After leaked pics and spec have done the rounds on the Internet of late, Nokia has finally unveiled the Nokia N96, that, as with the N95, they insist on calling a "multimedia computer" rather than a phone.

The USP for the N96, aside from its general multi-tasking capabilities, is that it is "truly optimised for video and TV".

With a 2.8-inch screen, 16GB of internal memory and support for video in a wide range of formats, the dual-sliding N96 will offer a DVB-H TV tuner for live TV broadcasting in select markets.

The Nokia N96 supports common video formats including MPEG4, Windows Media Video and Flash, while transferring and accessing videos is fast with a USB 2.0 connection and WLAN and HSDPA support.

The storage capacity of the Nokia N96 can be further expanded with an optional microSD card, such as the new Nokia 8GB microSDHC card which increases the available memory of the Nokia N96 to an impressive total of 24GB.

In order for owners to best watch all that TV, the Nokia N96 features a "kickstand" on the back cover that allows for hands-free viewing.

The N96 also features media keys, a 3.5mm headphone connector and built-in 3D stereo speakers.

In addition to the video side of things, there's the Nokia Maps application with AGPS, a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, flash and video light and video capture.

The Nokia N96 multimedia computer is expected to begin shipping in the third-quarter of 2008 with an estimated sales price of approximately 550 euros, pre-tax.

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