The N95 smartphone is an upgrade to the original 120-Mbyte N95 that Nokia first unveiled last year. Nokia is calling the new device "the memory-packed big brother" to the original phone. With expanded memory, the N95 offers up to 20 hours of video or up to 6000 songs, according to Nokia.

The Nokia N95 has 8GB of memory and comes with a 5 megapixel camera, 3G support, and Nokia Maps.
(click for image gallery)

The smartphone can slide two ways. It slides to one side to reveal a keypad for dialing and typing, and to another side to reveal controls for playing music or video.

The N95 also boasts a 5-megapixel camera, built-in Wi-Fi for accessing the Internet using hotspots in public places or enterprise wireless local area networks, and built-in GPS. The GPS feature is especially functional when used in conjunction with the phone's Nokia Maps application, which offers maps for over 150 countries.

Nokia last August acquired gate5, a maker of wireless mapping, routing, and navigation software. Soon after Nokia rolled out the N95 with gate5 software preinstalled. The mapping application resides on the phone rather than being wirelessly linked to the device from a faraway server.

"We've reached a pinnacle with the Nokia N95 and now with the addition of one of the largest ever displays, built-in assisted-GPS and improved battery power, the Nokia N95 8Gbyte takes entertainment enjoyment to another level," said Jonas Geust, Nokia's VP of multimedia, in a statement.

The N95 is part of Nokia's Nseries, a range of high-performance multimedia smartphones that are both entertaining and functional. The N95, for example, supports services such as the Nokia Music Store for music and N-Gage Games for gaming.

To celebrate the launch, Nokia teamed up with Sony Pictures Entertainment and pre-loaded the new N95 with full-length feature film "Spider-Man 3." The offer, however, is only available in Europe and selected countries in the Middle East and Africa.

The debut of Apple's 8-Gbyte iPhone earlier this year and Nokia's 8-Gbyte N95 are signs that smartphones are becoming a lot more sophisticated. Device makers want consumers and professionals to start thinking of smartphones as mini computers that offer everything they need on-the-go for work and leisure.

With eight gigabytes of memory, the N95 is a good alternative to the iPhone . In fact, it offers some advantages over the iPhone, including support for third-generation (3G) cellular technology called HSDPA, integrated GPS, and stereo Bluetooth. The N95 might not have a built-in iPod, but it does have a RealPlayer for music. It also has a Web browser that lets a user zoom in or out of a page with a single key press. And since the N95 is based on the S60 platform, users can personalize their smartphones of with a variety of downloadable applications.