10.04.08
Nokia N96 With Carl Zeiss optics and a Tessar lens
Today I was searching on the Internet for the latest mobiles. I was actually planning to buy a new mobile. personally I prefer Nokia. So I was looking to buy a Nokia mobile with some good features. While searching I found Nokia N96 close to my interest. The Nokia N96 definitely has elements of the N95 incorporated into the design, but the styling is more like the N81 than any other Nseries phone, given its flat polished surface and silver highlights.
The N96 is quite large at 103 x 55 x 18mm, but this is mainly due to the fact it has to house the large 2.8 inch QVGA display. It’s a little longer and wider than its predecessor the N95 but it is marginally slimmer giving it a sleek look. The larger screen will definitely give it a very good look. The rear of the phone is taken up mainly with the 5 megapixel camera and is made from similar materiel to the N82 which makes it less likely to get marked or scratched. The N96 is definitely stylish looking and has the feel of a high end device which gives it wide appeal to users. It has got a Carl Zeiss optics and a Tessar lens. The clarity of the Images are very good.
A notable improvement is the capacity of the N96. The N96 has 16GB of internal memory as well as a microSD slot and with card currently available up to 8GB this means you can increase capacity to 24GB. Another new feature is the inclusion of a DVB-H receiver that lets you watch mobile TV, although this feature won’t come into its own until the analogue switch off in the UK scheduled for 2012. The N96 also comes with NOKIA Maps 2.0 which is currently in beta. Maps 2.0 offers a number of new features, including satellite imagery, improved mapping and a pedestrian mode. The inbuilt GPS will be very useful. it will be useful especially for frequent travelers.
On the software front the N96 runs S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2. As you’d expect all the usual features are included like messaging, calendar and contacts, a few small updates have been added but nothing major. Messaging has a unified editor for SMS and MMS and the phone selects the appropriate editor to use depending on the content of the message. The 128MB of RAM means the N96 has no problem multitasking and the speed in use is similar to that of other Nseries devices. The camera hasn’t been drastically altered, but a few little tweaks have been made here and there and it compares well with previous Nseries devices. It’s still a 5 megapixel camera with auto focus and Carl Zeiss optics, but a dual LED flash has been added which will be a welcome bonus when trying to take shots in a dimly lit location.
The Nokia Music Store, Nseries music player and podcasting applications are all here, as is the usual FM Radio. A new addition to the FM Radio is the support of RDS (Radio Data System) this is the feature which displays data like the radio station’s name, programme name or current song playing. Also included in the multimedia menu is Nokia’s new internet radio application. This lets you listen to radio streams via the internet and is a great addition to the N96’s music features. The sound was comparable with the FM radio option and an added bonus is the fact you don’t need an aerial to use it. Quad band GSM, Dual Band WCDMA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and USB connectivity are all available on the N96 which means it caters for just about everything really. The USB local connectivity has been improved hugely on the N96 model with the prototype currently able to work five times faster than previous Nseries devices and Nokia hope to improve this performance even further in their production models. So overall the Nokia N96 is definitely a very good mobile phone. So if you are planning to buy this or looking for other mobile phones then do visit DialtoSave.
