DigitalLife 2007: Improved Nokia N95 Ships Today

The award-winning Nokia N95, launched last April, received a number of upgrades today geared toward improving the North American user's experience.

In addition to its built-in 5 Mp camera, music player capability, and personal navigator, the newly endowed N95 adds support for North American High Speed Download Packet Access (HSDPA) networks, more memory, and a new battery with extended life, and a feature Nokia is calling Assisted GPS.

A-GPS is integrated with Nokia Maps software, allowing navigation in as many as 150 countries, with comprehensive turn-by-turn coverage in over 30. Customers of select retailers will also receive a free one-month navigation license, a city guide of their choice, and additional maps loaded onto a 1 GB memory card.

Not coincidentally, Sling Media also announced its SlingPlayer Mobile platform for Symbian OS today. When paired with SlingBox hardware, the Nokia N95's 2.6" QVGA screen can display home television broadcasts, including live data, or content from digital video recorders. The software works virtually anywhere WiFi and HSDPA networks are available.

These come in addition to the standard 5 Mp DVD-quality (30 fps) video and still camera with Carl Zeiss optics, Nokia's branded MP3 player/FM radio, TV-out and Universal Plug and Play architecture, up to 160 MB of internal dynamic memory for telephone purposes, plus up to 4 GB of microSD memory.

The MSRP for the new N95 is $699 USD, which will also be a slight upgrade since current models retail in the states for an average of about $615. It will be available at select stores in New York and Chicago, as well as on Nokia's site, though the company warns that availability of the unlocked edition at boutique stores may vary.