Nokia's N96: Now with built-in BBC
Having class leading features isn't enough for Nokia's new flagship mobile; the N96 now comes with a full BBC television series.
Having class leading features isn't enough for Nokia's new flagship mobile; the N96 now comes with a full BBC television series.
At the Australian launch of the N96, Nokia announced an exclusive partnership with BBC Worldwide to provide long-form video content for customers purchasing this latest N-Series handset. Four full BBC television series will be available; Little Britain, The Catherine Tate Show, Yes Minister, and Walking with Dinosaurs. A voucher in the phone's retail package will allow users to choose one of the programs, download it to a PC then side-load the series onto the handset.
This deal answers one of our main questions leading up to the launch of the N96. Overseas, Nokia will spruik this phone's built-in DVB-H TV tuner, which essential turns the phone into a mobile TV set capable of receiving a signal similar to a free-to-air TV broadcast. In Australia, we're still waiting for the government to release the portion of the spectrum required to establish a DVB-H service, and Nokia's deal with the BBC is a welcomed fall-back in the interim.
The N96 is the successor to Nokia's extremely popular N95, a handset which Nokia estimates sold in excess of 10 million units worldwide. The N96 will have the same basic feature set as its predecessor including HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS and access to a range of Nokia's Ovi content services including Nokia Maps and the Nokia Music Store. The newer model improves on the previous with a large increase in user accessible storage — 16GB on-board plus microSD expansion to add a further 8GB.
In Australia, the N96 will be available from all the major carriers from 26 September and will retail for AU$1,349.