We will continue to speculate unless you post pictures.

Now this Gigabyte M528 is something that looks to have some real potential and a serious competitor to the NIT's, BUT only if they can sell it for under $400 or LESS.

The main thing I see that I like about it was NO NEED for a stylus, and the menu's and apps loaded quick, this is one of the main things that Nokia hasn't quite figured out or gotten in their heads yet.

Make it one way or the other, either go with a completely TOUCH interface or one that requires the D pad and a stylus, with a touch interface in second.

They had a shot at this with the N810 and again with the N810 WIMAX edition (which feels an awful lot like a MS Win ME move, nothing more then a quick money grab until the next release) and it seems they messed it up even more.

The NIT's just seem to have a split personality.

I don't think they are. But I also don't know if they'll deliver their 5th generation NIT in time to keep the MIDs from dominating the news and marginalizing the NIT.

Also, it is human nature to fill in an empty spot with something. Even something wrong. Gestalt is part of our basic thought processes. Even for those who know better.

Since 2 hours I know, the iPod touch is a competitor. And it's smaller too.

it is? without jailbreaking, today, I can:

I can use it to remote desktop to my macs at home and work via ssh+vnc?
I can type extensive notes on it via physical keyboard?
I can use it to fix servers at work via ssh?
I can download and build a huge library of software for it?
I can develop directly on it in python?
I can use it as a replacement for my personal unix box, customizing and tinkering with it at the command line?
I can use AIM, Yahoo IM, MSN messenger, and Jabber on it?

All of that is news to me. And yes, those are things I consider to be necessary for me to purchase a device in this category. When the SDK fixes some of that, and when Apple finnaly puts bluetooth on it, then I'll consider it to competition. And not one second sooner.

Well I personally find the overall secrecy surrounding the NIT advancement quite interesting, Nokia appear to be hoping that the NIT development strategy will creep up behind other Mobile OS/Hardware suppliers (i.e. Windows mobile) biting them in their fat behinds!

The only problem with this is both the high tech and general user fan-base, doesn't know whether to continue with NIT's or jump ship?

I read somewhere that around half of the iPhones/Ipod Touches have been jailbroken, so that argument is kind of moot. A more convincing one is that you don't lose your warranty with the ITT just by changing the software.

i'd get an EEE but i cant pocket that.
and yes the Pandora looks excellent on paper but looks terrible, wtf!?! what happened to aesthetic simplicity? Its like they took a whole lot of ugly and put it on the DS!

It's designed by people who cared about functionality, but not at all about looks. Also, there's a lot of patent problems regarding handheld devices. To summarize, practically everything bar a clamshell design has been patented by a company or some patent troll, and since emulation of older systems was almost #1 on the developers' list, a keyboard was mandatory.

I don't really understand what you mean by "aesthetic simplicity", but I don't see how the Pandora could have been made any simpler without seriously compromising functionality.

Personally, I don't give a flying fart about how my computers look; it's what I can do with them that counts.

Which is a noble enough goal, and how things should generally be, but it isn't really how things get bought though.
Presumably if they don't sell enough of these or no-one ports any software across* the platform dies, like so many before it, don't they?

People that play games as a primary goal seem more obsessed about apperance from what I see, they have those big tower cases with blue lights everywhere, and useless gauges. Games machines in general come in a variety of colours, which people seem to clamour for. The PSP seemed to get more popular when they redesigned the case a bit.

It seems to be pitching into a market where people are more concerned with form than normal.

* Excuse my ignorance on the pandora, apart from your sig I have heard nothing about them, so I don't know if there is already the software or what they run.