At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Nokia introduced several cellular phones, including the N96 five megapixel camera phone (see below) that has the complete Flash video software package, not just Flash Lite as some cellular phones offer.
Nokia is following a trend I discussed in my latest weekly "Thinkernet" column for CMP's "Internet Evolution" Web site: This year we'll see great browsers for cellular phones.
For example, as I wrote in my column, the Skyfire browser -- still in beta testing that's by invitation only -- is able to display Flash. Skyfire promotes its browser as duplicating the desktop experience in a cellular browser.
The N96, that sports a 2.8-inch screen, also supports MPEG-4 and Windows Media Video and can record videos at 30 frames per second. It comes standard with 16 GB of internal storage space and can accept an 8 GB microSD card. In addition, certain models of the N96 will incorporate the DVB-H protocol for mobile television.
The phone includes a kickstand to facilitate watching videos (see below). I wouldn't be surprised if more video-centric handsets included ways to them from falling over.
The handset will retail for about 555 euros ($800) when it's available in the third quarter of 2008.
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