Nokia have announced that the long awaited N95 has started shipping across Europe in time for April 1st. It’s generated a lot of hype but will it be the golden goose Nokia’s been hoping for or a big joke.

 

The Nokia N95 is billed as an all-in-one multimedia computer with a unique 2-way slide design, integrated GPS functionality, a 5 megapixel camera and support for high-speed mobile networks, making it easier to watch and record videos, listen to songs, take high-quality photos, browse the internet, or catch up on email while on the move.

It’s been a long time coming, and Nokia have been generating a lot of interest in the N95 with ad campaigns and viral marketing such as www.greatpockets.com aimed at the fashion conscious user who needs a bit of everything. Some dealers are worried they won’t have enough to fulfil existing pre-orders.

Nokia have not been reassuring: ‘We are aware that demand is high and we’re doing everything we can to ensure our production ramp is as fast as possible. Initially there is going to be a shortage as with any popular product. We’ve tried to do our best to make the UK market in particular gets a good supply.’ a spokesperson said.

But is it all worth the hassle?

The previous models in the n-Series have all been plagued by problems since day one, with some users having their handsets replaced multiple times. Users complaints consist of the handset freezing and crashing regularly, slow to load and process information, extremely poor battery life, indiscriminatly ending calls, sliders loosening, joysticks falling off,  etc etc.

Nokia believes that a lot of these problems are down the end user and have launched a page detailing everything about the phone, including how to turn it on, and what the Call and End keys do.

Hopefully Nokia have improved on all the other phones in the range with the N95, and we won’t be seeing a load of returns on April 2nd.