It's ALIVE! The N97 pre-order link on the Nokia USA website, which I reported on in an earlier post, is now active. (Click here to go directly there.) The site features a $699 price tag (contract-free, phone only), along with a freebie promotion for a Nokia Bluetooth headset. 
As PhoneDog reader jjbel01 mentioned in a previous comment, the N97 will indeed be available in Europe in June. (Actually, I hear it's landing in Spain first, but chime in if you've heard otherwise.) What does that mean for the prospects of a U.S. release?
Well, the gossip-hounds have been predicting the same timeframe here in the States, which could result in a near simultaneous launch across two continents. I?m skeptical about that, but it would be so sweet if it happens.
June looks like it's going to be quite the juicy month. With so many launch rumors pinned to the same time ? including the Pre, iPhone, Curve, Android i7500, and now the N97 ? some of them just HAVE to pan out, right?
[via Engadget]
CORRECTION: Props to Voldsom, the eagle-eyed commenter who spotted that the pre-order webpage actually lists an estimated ship date of July 2009. So that answers that. It is indeed arriving ? as jjbel01 posited ? after the European launch, but still in time for some summer fun.
