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Nokia introduced three feature-packed new Nseries phones, the N72, N73, and N93, at an event in Berlin, Germany at the end of last month. One of these models, the video-centric N93, has just earned Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval for release in the U.S (see FCC photo from engadget).

As previously reported, you won't able to buy this smartphone from an operator in this country. Rather, Nokia will make it - along with other Nseries smartphones - available through one of its upcoming American flagship stores - to be opened in Chicago on June 21st and New York before the end of the year.

When the N93 is released in Europe, it'll go for the equivalent of $680 unsubsidized (without a service contract). That's a lot of money. Nokia, on the other hand, is positioning it as the ultimate mobile device for spontaneous video recording, offering an uncompromised digital camcorder, telephony and Internet communications.

Okay. So it's not targeted for mass consumption like the N73. At its press conference introduction, Nokia executive VP & general manager of multimedia Anssi Vanjoki puts it this way, "The Nokia N93 marks a new era in the digital camcorder market. Incorporating all the features you need for great quality movie-making."

So the highlight of the large tri-band (900/1800/1900 MHz) GSM/EDGE/UMTS 3G (2100 MHz) smartphone is its 3.2 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens that enables it to take video with 3x zoom at 30 frames per second with stereo audio recording and digital stabilization.

It also has flash and an active camera toolbar to display all available capture features, from exposure value to color tones and white balance. There are dedicated keys for shutter, zoom and flash and also a camera mode key that enables you to switch quickly between image and video capture as well.

While it has 50 MB of memory, its miniSD card slot enables users to add up to 2 GB more storage for up to - Nokia asserts - 90 minutes of DVD quality video or close to 2500 high-quality photos.

Additional specifications include a 2.4-inch QVGA display that supports up to 262,144 colors and a wide 160 degree viewing angle. There's also 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, a digital music player, FM radio with visual radio, Universal Plug and Play, and TV-out. While it looks a lot like the earlier N92, it doesn't have DVB-H (mobile TV) tuner like that model.

To enhance the camera phone capabilities of all three new Nseries models, Nokia is partnering with Yahoo! to offer users access to their Flickr accounts. They'll be able to upload and add comments to photos directly from their smartphones to the online photo sharing community.

Canalys research reports 53 million multimedia phones sold in 2005, with Nokia commanding more than 50 percent of them. Nokia expects this market will hit 100 million units in 2006 and exceed 250 million by 2008.

The company has sold 5 million of these multimedia-centric smartphones since introducing the Nseries last year. In fact - Nokia said the N70 was its highest revenue generator and the best-selling 3G handset period; accounting for 10 percent of all broadband phones sold around the world.

And when Vanjoki and others in the company kept referring to the new smarpthones as "multimedia computers," it turns out they're really serious about that designation. So much so, employees are reportedly told not to use the world "phones" at all to refer to the company's handsets, according to The Seattle Times.

Nokia VP of multimedia strategy & business development told the newspaper, "We are forbidden to call them phones." Sure, Nokia knows its a cell phone company, but the idea is to plot a course whereby one device - the mobile handset - becomes the center for everyone's communication, data and entertainment requirements.

Then again, the PC hasn't even achieved that distinction in the home, no matter how hard all the hardware vendors, Microsoft and Intel have tried.