I would not at all be surprised if Maemo 5.5/6 featured a high-end "phone" at the top of the heap. The signs point to it, Nokia all but says it in action, and frankly, its a smart thing for them to do to maximize their Maemo stake.

The 5800 is definitely a phone for the masses, its not a power-user device, nor is it the device Nokia wants to use to push Ovi to the "market influencer" bunch of folks.

That being said, the N97 sure does seem like it should have been an IT. Design language, hardware, timing. It seems less like the other N-series devices and a lot more like what we would have seen from an "N900-like" model.