Nokia may be working on an 8 megapixel Nokia N-series camera phone for 2008, if this new patent is anything to go by. Not that we should be surprised by this - 2007 has already seen 5 megapixel camera phones become the norm for high end phones, while 3.2 megapixel cameras have made their way down to the mid-range. As such, 8 megapixels is simply the next level in the progressions of pixellage.

More details after the jump.

What's great to see with this new patent, though, is the innovative position of the camera.

Rather than the traditional camera phone approach of placing the camera lens on the back of the phone, the new Nokia patent shows the camera on the side of the phone (similar to the position of the Nokia N93).

What's more impressive though is the huge 8 megapixels of the camera. Given the quality of Nokia's 5 megapixel camera phones (such as the N95), an 8 megapixel camera phone should really start to compete with dedicated digital cameras.

No more news on when (or even if) this phone design will be released, but given the pictures in the patent rather than the usual block diagrams that are used in patents, it does suggest that Nokia are serious about this phone, and we could possibly see it in 2008.

[Source: Mobile Review]