Yeah, I know.. I'm a helpdesk employee at a firm makind plasstic blenders, know the tecnique deeply. But now I'm on the other side of the barricade

I was referring to the hardware.

The case they advertised as "Coming Soon" on Tableteer is also a mystery. I understand why the firmware is taking so long, but there is no excuse for the case....

Good point.

Guess they're still testing

In most cases when they are releasing a new hardware device, say a phone, they are on time. But if we are talking about a software update...
2 weeks is just too long imo.

Let's say they had a deal with a software company which delivers them essential software to make the phone what it's supposed to be and they announced worldwide it will be released at the end of Q2/H1. But what happens if the software company doesn't keep its part to the deal and delays it with, say 2 weeks. That would be a disaster! Press releases, bad advertisement, 2 weeks no earnings. All on Nokia's conto.

Nokia wouldn't do any deals anymore in the future with that company, right?
Well, in this place, we are waiting for a promised software(update). Some already are complaining! So i fully understand when some people reconsider buying a Nokia in the future.
If this was about the N95 for instance, for SURE there would be negative attention/atmosphere around the device and Nokia. But because the N800 is known within a relative small group and apart of that not everyone is updated about a coming update in this group, this makes it not really important for Nokia to keep us happy. Although we believe in the N800 with its open character. They should at least "thank" us with some info and make us more attached to the device, making it better!

Maybe this seems like a flame or something, but it's just how i think about it and how i feel some others here are thinking about it.

Every company that deals with software gives themselves at least 2-4 weeks of leeway for exactly those reasons. if they think it can be done in 10 weeks, they say 12-14 so that if problems arise, as they always do, they have time ready for it. if it does get done in 10, they look good for delivering early.

I also worked for software development teams and what i learned at my university is that many many softwarecompanies or individuals never get their stuff ready before the deadline. That's because they keep adding things or change things and never stick to any plan. Well, i'm not going so far that the software team of Nokia isn't sticking to any plan, i'm sure they do, but there are ways to reach your deadline. Just implement the most important items (browsing), if time's left add some other functionality but if it's not working 100% we'll fix that the next time (like happened to Gtalk imo) and there are items which can be made in the future (WiMax for instance).

That's actually one of those ways which proved to work. Explained in basic form
It's just proper management to succeed. Maybe that's the issue here?

For the most part I agree with BlogQ. A well-managed effort prioritizes and ensures that minor issues won't delay a significant release. I won't speculate further on what led to the delay in question... I'm hoping maybe all may be revealed after the release.

I just wonder if conscious decision was made to ensure that release was not lost to the tech media with all the Iphone hype.........

proterra: Might be!
OTOH: I don't think a firmware release is in itself press release material. If it turns out to be great release, then obviously they can start maketing hype again (ask press to re-review the device and that sort of things.