Samsung Innov8 Packs 8MP Cam, HSDPA, Wi-Fi

The latest smartphone out of Samsung challenges Nokia's N96 with buckets of features loaded into a similar looking slider package.

Whether you know it as the i8510, its old moniker Primera, or the newly unveiled Innov8 label, Samsung finally took the wraps off its latest smartphone on Thursday, and it’s a doozy by any name. The phone guns for Nokia’s position in the high-end smartphone market with an 8-megapixel camera, quad-band GSM radio, and sleek sliding design.

Samsung has positioned the phone as a multimedia phone along the same line’s as Nokia’s N96, rolling a legitimate digital camera into a capable smartphone. Coupling an impressive 8-megapixel camera sensor with a large 2.8-inch LCD screen gives it capture and display specs comparable to that of many pocket cams.

Besides the camera, there’s also HSDPA capability and Wi-Fi for snappy Web browsing, and up to 16GB of internal storage for music and video, with the option to expand it by another 16GB using a microSDHC card, plus GPS. The Innov8 will run Symbian OS V9.3, S60, the same OS as its Nokia competitor.

While Samsung has announced that the Innov8 will drop in Europe in August, pricing has not yet been announced. The phone will reach “other markets” – though we don’t know which yet – in September.