Nokia’s iPhone killer - Nokia N96

In a surprising move, Nokia has launched its sensational N series model - Nokia N96 in India,  a month and half ahead of expected launch in UK.
This is the first global launch from the finnish company in India and this move is seems to be the Nokia’s answer to the soon to be launched Apple’s iPhone in the country.  Touted to be an iPhone killer, N96 is the successor of Nokia N95 and is powerful on all counts. This phone will be available worldwide from mid-october however it will reach the stands of Indian stores in the first week of september. 

Nokia N96 has a 264 MHz processor and 128 MB RAM  and a large 2.8-inch screen display. The phone comes up with whooping 16 GB of internal memory and is expandable up to 24GB using microSD feature.  Nokia N96 offers support for Symbian S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 Operating System. The phone supports talktime of up to 3 hours and 40 minutes.

Nokia N96 comes up with 5 MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics, flash and video light.  With 24GB expandable memory, user can store upto 2000 images or 60 hours of video or 20 full movies in the handset. The phone also supports geotagging using the integrated A-GPS system, by which users can store and upload the images with the location data. It offers support for high-speed USB 2.0 connection, WLAN and HSDPA. Nokia N96 comes up with inbuilt 3D stereo speakers and offers Audio playback time upto 14 hrs and Video playback time of 5 hours. N96 comesup with preinstalled Nokia maps application which offers maps for most Indian cities including the satellite views, turn-by-turn pedestrian mode and voice-guided car navigation.

The Phone also comes up with the interesting WaveSecure feature, by which the users can save all the important data like contacts, SMS, calender logs, call entries etc wirelessly thru’ Internet. Wavesecure also supports wiping out the data remotely using the secret code, which will be great use when the phone is stolen/misplaced. Users can also lock the device once the new SIM is inserted. Thus it will help a lot in retaining the data and avoiding misuse during hardtimes.

Nokia hasnt reveal any details about the pricing however sources close to the company indicated that the it would be priced around Rs. 35,000. Incidentally Apple’s iPhone 16GB model has been rumoured to be priced around Rs. 36000.  Looking at all features Nokia N96 has all possible features for a high end phone and comparatively looks better than iPhone featurewise except that it lacks touchscreen feature. If Nokia plays the cards well in pricing, Nokia N96 will emerge as a strong contender to iPhone. Interesting days ahead.