Nokia today announced the “Nokia N8″, a mid-range smartphone to the general public. This new mobile phone focuses on camera and has the distinction of being the first to run under Symbian.

It actually embeds a sensor of 12 megapixels, sheltered by a stamped Carl Zeiss optics and supported by a xenon flash. It also filmed in high definition 720p. If the millions of pixels are not the only factor acting as a camera, the concentration of an increasing number of pixels on a microscopic sensor is instead a rather cons argument, contrary to popular belief, Nokia employs this time a relatively large sensor. The first pictures are due to the manufacturer that promises to “compete with a digital camera. The Nokia N8 remains without an optical zoom.

The Nokia N8 is also a touchscreen smartphone rather conventional. It revolves around a capacitive touch screen 3.5-inch OLED displays a size of 640 x 360 pixels. An HDMI output allows to connect to a TV and to display videos in high definition 720p. It has 16 GB of internal storage memory, expandable to 32GB additional through a microSD card. In terms of connectivity, it is quad-band 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 N.

It also embeds a GPS receiver, which can take full advantage of the free software guide Ovi Maps. Its receiver can listen to FM radio while its FM transmitter can broadcast music to a radio nearby.

The Nokia N8 will be launched in the third quarter 2010.