Nokia ships its N96 everywhere but North America

Despite the delays predicted by some analysts, Nokia is now shipping the N96 smartphone to most areas of the world, although North American release looks likely to wait until the fourth quarter, as originally expected.

In a statement today, Nokia confirmed that the N96 -- a phone equipped with support for live TV reception -- is now shipping in Europe, the Asia Pacific, China, the Middle East, and Africa, with unlocked models selling for €550 ($794.50 USD) before taxes and subsidies.

First rolled out earlier this year at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the N96 supports most common video formats, such as MPEG-4, Flash, and Windows Media Video (WMV). The incremental upgrade to Nokia's previous N95, also comes with a 5 megapixel camera; a 2.8-inch display; integrated GPS and Wi-Fi; 16 GB internal memory; and microSD card support.

Last week, Nokia unveiled plans to release a North American edition of the N96 -- designed for 3G HSPDA networks in the US and Canada -- during the fourth quarter of this year.

Priced at about $895 USD (unlocked), the North American N96 will be bundled with integrated support for Nokia's Ovi online video sharing service; a three-month subscription to turn-by-turn GPS navigation using Nokia Maps; a voucher for Nokia's N-Gage Racing Game, Asphalt 3; and trial versions of four other N-Gage games.

During the last two quarters of 2008, Nokia will have released a total of about 28 mobile phones, or more than any other single manufacturer, said Matthew Thornton, an analyst at Avian Research, in a recent interview with BetaNews.

Also last week, Nokia announced the N85 and N79. These two smartphones for international high-speed 3.5G HSPDA networks are both slated to ship in October.