The video's pretty short (and we apologise for the weird lighting and clinking noises - hey, it was at an 'event', not a carefully staged studio!), but there are a few questions and answers well worth writing out in (abridged) textual form...
Why did Nokia choose AMOLED for the N8's screen?
The entertainment aspect of the N8 is as important as the camera side, and the richer colours and viewing angles of OLED were the clinching factor.
What about performance in sunlight?
The N8 has a 'new' AMOLED screen, that's 'definitely' better than previous AMOLED efforts from Nokia (e.g. on the N86). It's not known how it compares to Samsung's 'Super AMOLED'.
Why did Nokia go for a 3.5" screen rather than 3.7", the sweet spot for many other devices in 2010?
Not due to price constraints, but due to balancing of capabilities and design, with curved sides, overall phone width, the feel in the hand and the optimisation for one-handed usage (my emphasis).
Is the glass front made of 'Gorilla Glass'?
'Yes', it's highly scratch resistant. (I got the feel that Damian wasn't 100% sure that Gorilla Glass - explicitly - was used, though)
Why is the N8 taking so long to market?
Nokia is just making sure the product is 'right', there is still optimising and fixing going on. I did ask about doing some test photos with the Xenon flash but was asked not to as the camera algorithms were still being tweaked and Damian knew that results would improve significantly before official availability.
How does the pixel size compare to that in the camera in the Apple iPhone 4?
Pixel size is roughly the same, but the much larger sensor means that this is maintained over the full 12 megapixel resolution. Even at 1:1 crops, you won't be able to see digital noise in most circumstances.
How does the digital microphone system work?
There are two fully digital microphones, one optimized for recording in front, by the camera, the other for ambient audio. It's 'Pretty incredible to deal with subtleties of birdsong but also pick up clear speech from the main subject'. Audio from your video is encoded at 128k 48kbs AAC in stereo.
Presumably the fact that digital microphones are used means that the N8 can cope with a wider range of sounds without distorting (e.g. at a rock concert')?
Yes, when you have a very high continuous audio level, the digital microphone system will adapt so that (e.g.) the music remains clear and similar to how your ears hear the source in real life.
Thanks to Damian and Ray Haddow for their help in making the brief interview possible and for allowing us significant access to the N8 - look out for more on this device from the AAS team over the next month or so.
Steve Litchfield