If you’re Canadian and love the thrill of the hunt Boxing Day provides, hate waiting in long lineups on a frosty winter’s eve, are looking for a new smartphone, and aren’t too sure what to make of this WIND Mobile business, then Rogers kinda/sorta has a deal for you. From now until January 18th, the following smartphones are avaiable from $0 to $0.99: BlackBerry Bold 9000 (white), BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220, HTC Magic, LG Eve and Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. Of course, with such a price there is always a catch and in this particular instance it’s a decision not to be made lightly — a 3-year contract

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Ready to get your NAM on, Nokia fans? Nokia’s first crack at an 8 megapixel beast is reportedly touching down stateside on August 22nd, which is just over 2 weeks away. But wait, there’s more good news in store for all you Symbian fans out there. It turns out the launch price of the N86 8MP may be lower than the current pre-order price — $59 lower, in fact. Yup, it’s looking like $499 will get you in the door when this little guy hits Flagship store shelves and NokiaUSA.com three Saturdays from now. No word on pricing from resellers yet but expect it to come in a bit lower than Nokia USA’s offering. And then there’s Amazon, which has been undercutting nearly everyone in the phone biz lately. In other words, waiting a few weeks on your purchase will likely serve you well.

Thanks, Mark!

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Symbian-loving photogs are officially on notice… Nokia has just announced that its first 8 megapixel offering is now on its way to the US. That’s right, the N86 8MP will be hitting store shelves within the next few weeks and if you have a hankering for S60 3rd Edition FP2 and more pixels than you can shake a stick at, this little guy might be just what the doctor ordered. Of course the camera isn’t the only focus here, though for many it will be hard to get past an 8 megapixel shooter with a shutter speed of up to 1/1000 of a second, an f-stop range of 2.4-4.8 and a wide-angle lens. Once you do however, you’ll find a 2.6-inch AMOLED QVGA display, quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and tri-band UMTS, 8GB of internal storage, Wi-Fi and aGPS with Nokia Maps 3.0 pre-installed and plenty more. There is some bad news to report as well unfortunately — despite being announced at €375 abroad (about $530 at today’s exchange rate, $474 when announced), the NAM N86 8MP is going to run you $558. If photography is your game however, that’s hardly a tall order for an unlocked top-of-the-line camera phone. Anyone in?

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Following what must have been an intense prayer circle attended by each and every Nokia fan in the US, the N97 somehow found its way into customers’ hands in the US before its European counterpart. Unheard of. With the hopes that a trend of timely US releases will follow, it might just be safe to presume the N86 8MP will find its way to store shelves in the next week or so. As revealed by the Nokia Flagship store in London, the photog’s dream of a handset is due to drop in the UK this coming Friday, June 19th. Our hope is that a US release happens around the same time and considering the handset is already shipping worldwide, it shouldn’t be long now. Man, what a month…

Thanks, Marcus!

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Touchscreen not your thing? QWERTY not your bag? It looks like the new kid on the block will soon have a cheaper, photo-centric neighbor as Nokia has just announced that the N86 8MP is now shipping globally. As for when it might touch down here in the US… Soon. The N86 8MP is two parts camera and one part smartphone, touting an 8 megapixel sensor, variable aperture, automatic motion blur reduction and half the processing time between snaps. It also sports 8GB of internal storage and up to an additional 16GB thanks to microSDHC support, ensuring your photos and videos have plenty of room to breathe. Pricing in the US has still not been revealed but the N86 8MP was announced at €375 so we should be looking somewhere just north of $500.

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Ok so the N97 is finally close to hitting the streets but truth be told, it’s not for everyone. Sure it’s sleek, well equipped and relatively powerful but not every S60 fan is looking for a QWERTY keypad and a touchscreen — or a $700 price tag. So what about the rest of you? The N97 breaks ground in that it’s Nokia’s first Nseries to sport a touchscreen and S60 5th Edition but the N86 8MP is a unique handset as well. Nokia, long known for producing amazing camera phones, has finally issued its first 8 megapixel-equipped handset in the N86… Oh, and it touts a few other cool new features as well. Now that the support pages are live, the N86 8MP should begin shipping within a few weeks with an expected retail price around $530. Anyone plan on snagging one?

Thanks, Buster!

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We aren’t exactly drooling in anticipation over the upcoming Nokia N86 8MP. After some time spent with it back at CTIA, we basically said it was an ok handset but it definitely wasn’t the most solid Nseries on the planet. It essentially seemed like any other Nseries device in Nokia’s arsenal — with an 8 megapixel shooter slapped on. Well, if neat little features like this one keep popping up we’re going to have to rethink our position. Everyone’s favorite Symbian guru, the Symbian Guru, was digging through the N86 emulator and it looks like the handset’s kickstand is more than just a tiny swiveling piece of plastic. Apparently a little sensor somewhere beneath the kickstand allows the N86 to open an application each time it’s flipped open. Badass. It also appears as though any app on the phone can be set as the kickstand-triggered app, leaving the possibilities nearly endless. Instant access to the movie player, music player or photo viewer jump out as obvious options but take it anywhere you like. No, this nifty little trick isn’t enough to completely change our minds about the handset but we have to give credit where credit is due — good thinking, Nokia, good thinking.

