14 DAY TRIAL // A few days ago, on October 3rd, to be more precise, everybody was thrilled because had Nokia finally launched the highly mediated and much anticipated Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, aka Nokia Tube. After months of hearing only rumors about it, Nokia fans could finally get their eager hands on the first full touchscreen device from the Finish company. Or so they thought, at least.
It seems that, after all, Europe and the US won't be getting the phone before the holiday shopping season, and not even after that. Why so, you might wonder. Because Nokia will first launch the phone in just a few countries. So, the best chance to get one before the holidays is to take a trip to the closest country in which it will be launched, depending on your location. The countries in which Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will be made available are India, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Russia and Spain.
Only good news for the people living in the above-mentioned regions, since not only will they be the only ones to get a Nokia Tube (meaning, well ahead the rest of the world), but they will also do so at a very good price. Word has it that the phone will be sold for about 279 Euros (or 387 US dollars), unlocked and unsubscribed. This, in turn, means that the Tube will be, with contracts and subsidies, cheaper than the iPhone 3G. This could make it a really strong competitor for Apple's device, you might say, but then again, we won't know for sure until it becomes widely available.
Offering the phone first on emerging markets might be a Nokia strategy meant to help it combat the iPhone but, for the rest of the world and the people here, it simply means that they still have to wait for a while longer until they can hop on the S60 Touch bandwagon.
Now, virtually the only thing left to do is to wait for the phone to be released in the US and Europe next year.