Calm down guys, they did this for a reason. The similarities between Stingray and the N9 aesthetically is to obviously cut down in production costs ... the same reason why Palm and HP have been throwing that beautiful OS into the same hardware form factor with incremental updates.

I happen to like both actually ... but for a WP7 device I rather opt for a hardware keyboard version as it becomes available ... a N950 chassis with WP7 would be the ideal. The N9 is a one of a kind MeeGo device so I don't have a choice but to take it as it comes.

As for the limited release for the N9, that is what has me worried. Buying it is one thing but having to deal with support across borders is an arduous process not worth repeating. I also hate the idea of soft key's on a 3.9" screen especially when the bottom looks good enough to take touch based buttons ... I guess it still brings down the cost.

I believe this was an intentional leak pressured from MS to take the limelight of the N9. MS although could not possibly delay a product which is not their own when all they are providing is the software ... they can freeze the OS shipments but they can't do that on another line of OS and hardware. Anyone who would get into a contract of that sort is insane, and might as well outright sell the company to MS.

If the phone is ready Nokia will release it, but the main difference between the current release and past Nokia releases is the level of launch readiness that have achieved. The documentation, the optimized OS, the SDK's, the product website, the spec sheet have all been made available. The next is the marketing in attaining launch partners, promotional pricing, packaging, an inventory channel, and the localized ad campaigns if any. This I would assume to be in the span of 2 months before general availability. If the phone isn't released shortly then their is a problem. They crucially need to launch this phone during the 'back to school' seasonal summer shopping.