Nokia consistently comes up with compelling smartphones built on the Symbian OS and S60 platform. Most of these devices don't do very well in the U.S., though; because they're released in this country without a carrier partner to offset their eye-popping prices.
So, while we received good news today—that Nokia will ship a North American-friendly editon of its top-of-the-line N96 NSeries model later this year (during the fourth quarter)—we also learned that said smartphone can only be had at full price, which is about $895. Ouch.
Like its predecessor, the N95, the N96 is a dual-slider that reveals a keypad when opened one way and audio controls the other. It is supposed to include several notable improvements, such as Feature Pack 2 of the S60 Third Edition interface and double the memory to 16GB from 8GB.
There's also a 5-megapixel camera, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi, and a quad-band GSM cellular wireless radio for voice service around the world. The North American edition adds a pair of 3G-wireless bands to support high-speed data service in the U.S.
For more on the N96, see here.
Today, Nokia also introduced a pair of new smartphones - the N79 and N85 - in its NSeries of consumer-oriented line of multimedia phones. As with the N96, these devices are designed to maximize use of Nokia's Ovi line of online data services (e.g. games, music, photos, navigation, social networking, etc.).
The N85 sports a dual slider design similar to the N96 and older N95 model, but is smaller than either of those handsets. It sports a 2.6-inch, 320 x 240 pixel resolution OLED screen, built-in FM transmitter, 3.5 mm audio jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, TV-Out and a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and geotagging capabilities - the latter courtesy of the N85's GPS chip.
Additional features include a 1200 mAh battery and a microSD slot with an 8GB card bundled in the box.
As a quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G phone, the N85 is world phone that can be used both here and abroad for voice and data access.
Nokia plans to pre-load the N85 with at least 10 made-for-mobile N-Gage games, which you can take advantage of through dedicated gaming keys that light up when the device is in landscape gaming mode.
You can learn more about the N85
here and
here for full specs.
As for the N79, it features a traditional compact candy-bar design with its display above its navigation pad and numeric keypad.
Like the N85, it integrates at least 10 pre-loaded N-Gage games, 1200 mAH battery, FM transmitter, a 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, and a microSD slot. The bundled memory card drops down to 4GB, however.
It supports Xpress-on SmartCovers to enable users to customize how their N79 looks. Put one of these covers on and the theme of the smartphone's user interface changes to match it automatically. The N79 will ship with a pair of SmartCovers for the front and five for the back.
As with the N85, the N79 is a quad-band world phone for voice. However, it only supports dual 3G bands, neither of which are U.S. friendly.
You can learn more about the N79
here and
here for full specs.
Both the N79 and N85 are due to ship in October, with the N79 going on sale for EUR 350 (about $512) and N95 EUR 450 (about $659) before taxes and subsidies.
No word on when or if either of these smartphones will ship in the U.S. And, even if they do, it is unlikely they'll arrive through a carrier partner to have their high prices subsidized to make them more affordable.
