I was surprised to learn today, that the N97 is going to launch in black only, on Vodafone UK. The impression we were given, was that this was across the board for all operators. But the presentation was Vodafone focused, so we may well see a white N97 on other networks, perhaps even an exclusive on o2 perhaps?

This also doesn't mean Vodafone won't ever stock the white N97, it just means if you're a Vodafone customer and an early adopter, you're not going to get a choice of color.

If it's any consolation, Vodafone are bundling MD-8 Music Speakers with their handsets. During the demo, we had a chance to see or hear them in action and for their size, they sounded pretty decent.

Obviously you can still get hold of a white N97 sim free, direct from Nokia, but not everybody has £600 spare to buy a new phone or even a pocket computer as Nokia would put it.

When Nokia began taking pre-orders for the N97, we noticed Nokia US listed a stylus as coming packaged in the box, whereas Nokia UK didn't. Perhaps Nokia UK had just forgot to mention the stylus?

A couple of our forum members had wrote in and asked me to find out for sure whether or not the UK N97 will ship with a stylus, sadly, the answer is no, the UK version definitely isn't shipping with a stylus. The Nokia rep said the N97 was easier to operate with your fingers, which obviously beggars the question, why does the US version come with a stylus?

Personally, I'm a little disappointed, not because I really wanted a stylus, but because I'd have liked the option. Certain tasks such as handwriting recognition are going to be somewhat difficult with your finger. However, because the screen is reactive rather than capacitive, it means you can use any old stylus should you really need to.

Today I had the pleasure of watching a small presentation by Vodafone and Nokia in London.

Both Vodafone and Nokia confirmed the 26th June as the expected UK release date. The marketing campaigns are all geared towards that date too, so sorry folks, an early release is highly unlikely, at least for the UK.

The handset on demo was an early hardware prototype but running the latest firmware, which we were told still isn't the final production release.

What this means for the US, I really don't know. Rumors are still running wild amongst the blogs for a June 2nd release but as far as I'm concerned, there's no solid evidence, yet. It will be an interesting development, should Nokia choose to launch the N97 almost a month earlier in the US than the UK.

Yesterday, with a little help from my good friend Matt over at Omio.com, I got an invite to the Nokia N97 demo day with Vodafone and Nokia. It's in Tower Hill London, which is just a 40 minute train ride from me which is even better.

The demonstration will be on Wednesday 27th May at 11am and will last about 2 hours. I'll be taking my camera and camcorder, finally get to test out my new toy, filming my future new toy, bliss.

I have no idea what to expect, but I'm excited. I'll do my utmost to find out as much juicy info as possible, assuming there's any left! But feel free to pass along your questions and I'll do my best to get the answers.

Wish me luck!