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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.

Joseph Hanlon Special to CNET News
Joe capitalises on a life-long love of blinking lights and upbeat MIDI soundtracks covering the latest developments in smartphones and tablet computers. When not ruining his eyesight staring at small screens, Joe ruins his eyesight playing video games and watching movies.
Joseph Hanlon
2 min read
(Credit: Nokia)

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.