Nokia staked out its ground in the smartphone wars by introducing the N8, its new flagship N-Series phone of the year, which is designed to show how smart and impressive Nokia phones are. Since the Nokia has made the Nokia N8 official, DoubleDT.Com no longer need to rely on the leaked snaps or rumored spec sheet to find out more info about this upcoming gadget. Available in select markets late summer of 2010, the estimated retail price of the Nokia N8 is $494 (EUR 370).

Let’s start with the main aspects of the Nokia N8, the 12MP camera with Carl Zeiss Optics, Auto focus, Digital Zoom, Xenon flash and a large sensor that rivals those found in compact digital cameras. A newer 680 MHz processor and new graphics core give it the ability to both record and playback 720p video. You can also produce HD-quality videos (with Dolby Digital Plus surround sound by plugging into the home theater system) and edit them with an intuitive built-in editing suite. Moreover, these features allow you to access TV channels from the Nokia N8, with CNN, Paramount and National Geographic. Yet, also download more channels from the Ovi store.

Its 3.5-inch, 640×360 display is familiar but switches to capacitive input and glass to support the new multi-touch features, including pinch-to-zoom and kinetic scrolling. Storage is actually less than for the N97 at just 16GB built-in, but a microSDHC card slot lets users more than double this with 32GB more. GPS is also available but, as with newer Nokia mobile phones, includes free turn-by-turn navigation through Ovi maps.

The Nokia N8 marks a pair of other rarities. It becomes Nokia’s first mobile device to use 802.11n Wi-Fi, and it unusually supports all five major 3G bands on HSPA, which is means 3G Internet for anyone with a SIM card, for example, both T-Mobile and AT&T users in the US will be able to use 3G. DoubleDT.Com doesn’t think there are any devices out right now with this feature.

Nokia have also given its fans a great Nokia music player with 50 hours of music playback time. With all your albums easy to access, you can use the Ovi store to more applications and downloading your favorite music. Moreover, you also can listen to the FM radio with its radio transmitter.

Nokia N900 is a marvelous device – one that heavy web surfers and mobile enthusiasts would appreciate. Yet, it is not a smartphone that can take on the likes of Apple iPhone and Motorola Droid. Ever since the Nokia N95, Nokia has been striving to come out with a universally appealing high-end mobile device. Unluckily, it seems that Nokia’s strive will continue for the time being. Nokia’s next flagship high-end smartphone – the N8, is shaping up to be the disappointment of the year.

Sure the Nokia N8 has the specs – 12MP built-in camera, for example, and 720p HD video recording. However, it does not have any killer feature that can make it stand out from the crowd. Yet, its user-interface and overall user experience is years behind its competitors, which is worrying, as Nokia have been in this position since 2007. The main limiting factor of the Nokia N8 is its OS, Symbian^3, which offers very little new functionality. Even worse, most of the new functionality is standard feature that is already available on other platforms.

Finally, yet importantly, besides last negative-reviews, it will also ship right as it faces stiffer iPhone competition that will include many of the features Nokia once claimed as advantages.

Nokia N8’s specifications:

• GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz, GPRS class 32, EDGE class 32, HSDPA 10.2 Mbps, HSUPA 2.0 Mbps
• CPU: ARM 11 - 680 MHz, 3D Graphics HW accelerator
• Platform: Symbian^3 OS
• Form Factor: Touchscreen monoblock
• Dimensions: 113.5 x 59.12 x 12.9 mm (L x W x H)
• Weight: 135g
• Camera: 12MP auto-focus, Xenon flash, 4000×3000 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, 720p@25fps video recording, LED video light
• Display: 3.5-inches 16M-color AMOLED capacitive touchscreen & 360×640-pixels resolution, multi-touch input method, proximity sensor for auto turn-off, accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate, scratch-resistant surface
• Memory: 16GB mass storage, 135MB internal storage, 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM, microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
• Connectivity: Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, UPnP technology, available v2.0 microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, Ovi Maps 3.0 and 3.5mm audio jack
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
• Browser: WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds
• Radio: Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM transmitter
• Other Features: HD quality imaging and cinematic sound; Dolby Digital Plus Surround Sound & HDMI connection to the Home Theater system; Get live updates from Facebook & Twitter; Web TV delivers local & global TV favorites; Free worldwide satellite car & walk navigation from Ovi Maps in over 70 countries; Built-in premium guides from Lonely Plan & Via Michelin for tips on travel, restaurants, weather, and hotels
• Operating Times: (stand-by) up to 390h [2G]/up to 400h [3G]; (talk-time) up to 12h 30min [2G]/up to 5h 30min [3G]; (music play) up to 50h; (video play) up to 7h; (video play with HDMI) up to 6h; (Web TV) up to 3h 20min
• Battery: Li-Po 1200 mAh standard battery
• Colors: Dark Grey, Silver White, Green, Blue, Orange

Other alternatives:

• Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
• HTC Google Nexus One
• Samsung Wave (S8500)

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