When the N900 was announced, just prior to Nokia World, Nokia specified a Q4 shipping date. Early pre-orders suggested the first retail units would be available in late October, but this is no longer the case. However we now have, direct from Nokia, some extra information: Peter Schneider (Head of Maemo Marketing) has posted in the talk.maemo.org forum that the N900 is 'expected to start shipping in November'.
Pre-order dates from Amazon, Nokia Shops and other Internet retailers have been updated and now suggest a mid-November date as the most likely candidate for the first retail shipments.
Even with the November shipping date it is likely that widespread availability will take a little longer. The N900 will ship first in a number of Nokia's key markets.
Operator availability is often a little later than SIM-free availability. A number of operators have stated intention to range the N900, but, given the nature of the device, it may receive less widespread operator availability that is typical for Nseries devices.
