That is a nice looking phone is right. I'm sure it won't be available on CDMA anytime soon. Still pretty sharp though.
Well, it's a tri-band GSM handset and as high-end as it is I would think that Cingular would get first dibs on it like they did with the RAZR. I wouldn't count T-Mobile completely out of the running but I'm about 75% sure that Cingular will offer this phone first when/if it is released in the US.
T-Mobile is more likely to offer the 8800 since the 8800 is a GSM 900/1800/1900 model. Cingular is probably going to offer the GSM 850/1800/1900 variant, the 8801. 8800: http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,8764,73095,00.html 8801: http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=747
Thought I would resurrect this thread. The Nokia 8801 is being released by TMobile Monday, 6/12, at least in the Boston area. Held it in the TMobile store on Newbury St. today (high fashion street, high fashion phone, for those not familiar with Boston). Price will be $559 with a 2-year contract I thought it was pretty, but quite heavy. I like the functionality of the slider. The D-pad is small and the select button in the center is very small for me, and I have small hands. The soft keys are rounded ridges just under the screen, which would take some getting used to. Wanted to test its EDGE/Web browsing speed but in 3 min of trying I couldn't figure out how to enter a URL and the sales rep couldn't help me. Going to T-Zones brings up a Search box, and the Options key doesn't have anything like "Go to address", "Enter URL" or equivalent. Strange... Needless to say, I won't be getting this, and neither will my wife who actually has TMobile. She's more interested in cool design than technology, but she wasn't impressed by the 8801, and especially not impressed by the price. As far as looks go, she liked the SLVR-like Samsung (T509) better.