Nokia have uploaded the interactive demo for the N96. For those who don’t know what the device will include, head on over here before Nokia realise they have uploaded the demo, before the N96 is available!

Nothing new on what you can expect, but something to whet the appetite, for those waiting for an announcement on when the N96 will be available.

As highlighted in our forum, Nokia are showing on the NSeries website that the N96 will NOT be compatible with the N-Gage platform.
So if this is correct - and it could be that it is not showing as compatible until the phone is launched, how much of a blow is it to the N96? (more…)

At least not yet - becasue despite what certain adverts would have you belive, it is still to be launched by Nokia!

So what are the adverts that you might see on forums, for cheap Nokia N96 phones offering - probably just the oportunity to scam your hard earned cash. Assuming you get anything in return, it might be one of these:

Note the NCKIA logo, but inside, only a 2 megapixel camera, and memory capacity is suspect.

So however keen you are to get a Nokia N96, wait until it is launched; it might cost a little more, but you will get what you are expecting.

Anssi Vanjoki, senior executive vice president of Nokia Markets has confirmed via Reuters that Nokia are still on track to ship the N96 in the third quarter of 2008.

So that could be any day now, or a further 3 month wait.

“The N96 that we have introduced … we believe this will be a significant product to the group who define the tone where the market is going,” Vanjoki said. “Preorders for it are encouraging.”

The latest reports from Nokia on the sale of the current N-Series King, the N95, indicated Nokia had sold 6 million N95 handsets and no doubt they have high hopes for the N96; the launch price of $870 / €550 is much higher than the recently revised iPhone

There is speculation that the N96 will be hitting the shops on 31 July, speculation fuled by Play.com adding this as a pre-order release date.

Whilst this ties in with the Nokia position of ‘August’, it could be someone at Play.com making assumptions, based on that August date.

Also the pre-order price of £599.99 seems a little steep as well, and we would expect to see some better offers appearing closer to the end of July, so however eager you may be to get your little mits on a shiny new N96, you should probably wait before commiting your hard earned cash with Play.com.

So what are the killer features of the N96, the features that will have you eagerly queuing up at your local mobile phone store to get one?

1. The huge on board storage - at 16 GB with the ability to expand with microSD cards, you will be able to take your digital life with you, be it movies or music.

2. 5 Megapixel camera. Nokia have made a point of putting great cameras into their N Series phones, so we would not expect anything different for the N96.

3. HSDPA and Wi-fi means very fast internet access.

4. GPS - Don’t get lost! We think that this is one application that once you start using you willuse more and more.

5. N-Gage - reportedly the N96 will be N-Gage compatible (but given the teething troubles with the N-Gage platform we are waiting to see)

CNET have some exclusive photos of the Nokia N96, comparing the N96 with the N95 and N95 8GB as well as the iPhone.

These clearly show the more relaxed rounded style of the N96, and the external improvements such as the headphone jack on the top.

The iPhone comparison shows the smaller screen on the N96, but then with the Nokia N96 you get HSDPA, Wi-Fi and GPS, not to mention a mechanical keypad and a 5-megapixel camera.