Nokia debuts five megapixel N82 with Xenon flash, A-GPS, geo-tagging, faster imaging

Nokia today introduced its new N82 candy bar handset (see left) that features a five megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, a Xenon flash, faster imaging speeds, recording at 30 frames per second, A-GPS (Assisted-GPS), geo-tagging and automatically switching from landscape to portrait mode when the handset is turned horizontally or vertically.

Nokia is emphasizing the wireless imaging features and the company did a bang-up job of highlighting the phone on the Web with several detailed videos.  Mark Selby, vice president of multimedia at Nokia, was the lead presenter and the video was taken with the N82 (see below).

Geo-tagging

One of the most interesting — perhaps the most interesting — new imaging feature is geo-tagging of images.  This will be available in the first quarter via a software update from Nokia’s site using the Nokia Software Updater.  (I’ve updated the firmware and applications on several Nokia phones and the N800 Internet Tablet and I’ve never had a problem, although that’s not always the case for other people.)

Over the past few years I’ve been asked by a variety of people about geo-tagging camera phone photos for vertical market applications.  When I’ve asked cellular phone manufacturers and cellular operators about this feature, they have always said they know some people want it, but it’s not yet available.

So it will be interesting to see if geo-tagging for business applications becomes important with the N82.  In the video presentation, Selby briefly discussed it in terms of consumers.

Sports Tracker

One application that may be downloaded for free from the N82’s menu is the Sport Tracker that uses GPS to track your running, walking, bicycling, skiing, etc., based on your speed, distance, altitude and other parameters.  It also can be used a pedometer to measure the number of steps you take, for example.

I don’t do much exercise, but I try to walk long distances (three to six miles) and I ride a bike, so this could be useful.  I use Google maps on my various phones to get an idea of the distance I’m walking, but Sports Tracker would, I assume, be much more accurate.

There’s also a camera phone tie-in because you can take photos of your walk, as an example, and the images will be shown in a timeline along your approximate route (see below).  There are many more features of Sports Tracker, including sharing the data with friends and uploading it to a Web site.

Nokia as a company, and Selby in his presentation, emphasizes social networking and sharing.  The N82, for example, bundles software to send images with one click to Flickr, Vox and Twango (that Nokia recently purchased).

Photo quality

Selby details the camera phone characteristics, including showing photos taken with N82 (see below).  However, you can’t really see the quality because of the quality of video on the Web.

Nokia says the N82 produces “DVD-like” video quality, as it has said about a few other of its handsets, such as the N95.  Frankly, I don’t think it’s anywhere near that good, but Nokia’s handset video recording capabilities typically are the best (or close to it) of any camera phone.

Other N82 videos

Nokia has posted several videos of the N82, including a demonstration by Tomoharu Yazawa, a product manager for the N82, who discusses imaging and GPS capabilities.  He shows off the Xenon flash by taking a few photos of the camera crew that’s using N82s to video record his presentation (see below).

He also emphasizes, as Shelby did (see below), the faster speed of taking photos with the new handset compared to typical camera phones.

Two other videos will be posted to the site tomorrow (November 15).

One feature I like is the N82 has a shutter cover (see below).  When the cover switch is pushed down, the camera automatically starts, as it also does with the N95.  The original N95 has a shutter cover, but the newest version, the N95 with 8 GBs of internal storage, does not.

I’m a big believer in covering camera phone lenses, as I’ve written previously.  Indeed, it’s probably more important to cover a camera phone lens than even a “regular” camera because phones often are put in pockets, purses, etc. where there’s a good possibility of them getting dirty and scratched.

Pricing

The N82 will be available in several regions of the world this month but not, as is typical, in the United States.  Nokia’s press release says it will be about 450 euros or $656 at today’s insane rate for the euro.

Price notwithstanding, this looks like a great phone.  My favorite must-carry phone for e-mail is the Research in Motion BlackBerry Curve 8320, but my favorite multimedia-rich phone is the Nokia N95 slider with its five megapixel camera (although the Curve is rather good for listening to music and watching video podcasts, and in early 2008 it have video recording capability through a software update).

I hope I’m able to test the N82.  It could be a replacement for the N95 because the N82 seems to be able to do more than the N95 in a smaller, thinner package.

Comments

[Jerrysky]

my N82 was surving at the beach.. and the memory card slot geting crab i can't use it anymore... I love n82. Yes it is. It is amazing phone.. I think no mobile phone will better than n82. When you buy n82 you can go to web for free free........ everything's free with n82

[Nokia N82]

the n82 is amazing, really shows the n95 up in low light settings!