Nokia N97 UK Release Date Leaked By Play.Com? Nokia Tight-Lipped

Whilst, officially, the Nokia N97 has not been given an exact launch
date in the UK - Nokia merely suggesting that it would be released
sometime in the first half of '09 - it would seem that, if the N97
product page that's appeared on Play.com is to be believed, those
waiting for the much anticipated touchscreen N97 won't have much longer
to wait.

Whether by accident or design, Play.com have listed the Nokia N97 as
'Due for release on 31/03/2009' with the handset having already been
listed as available for pre-order for just shy of pound sterling480
(unlocked) - though, as you'd expect, Nokia have neither confirmed or
denied that their N97 will indeed begin shipping to UK consumers on the
date specified by Play.

For those unacquainted with the GPS/HSDPA Nokia N97, the device comes
with a 3.5' 16:9 aspect ratio 640 x 360 resolution TFT touchscreen
display supporting handwriting recognition, integrated accelerometer
sensor (allowing the screen to auto rotate according to its
orientation), a slider-style QWERTY keyboard, comes with 32BG of
integrated storage capacity (expandable by a further 16GB courtesy of a
microSD memory card), a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Tessar lens
and dual LED flash, stereo Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS functionality paired
with Nokia Maps.

Of course, it could transpire that Play.com have merely jumped the gun a
little in terms of the purported UK release date of the N97 but, until
Nokia chimes in with a denial, we wouldn't bet against it as it
certainly slots neatly into Nokia's otherwise wholly vague comments
concerning its availability.