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Among the many large lens photo capturing contraptions listed in TIPA’s (Technical Image Press Association) web page for “The Most Coveted Photo & Imaging Awards in Europe” for 2008, the Nokia N82 is a stand-out. I’ve never known what the criteria for judging is for this thing, but I’m sure they have a pretty strict list of guidelines for it. And so it seems, the Nokia N82 passed all the tests, and won the award for “Best Mobile Imaging Device in Europe 2008.” I’m sure a lot of SE, Samsung, or LG users would favor their own devices, but it’s hard to question why the Nokia N82 won. Especially taking into consideration that it’s not toting an ordinary LED flash, but a full-blown Xenon one. Its 5-megapixel camera also features a high-speed, f/2.8 autofocus lens, Carl Zeiss Tessar optics, 20x digital zoom and integrated Geotagging. This is helped further by its Symbian Series 60 OS, giving users a slew of things to do with their photos or videos once they are finished capturing them. Congratulations, Nokia! I hope you deliver more phones like these. Fashionable, functional, and award-winning. Surely it isn’t that hard, is it?

Read [Nokia]

Nokia has officially launched its N-Gage mobile games service. The N-Gage allows gamers to try and buy mobile games directly from their Nokia handsets. As we reported last Friday, the N-Gage service supports Nokia handsets that belong to Nokia’s new generation of mobile phones. These handsets include N81, N81 8GB, N82, N95 and N95 8GB.

For its initial offerings, N-Gage is making available various mobile games such as EA Sports’ FIFA08, Brain Challenge and Asphalt 3: Street Rules by Gameloft; World Series of Poker Pro Challenge by Glu Mobile and Hooked on: Creatures of the Deep and System Rush: Evolution by Nokia’s own mobile game publishing arm. Nokia also promised to release more games in the coming days.

Aside from trying and buying games from N-Gage, users can also create Friend List, send and receive private messages and participate in N-Gage’s IM style chat. Prices of games to be featured in N-Gage will range from $9 to $15, but remember you can always try the games first before paying for them.

Read [Nokia]

Nokia has finally launched its N-Gage gaming service with high hopes of revitalizing the ailing mobile gaming market. (And possibly earn a few more bucks?) Although an official announcement will be made on Monday, the N-Gage blog took one step in advance and informed the loyal N-Gage followers who were testing the product during its beta stage, that the N-Gage platform is already opened.

The N-Gage is fully compatible with Nokia’s top mobile phone series – the N95, N81 and N82. With Nokia striking a deal with major cellphone game developers such as Electronic Arts, Gameloft and Glo Mobile they should prove to be successful. Nokia hopes to have around 25-30 games available by mid-2008 and add another 25-30 during the second half of the year.

Can the N-Gage re-ignite the dying flames of mobile phone gaming? That remains to be seen.

Read [N-Gage] Via [I4U]

Nokia has added the N82 to their website in a nice new color, black. While its a nice handset to see offered, its not the 3G capable model that many are hoping for. The newly colored N82 is listed on the Nokia website and is retailing for $629, but will not be available until after February 12, 2008, so you still have a few days to wait. The Nokia N82 features a 5 megapixel that has a xenon flash, microSD storage, FM radio, GPS, Wi-Fi and HSDPA.

Keep reading for a few more pics of the black Nokia N82…

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