The tablets are, or were, research projects. Nokia has used them to take risks and develop new technologies and directions outside of their main product line. The selection of WiMAX made sense in that light.

Nokia wound up sitting on the WiMAX Edition units for too long waiting for Sprint to pull its act together though. And now it appears Nokia's decided the long term payoff potential of WiMAX is no longer worth the risk. Perhaps it's the world economy. Perhaps, if the Maemo 5 device is step 5, they've decided they don't want an unsuccessful N810 WiMAX Edition hanging around as they push Maemo mainstream next year. Perhaps, as a certain ex-Nokia person suggests, Nokia's retreating from the US market.