I had an opportunity to be a part of the launch event where these devices were announced, but it was on the *day* that I was moving.. so I couldn’t watch the live webcast.  A little late (by the standards I go by in my nerdy phone world) but here we go.

Nokia N81 - 8GB

Even though this isn’t a photography focused handset - sporting only a basic 2 MP camera module - I really think this is a brilliant device.  This is nokia’s new gaming & music handset, and if you wanna do both of those things on your mobile phone, it should be taken pretty damn seriously. 

8GB of hard drive storage is great for music (and , and it supports subscription WMAs for services like Rhapsody, Yahoo! Music, and Napster.  And in my experience to date, Nokia devices actually sync and manage *better* with Rhapsody, than the couple of mp3s players I bought (and returned, because they’d either crash the application or have some other lame error on the device).  Topping off great music software is - taaa daaah! - a 3.5mm standard headphone jack, which says this device is meant to *actually* be used for audio playback, and isn’t just dicking you around with marketing. 

I really love the design of this handset.  It’s no basic slider.  It has to accomplish a lot, really… it needs to have usable controls for music playback, as well as a span gaming buttons on *both sides* of the screen, so you can use two hands to play, like any gaming handheld.  The button functionality is crazy dense on this thing - yet it still has a reasonably slick look.  Had it better more subtle iconography, I think this thing could have been downright sexy.

Nokia N95 - 8GB

Nokia’s current all-in-one handset gets a significant and rather quick update.  Most notably, a 25% increase in battery life, a larger, crisper screen (2.6″ to 2.8″), 8GB internal flash memory (no external memory slot now, and twice as much internal RAM to aid in multitasking.  They’ve made all the external keys a little easier to press by raising them - even the reverse-slider keys.

Sadly, they’ve removed the plastic retractable lense cover on the back, as the mechanism in it was sacrificed to make more room for the larger battery.  And while this is a somewhat flattery photo of the new black housing, the device still comes across as a bit unfinished to me.  Why they didn’t put black keys on this sucker is beyond me.

And while I was a bit burned with my last N95 experience, I’m hoping that other hardware fixes were tackled, beyond what’s immediately visible… that means the faulty slider that cursed my N95 enough to make me not want it, is no longer a production issue.  Time will tell how that issue, and the improvements in camera firmware, have progressed.

Now… where is the N82, the handset that will catch Nokia up to SE with it’s bitchin’ shutter speed and Xenon flash?  And don’t leave off the 3.5mm headphone jack.  I’ll go ape if you do.  Seriously.  I’ll scratch your eyes out.

- Andy