GADGETS: New mobile cuts a dash; NOKIA N96 **** Price dependent on contract.

Nokia used to refer to its highly successful N95 model as the Swiss Army Knife phone - a handset designed to do just about everything.

Its much-anticipated successor, the N96, arrives retaining many of the 95's excellent features, including its impressive camera and built-in GPS system. It all comes housed in a new glossy black casing that's slick but prone to fingerprints.

Nokia seem to be focusing on the video capabilities of the N96 in its advertising. But as well as being bundled with a copy of the sci-fi blockbuster Transformers, the phone also has a great built-in version of the BBC's iPlayer.

Sadly, the N96's big new multimedia feature will be lost on British owners. The handset houses a DVB-H digital tuner for picking up mobile freeview channels, but no UK channels will be broadcast using the format until after the analogue TV switch off in 2012.

On the upside, there's a generous 16GB of onboard storage, plus a MicroSD slot allowing you to boost things further. The N96's camera retains the five megapixel resolution and same excellent Carl Zeiss lens of the previous model, but the autofocus has been improved while images can now be Geo-Tagged using the GPS.

The main bugbear of the N95 was its infamously poor battery, with many users complaining of having to charge the handset as often as twice a day. Things seem to have improved somewhat with the N96 and I managed to get just under two days of what I would consider moderate use.

While not a radical overhaul of its predecessor, the N96 benefits from sensible tweaks that make it a faster, more stable device. I'd recommend an upgrade if you're a fan of the N95.