Without dwelling on specific models, I think the N9's only major weakness in its price class will be that there won't be a keyboardless variant out initially. Even though Nokia's been asleep at the wheel, everything indicates that the N9 is going to be a comeback device.

Android will no doubt continue to advance, but it won't be able to match MeeGo's architectural advantages. Google can't just turn around and switch to GNU and X11. They're stuck with Dalvik. Once MeeGo eliminates the remaining problems with Maemo's UI and commercial developers show up due to the N9, Nokia's offering will meet or exceed the competition in all aspects.

I think we can rely on MeeGo being open, for now. Lets keep an eye on how much DRM content providers demand on any new devices from any company, though. IIRC, Nokia has said you can turn off DRM if you're willing to refrain from purchasing encrypted content. As if that's a hard choice

Ovi, apart from Maps and Store, will probably still be mediocre at Christmas, but nobody's going to force you to use those services.