Nokia's N95 Smartphone Certified To Work With PCs, Home DevicesNokia's N95 Smartphone Certified To Work With PCs, Home Devices

Nokia on Friday announced that its N95 smartphone received certification from the Digital Living Network Alliance, which means the phone is compatible with wired and wireless home electronics devices and personal computers.

The DLNA was formed in 2003 to ensure interoperability between consumer electronics. More than 250 companies are members of the alliance, including IBM, Intel, Sony, Samsung, Motorola, LG Electronics, Microsoft, and Nokia, among others. To become interoperable with other products on the market, products of these companies had to pass the alliance's certification program.

Nokia's N95 8GB, which will be available in the United States in the first quarter of this year, was certified by the DLNA as a Mobile Digital Media Server. The smartphone is known for its multimedia capabilities and can be connected to other devices in the home for receiving different content, such as music, photos, and videos, according to Nokia.

For example, the N95 can be connected to a TV and photos stored on the phone can be viewed on the TV's large screen or the phone's music playlist can be streamed over a home stereo system. The content is transmitted wirelessly.

Nokia claims this is the first time DLNA's guidelines for interoperability were met by a mobile phone.

The 8GB version of the N95 began shipping in October, serving as a significant upgrade to the original 120GB N95 that Nokia first unveiled last year. With expanded memory, the N95 offers up to 20 hours of video or up to 6,000 songs, Nokia said. The phone also comes with a 5-megapixel camera, built-in Wi-Fi for accessing the Internet using hotspots in public places or enterprise wireless local area networks, and built-in GPS.

At $749 the 8GB N95 is quite pricey, but is viewed by many as more than just a multimedia phone. Rather it's a mini computer that according to this week's certification, can offer a complete entertainment experience.