very slick to say the least! Love the way the corner is curved to make it appear more posh and it goes perfectly well with the easy peasy touchpad UI or navigation. Shiny on the outside with a more robust slider this time around compared to its kin N95 Music Edition. All in all, the design should not be complained about because this phone is dressed to be royal yet black. It seems that this phone is a huge step towards the evolution of the Nokia Morph Concept.

The N96 is GSM 850/1800/1900 Megahertz or MHz compatible for the mass, along with the option for EGSM900 and Wireless CDMA 2100/900 HSPDA connectivity and compatibility for the rest of us. With a follow up of the N95, this one too comes with a 5MB Carl Zeiss Tessar Dual LED Flash, automatic focus and exposure main camera with a secondary VGA camera similar to the current Nokia smartphones. This gives you the ability to record “home made movies” at ease and on the fly. With a built in video stabilizer, a very good 30 frames per second, MPEG 4 support and a 16gb+8gb of space, you can actually make your own ’season of movies’ if you want to!

For them GPS fan like you and me, the S60 Nokia N96 also has a built in GPS navigation system (wouldn’t you guess??)! It also includes the usual standard stereo FM Radio, 3.5 millimeter headphones, Hi Speed USB 2.0 or Type Micro USB version B connectivity, TV OUT for both PAL and NTSC broadcasting, WLAN - IEEE 802.11 g/b with UPnP support and Enhanced Data Rate or EDP Bluetooth!

In conclusion, for 550 Euros the Nokia N96 is an ok deal but if you already own the Nokia N95 8gb smartphone, you will know that waiting a while before you decide to buy it is a good idea cause just like the N95 it might show signs of bugs and problems at the beginning mainly because of its brand “new enhanced data chipset and hardware” (we all know how that works!). Plus, I am sure that after the initial release of the scheduled Q3 2008, Nokia will absolutely announce a firmware update within one month or so and the price will fall as well !! But if you are Nokiaholic like I am and you have the money and know the ways of “manipulating the firmware at will” then don’t wait you, just get it!