Rumored for a few weeks now as the N95's successor in waiting, the mighty N96 dual slider has gone all official on us at Mobile World Congress today. Though the phone it replaces is still a beast by any measure, the N96 pushes the envelope further by packing a solid 16GB of storage internally in addition to a microSD slot, something the N95 8GB lacks. The 5 megapixel autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss Tessar lens carries over, but there are now two LEDs doing flash and video light duty. The 2.8 inch QVGA display will come in handy for the integrated DVB-H mobile TV tuner, while a 3.5mm headphone jack, A2DP, and integrated stereo speakers should handle audio with aplomb. Other features include WiFi, AGPS, and morphing lights on the smaller second slide that hook the user up with game controls when it's time to relax with a little N-Gage action. Unfortunately, the first version of the N96 (and the only version announced thus far) supports HSDPA only on the 900 and 2100MHz bands, but we imagine the strength of the spec sheet should still be enough to sell a few of these stateside when it launches in the third quarter for €550 (about $797).

Operating Frequency

• WCDMA2100/900 (HSDPA) / EGSM900, GSM850/1800/1900 MHz (EGPRS)
• Automatic switching between bands and modes
• DVB-H Class C, 470-750 MHz

Dimensions

• Volume: 92 cc
• Weight: 125 g
• Length: 103 mm
• Width: 55 mm
• Depth:18 mm, locally up to 20 mm

Memory Functions*

• 16GB internal flash memory, plus microSD memory card slot (hot swappable) for expandability and flexibility
• Approximate dynamic memory capacity indication with 16GB storage:
  -Video: 40 hours**
  -Music: 12,000 tracks***
• 128MB RAM, 256MB system memory (operating system plus dynamic user data area)

Maps and Navigation

• Built-in GPS receiver, with support for assisted GPS (A-GPS)*
• Nokia Maps application
• Free downloadable maps of over 150 countries, millions of locations, location details and satellite imagery**
• Upgrades available for purchase: Multimedia city guides and Navigation services: Drive - voice guided car navigation, or Walk - pedestrian-optimized turn-by turn guidance

* A-GPS is a network dependant feature that requires a data plan. Additional charges may apply.

** Downloading satellite images may involve the transmission of large amounts of data through your service provider’s network. Contact your service provider for information about data transmission charges.

E-mail and Messaging

• Easy-to-use email client with attachment support for images, videos, music and documents
• Support for SMTP, IMAP4, POP3, MMS, SMS. Unified SMS/MMS editor
• Compatible with Nokia Wireless Keyboard SU-8W (sold separately)

Browsing and Internet

• Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map, visual history, HTML and JavaScript support, Flash Lite 3.0 and Flash video support
• RSS reader

Connectivity

• WLAN - IEEE802.11 g/b with UPnP support
• Hi-Speed USB 2.0 with Micro USB type B interface
• 3.5mm stereo headset plug , TV-out support (PAL/NTSC)
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP stereo audio and Enhanced Data Rates (EDR)
• Nokia Nseries PC Suite connectivity with USB and Bluetooth wireless technology

Imaging

Main camera

• Up to 5 megapixel (2592 x 1944 pixels)
• Carl Zeiss Optics: Tessar™ lens
• Auto-focus, auto-exposure
• F-number/aperture: F2.8
• Focal length: 5.2 mm
• Focus range 10 cm to infinity
• Dual-LED camera flash, video light, recording indicator, auto-focus assist light

Secondary camera

• VGA (640 x 480 pixels) sensor

Video Recording

• Video capture in MPEG-4 up to VGA at 30 fps
• Digital Video Stabilization
• Video clip length: limited by storage
• Video file format: .mp4 (default), .3gp (for MMS)
• Settings for scene, video light, white balance, color tone

Photography

• Still Image resolutions: up to 5 Megapixel (2592 x 1944 pixels)
• Still Image file format: JPEG, EXIF
• Location tagging: automatic insertion of capture location into images
• Settings for scene, flash, sequence, self-timer, color, white balance, contrast, exposure compensation, guides

Music Features*

• Digital music player – supports MP3, AAC, eAAC+, WMA, album art
• Playlist editing and sharing
• Equalizer and visualization
• Search, browse and purchase songs online in Nokia Music Store – with support for Windows Media DRM protected files

* Nokia Music Store availability varies by country.

Radio*

• Stereo FM radio (87.5-108MHz, 76-90MHz) with support for RDS, Visual Radio™ and use of FM radio in offline mode
• Nokia Internet Radio

Video Center

• Video center: central hub for video experiences
• Access to last played video and easy resume
• My videos: collection of stored videos
• Access to Internet Videos, compatible with RSS feeds and video podcasts, with direct wireless updates and downloads
• Service catalog to discover new Internet Videos

Video Codecs and Formats

• MPEG-4 Part 2 (H.263/SP), up to VGA 30 fps, hardware-accelerated codec, scaled to max QVGA on device screen, or max SDTV on TV-out
• MPEG-4 Part 10 (H.264/AVC), up to VGA 30 fps, hardware-accelerated codec, scaled to max QVGA on device screen, or SDTV on TV-out
• Windows Media Video (WMV9), up to CIF/QVGA 30 fps, hardware-accelerated codec, scaled to max QVGA on device screen, or SDTV on TV-out
• RealVideo QCIF at 30 fps
• Flash video support in browser
• DRM support: OMA DRM 1, OMA DRM 2, WM DRM

Live TV

• Broadcast Television (DVB-H) capable
  -DVB-H based mobile TV with internal antenna
  -DVB-H Class C, 470-750 MHz

Browser-based video access

• Support for download, streaming and progressive download
• Support for Flash video