CES 2008

Nokia N95 8GB

(Credit: Nokia )

If you've got any of that holiday gift money left, you might want to hold onto it for this sucker. Nokia announced at CES 2008 that it will be bringing a North American version of the Nokia N95 8GB this quarter, all for the bargain price of $749 unlocked (zoiks!). The good news is that the Symbian smartphone supports our 850/1900MHz HSPDA bands, so you can just pop in a AT&T SIM card to enjoy those 3.5G speeds. Of course, there's also the 8GB of onboard memory but be aware there's no microSD expansion slot on this version. All the other features are similar to the Nokia N95 North American Edition, which includes a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. The North American Nokia N95 8GB will be available for purchase through online retailers and at Nokia's flagship stores in New York and Chicago.

The slider SGH-G800

(Credit: Samsung)

Samsung today showed off its answer to the Nokia N95 with the Samsung SGH-G800. Offering a 5-megapixel camera and a 3x optical zoom, a Xenon flash, face detection and image stabilization, the SGH-G800 is a powerful shooter on paper (we have yet to test its image quality). Its slider design also mimics the N95, but unlike the recent North American version of the Nokia handset, the SGH-G800 has a lens cover. And on the whole, it actually looks like a camera, while the N95 was definitely a camera phone.

Is it a camera or a phone?

(Credit: Samsung)

Other features include an expansive (2.4 inches) 262,000-color display, a digital music player, e-mail and messaging, USB 2.0 support, a speakerphone, an external memory card slot, Bluetooth, and personal organizer applications. Yes, it also makes calls, and the SGH-G800's wireless capability enables you to upload photos directly to a blog. The quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) world phone has been available in Europe for some time, but you now can get it unlocked in North America for $525 (about $200 cheaper than the N95).