Thoughts on the Nokia N96

Apparently Nokia Germany accidently posted details of the N96 on their website: 

It looks real enough to me because if it was a fake it would look a lot better than this. Even though it is the next along from the N95 I don't believe this is the successor to the flagship N95. Instead it appears to be a refresh with the following features: 

• DVB-H digital TV 
  
• 3G HSDPA 
  
• 2.8 inch QVGA screen
  
• 16GB internal memory
  
• 5MP Camera
  
• 2nd VGA camera
  
• GPS
  
• Wi-fi
  
• Bluetooth
  
• FM radio
  
• music player
  
• video player, 
  
• and S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2

Not that exciting apart from the mobile tv feature which looks interesting. But the main thing is that this is not an iPhone challenger. There have been sketchy reports of Nokia working on new touch screen phones and I reckon that this summer we will see a real iPhone killer (I hate that term but thats what it is!) or to be precise N95 flagship replacement from Nokia. After all, those Fins have been making phones for a long time and they have the financial and technical muscle to produce something great. My guess is June 2008 for this based on a meeting a group of Fins from Nokia in a bar.

In the meantime Nokia if you are reading here are my dream specs:

- 7mp camera with a proper flash and face detection

- 30 fps HD video recording (this is possible!)

- touch screen and slide out proper keyboard 

- GPS with cell tower and wifi assist

- massively improved user interface with full integration across features (look at the iphone/ipod touch - thats how its done)

- waterproof - ok I am being greedy and i am not sure if this is even possible