The "lack" of 3G is debatable depending on your location. I agree that I wouldn't want to gamble with a phone that only has one of the two 3G bands, but I know from personal experience that UMTS 1900 is largely used in both Atlanta and Chicago and it works just like a phone with 850 out here.
This is going to be a typical Nokia launch. They claimed it will be out in the first half of 09, so they're going to do everything they can to make sure the first production units ship out the day before the 3rd quarter starts. That puts the date for decent availability and pricing somewhere between the middle of July to the end and then it's completely up to them when they want to ship the NAM version. As long as they still have the productions units out before the first half of the year is over, they've made their deadline.
And all of that is another reason I'm springing for the OmniaHD instead. The 8gb is starting to become available now for less than the N97 preorder, and by the time the N97 is out in full swing, we'll have seen a price drop and much wider availability on the OmniaHD.