At the N96, N78 and N82 Black launch event in South Africa, we had the chance to speak with Henri Mattila, Head of NSeries Go to Market Sales for Middle East and Africa.

We asked a lot of crucial questions regarding the phones, their competitors, and Nokia’s strategy for NSeries. We didn’t get some of the answers that we were really looking for, as some were more appropriate for the Product Managers, but Henri’s arguments provide a perspective of where Nokia is going, and where it’s coming from.

• We got to know why consumers aren’t getting more battery juice for the N96;
• Why only N95 8GB and N96 get movies;
• Why Dual LED instead of Xenon flash on the N96;
• Why isn’t there optical zoom on the N96’s camera;
• Nokia doesn’t think we need more than 3.6mbps on HSDPA speeds;
  
• If N96 and N78 are toys for us to play while Touch UI devices are coming;
• Why the N82 Black came so late.

Check the full interview after the jump.

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I finally managed to get my hands-on these fabulous devices and ask few questions on this and that. I’ve compared the N96, N78, N82 black, N95 8GB, and the N81 8GB. It took some effort to present the differences, and I managed to get everyone staring at me like I was a maniac. In any case, please do present your comments, and predictions on what you think these devices will turn out to be, and of course, if you will buy one!

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Johannesburg, South Africa – Henri Mattila, Nokia’s head of go to market Nseries sales, Middle East and Africa, reinforced the company’s vision of incorporating the benefits and opportunities of the Internet by unveiling a new line up of converged devices that promote collaboration and sharing. The Nokia N96, Nokia N78, and Nokia N82 Black all exhibit different location based multimedia experiences from pedestrian navigation to geotagging and movie viewing to photo sharing.

“These multimedia computers are made for storytelling,” comments Mattila. “The devices capture people’s journeys and discoveries. With the built-in A-GPS, users can find new places by pairing ‘contextual’ information with a wide array of connectivity features such as Wi-Fi and HSDPA. We make it easy for consumers to quickly share those moments as they happen.”

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We had a close talk with someone inside Nokia, and we got a confirmation on the launch date! The best thing is that it’s not one device being officially launched, it’s three, and that should be the minimum.

Nokia usually launches them in fours, ironic, as this digit is considered bad luck in some countries. Read more »