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Last but not least in our coverage of Nokia handsets at CTIA is the handset that Nseries mobile photogs around the globe have been waiting for — the N86 8MP. This past February, the N86 8MP was the subject of one of Nokia’s most bizzare announcements to date. As MWC kicked off, Nokia was busy showing the N86 off in Singapore. Then as MWC was wrapping up, Nokia finally decided to re-unveil it at the show. Yes, odd. Nokia has a few N86s on hand at CTIA but despite the amount of time that has passed since its announcement, the handsets on display are still very obviously early hardware builds. Why do we say that? They’re actually labeled “N00″, as all early internal Nseries builds are, but the early placeholder has been covered up with black marker. We’re not kidding; just look at the image above. The firmware on the handsets is plenty stable however, more stable than the N97 firmware at least, and we spent a good amount of time with the device.

Our initial impression: it feels rushed. By that we mean it seems as though Nokia was so eager to push out an 8 megapixel handset that it opted to forgo the TLC that has been a main ingredient in the making of other, more refined Nokia devices. It feels cheap. Not N95-1 cheap, but still pretty cheap. Beyond that, the stunning 8 megapixel camera sits on the back of an otherwise uninteresting device that could easily be mistaken for one of several other Nseries models — because it’s basically the same old same old. Hit the jump for some more shots but our advice is not to get too excited about this one just yet. Let’s see what happens when Nokia starts slapping its upgraded 8 megapixel Zeiss shooter into some flagship handsets.

In what has to be one of the sloppiest undertakings we’ve seen in recent history, Nokia has officially announced the N86 8MP today at Mobile World Congress. First it was presumed to be a leak, then it was revealed to be a bungle and now Nokia has finally decided to show off its first 8 megapixel camera phone in Barcelona. In other words, a company that has openly complained about leaks on several occasions went to Singapore and publicly displayed an unannounced handset, allowing it to be handled and photographed by the public. While you try to wrap your head around that one, let’s move on to the specs…

Aside from the 8 megapixel shooter with a shutter speed of up to 1/1000 of a second, f-stop range of 2.4-4.8 and a wide-angle lens that Nokia absurdly states is equal to that of a wide-angle 35mm SLR, the N86 8MP runs S60 3rd Edition FP2 and features a 2.6″ AMOLED QVGA display, 8 GB of internal storage, Wi-Fi and aGPS with Nokia Maps 3.0 pre-installed. Thankfully, it will indeed be available for use in North America by way of our very own tri-band HSPA model though we can’t say for sure if it will launch around the same time as the Euro model. Battery life isn’t terrible with a rated talk-time of 3.9 hours 3G / 6.3 hours EDGE and standby falling in at 11.5 hours 3G / 13 hours EDGE. Last but not least we have the dimensions and the N86 8MP a big boy indeed, coming in at 103.4mm x 51.4mm x 16.5mm and 149g. All in all it’s a handset with a great camera, above average specs and horrible display resolution – Nseries up and down. Expect to see the N86 8MP begin shipping sometime in Q2 for €375 ($474 USD) and hit the jump for some pics and the obligatory press release.

Capture your life in more detail with the Nokia N86 8MP
February 17, 2009

Barcelona, Spain – When Nokia set out to make the best mobile imaging device, it combined wide-angle Carl Zeiss optics and an 8 megapixel sensor, resulting in performance comparable to a stand alone digital camera. The Nokia N86 8MP is designed to excel in both bright and low light conditions, and it’s optimized for both video and still imaging. Its high-speed connectivity ensures easy and convenient sharing. The Nokia N86 8MP is expected to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2009 with an estimated retail price of EUR 375, before taxes and subsidies.

“People demand mobile cameras that take excellent pictures in all light conditions,” says Juha-Pekka Sipponen, Director, Nokia Nseries. “That’s why the aperture of the Nokia N86 8MP is comparable to that of a high-quality, stand-alone digital camera. Whether it’s running with the bulls in Pamplona or capturing the panoramic beauty of a sunrise over Sydney, the Nokia N86 8MP will take brilliantly clear, wide-angle images that are instantly geotagged to be uploaded onto sites like Ovi Share or Flickr.”

Easy enough for a novice to use, the Nokia N86 8MP packs enough punch to impress an experienced photographer. This includes a wide-angle Carl Zeiss Tessar lens for panoramic pictures, shorter latencies and variable aperture for super sharp photos in challenging bright and low light conditions. The fast mechanical shutter ensures pictures with less motion blur while the dual LED camera flash is powerful enough for excellent photography and video capture.

“When it comes to taking the best digital photos, it’s the quality of the lens and the sensor that count, not just the quantity of pixels. The Nokia N86 8MP is the first mobile device with variable aperture, adding to the Carl Zeiss Tessar lens for excellent results. It has never been easier to capture special moments in such a great quality,” says Helmut Heier of Carl Zeiss.

Every detail of the metal-framed Nokia N86 8MP is thoughtfully designed with photography in mind, including 8 GB of internal memory for up to 4,000 images. Like any high-end digital camera, the memory can be increased with an exchangeable 16 GB microSD card. The device also offers a bright OLED screen with scratch resistant hardened glass, easy photo management, full sync capability with a PC and TV-out support for slide shows.

Shipping with the latest version of Nokia Maps and full Ovi integration, the Nokia N86 8MP gives a personal dimension to photos and videos. People can share their location with personal content like geotagged photos. The Nokia N86 8MP comes with a built-in compass, along with an integrated 3-months license for full voice and pedestrian navigation so that happy snappers don’t lose their way when capturing life through the camera lens.

Multimedia features – music, games, video
The Nokia N86 8MP, with its integrated kick stand, is ideal for watching videos and playing games. Each Nokia N86 8MP can play up to 25 hours of music on one charge which can be enjoyed with the Nokia Bluetooth Stereo Headset BH-214 also announced today. People can build a personal music collection from the millions of tracks and playlists available from the Nokia Music Store, where available.

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