Nokia N96 gets Indian pre-launch

Nokia's Indian outpost has announced that it'll be offering the hotly anticipated top-of-the-line N96 there starting next month, and in the meantime, about 2,000 stores across the country have been authorized to start accepting pre-orders. By and large, this N96 seems to be the same one everyone else will be getting -- but one India-exclusive feature will be Wave Secure, an S60 app designed to give owners some semblance of peace of mind by backing up their data to the cloud and enabling device tracking if their precious payload is lost or jacked. It's a hot phone, no question about it -- 16GB of onboard storage plus the capability for microSD expansion is nothing to sneeze at -- but without a 3G network to latch onto, seems like it could be a tough sell if the price isn't right.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 22nd 2008 6:32PM]

uhm excuse me nokia, but your not going to steal iphone's thunder with this crappy phone

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 22nd 2008 6:58PM]

Nokia has a "not"? What is that? What is Nokia's "not" going to do? If you mean Nokia cannot steal Apple's thunder, perhaps a grammar dictionary would...

[musicguy Posted Aug 22nd 2008 7:01PM]

your what?

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 27th 2008 12:29AM]

but maybe this phone will actually get proper reception

[Valicore Posted Aug 23rd 2008 1:02PM]

Ugh, wont you just roll over and die already (I-phone Is I-sexaayy)?

[Zune Posted Aug 22nd 2008 9:53PM]

Way to use "nothing to sneeze at" in two articles in a row there, Chris

[Chris Posted Aug 22nd 2008 10:06PM]

Thanks! I think of it as a one-two combo of cliche action.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 22nd 2008 10:07PM]

My loony bun is fine Benny Lava!

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 22nd 2008 10:40PM]

MY LUNEY BUN IS FINE BENNY LAVA!

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 22nd 2008 10:47PM]

Don't bet on the lack of 3G to deter any buyers in India!

I've seen a lot of kids carry around high-end smartphones and entertainment phones in their pockets even without the network data support! They use it largely for gaming, music and videos... it's a piece of equipment that can be used for showing off... and that's all!

Nobody cares if they can really check their email on it... this will sell like hotcakes... as long as the cost is around $700-$850!

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 22nd 2008 11:10PM]

Why INDIA ?

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 23rd 2008 5:01AM]

Because, nokia owns more than 50% market share in India. And people really don't care about the 3G network, they're going to buy it anyhow because they use its high end and all they need is music, videos and games. And most people buy it for showing off.
Anyway the 3G network was due in 2008. Lets see, maybe late 2008 or early 2009.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 23rd 2008 11:11AM]

Actually, I'm waiting for the Samsung Omnia, that's the one which has got all the features and is also value for money, N96 is just so overhyped.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 23rd 2008 11:21PM]

I'm still waiting for the X1.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 24th 2008 3:08AM]

Yet another underwhelming copy of the surface of the iPhone, but totally lacking in its ease-of-use.

http://www.learnucd.com/kevlar/why-is-the-iphone-popular

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 25th 2008 10:51AM]

Why is Kim Kardashian at the pre-launch party?