Nokia Pads Its Multimedia Nseries With N82 SmartphoneNokia Pads Its Multimedia Nseries With N82 Smartphone

Nokia on Wednesday unveiled the N82 smartphone, another addition to its Nseries "multimedia computer" lineup designed for photography, personal navigation, and Internet browsing.

Dubbed as the successor to Nokia's N95 smartphone, an 8-Gbyte version of which began shipping last month, the N82 is an alternative to carrying around a digital camera since it's a smartphone and a 5 megapixel camera in one device. The built-in camera has Xenon flash and Carl Zeiss optics for taking photos in low light, as well as autofocus DVD-quality video capture.

Especially useful for storing a multitude of photos taken with the N82 is the 2 Gbyte microSD card it comes with. This allows up to 900 high-resolution photos or up to 84 minutes of high quality video to be stored on the phone.

Using the phone's Wi-Fi capabilities, users can upload their photos to online communities and social networking sites. The uploading can be done simultaneously while using other phone functions, according to Nokia. The N82 is also compatible with some TV models, so that multimedia slideshows created on the phone can be shown on a larger screen.

The phone contains 3G cellular technology known as High Speed Downlink Packet Access, which is capable of transmitting data speeds of up to 10 Mbps, and it's able to perform automatic switching between different bands and modes. The faster speeds make Web browsing on the N82 more feasible than on other current smartphone models.

Other attractive features of the N82 are the built-in A-GPS technology and preinstalled Nokia Maps application for personal navigation, such as driving directions and nearby locations of restaurants, hotels, and gas stations. Users can purchase additional features like city guides to take advantage of the phone's location-based services.

Nokia plans to launch more devices with GPS capability, as well services like local search for finding relevant information based on one's location and marking pictures with location information, said Waldemar Sakalar, director of strategy and business development within Nokia's mobile phones group, in a past interview with information.

"Navigation applications have a very wide appeal across different users. Besides that, there's the local search area that's growing combined with mapping applications," Sakalar said.

The N82 is currently available only in select markets in Europe for 450 EUR, or about $660. Nokia hasn't yet announced plans to sell the phone in the U.S.

Nokia last month began shipping another Nseries smartphone, the N81, designed for music and gaming. The Nokia 8-Gbyte version is loaded with memory and has dedicated music and game keys for accessing multimedia. The N81 costs 360 Euro (about $500), while the N81 8 GB costs 430 Euro (about $600).