I believe that I have found the killer app for S60 smartphones — more on that in a bit; first, some deets about the N95 8GB that Nokia’s WOM World has graciously loaned me to review…

With their brand-new black N82 still in my hands I got another delivery from DHL — a UK spec (i.e. no North American 3G) N95 8GB. It took me all of three steps to get it playing nice with my MacBook:

1. Visit Nokia’s iSync page and download the appropriate plug-in;
2. Pair the handset to my Mac via Bluetooth;
3. Launch iSync and connect!

Total time for the above was maybe five minutes. Nokia should really be commended here for doing right by Mac users, and kudos to Apple as well for going with the SyncML standard for OS X.

And here it is!

It’s a little early for a final verdict, but so far I’m digging the N95 a lot more than the newer N82 I had last week. For starters, it’s a thick, chunky beast that looks every bit the part of a flagship smartphone. The screen has the exact same dimensions as the one on my E61i, and whereas the N82 hiccuped between portrait and landscape modes with its auto-rotate you’ll be guaranteed a nice full-screen portrait view by flipping the N95’s slider to the media player position. Very intuitive.

Unlike the N82 I had been trailing this particular unit was clearly not brand-new, and showed evidence of a well-known issue with the lens cover. However, I’ve yet to see any impact on photo quality in the photos I’ve taken. Head on over to my dedicated N95 Flickr set and judge for yourself.

One more thing about the camera: I haven’t missed the N82’s Xenon flash one bit, maybe because flash photography in general sucks. There, I said it.

Nokia also thoughtfully included their CP-235 Carrying Case with my unit. I can’t say that I recommend it, though. First off there is at least one report that it scratches up the phone’s faceplate. Second, there’s that needlessly fussy buckle used to close the case up. And finally, you don’t want to be caught answering a call with this thing, unless it’s International Talk Like A Pirate Day or something. Click here to see what I mean, but be warned: Unshaven blogger alert!

I’ve chosen instead to go with a standard cheap “crystal” case I got on eBay, though it doesn’t suit the matte black housing of the N95 as well as it would a handset with a shinier finish.

Okay, so here it is… I showed off my N95 to some buddies of mine at lunch today and the thing that got them the most excited wasn’t the big screen, dedicated multimedia keys or even the built-in FM radio — it was this silly freeware lightsaber simulator!

Since joining the ranks of satisfied S60 users almost a year ago I’ve been searching for that one thing I can quickly demo to win over the great unwashed. The enlightened among us surely know that the JeebusPhone’s beauty is only skin deep (until their SDK bears fruit, at least), but all that flicking, pinching and spreading makes for a great first impression.

Likewise, this latest incarnation of the N95 has made a great first impression with me. I’m still getting to know it, of course, but if anything’s going to woo me away from my E61i this monster of a handset is going to be it.

I just have to see if I can live without a QWERTY keypad for the next week or so…