Nokia's newest and oft rumored "Luna" is finally getting its turn in the spotlight and oh how it shines. This Series 40 phone features quad-band GSM / EDGE, a 2 megapixel camera, translucent smoked glass slider over the keypad, and Nokia's first use of a micro-USB port. Of course this isn't just any Series 40 handset -- OK, well maybe inside it is, unless of course it's rolling with the 5th gen release -- this is top of the line stuff -- at least where price is concerned -- and you will be paying $700 for the luxury of picking one up. The 8600 handset is crafted from stainless steel and glass, and that glass bit, plus the price, is just the ticket for lakes of giant crybaby tears if one of these guys ever hits the pavement. No word on carrier availability yet, but with release planned for sometime in Q2, we have plenty of time to fill in those blanks. Oh yeah, check the gallery below for some more sweet shots.

Yo, Nokia, anyone home? One of the world's largest independent retailers of cellphones is thoroughly outing your 8600 here, and you seem to just be sitting idly by without an official announcement in sight. No bother; we guess the important thing is the phone, not the announcement -- we're just not totally used to it going down this way. As a refresher, the 8600 (codenamed "Luna") looks to be Nokia's newest piece of high-end envy, likely slotting in just below the 8800 Sirocco to satisfy the needs of the "I can't quite afford a Vertu" set. Carphone Warehouse's preorder site confirms that it'll have a 2 megapixel camera, 128MB of onboard storage, media player with integrated FM radio, A2DP, and a quadband GSM radio -- refreshing to see after North America got slighted with the Sirocco's tri-band internals. Depending on the selected O2 plan, prices range from zilch all the way up to £299.99 (about $596). For a phone this attractive, we're really liking the sound of "free."

It gets scooped, scooped, and scooped yet again, but we still don't have official confirmation from Nokia that this thing even exists. Still, it's pretty undeniable that this point that the 8600 is the real deal, and Mobile-review has a pretty official-looking pic now to prove it (not to say the prior in-the-wild shots weren't enough). Oh, and some critical details, too: we can apparently expect Series 40 (what else), a 2 megapixel cam, QVGA resolution on the display, and -- disappointingly -- quadband GSM topping out with EDGE data. With what appears to be a press shot floating around the 'nets, it can't be long now before we hear something official.

[Via Unwired View]

Nokia can position this thing as a lower-end sibling to the 8800 if they so choose, but we've gotta be honest, this thing is shaping up nicely -- as in, "we'd rather have this one" nicely. These here are the first live shots we've spied of the rumored 8600 "Luna," a slider with a trick translucent cover and a shape that roughly mimics the older (and allegedly more expensive) 8800. For one thing, having S40 on here in its very latest incarnation is a huge boost to its lust factor, and the huge display doesn't hurt either. Let's hope the Carphone Warehouse has its wits about it and it really will be launching before too long, shall we?

[Via Just Another Mobile Phone Blog]

Nokia's generally pretty good about making sure it breaks the news on new handsets before the FCC does. Not Apple good, but still good. Imagine our surprise, then, to find that the rumored 8600 "Luna" has managed to make its way through the FCC gauntlet this week. It's not enough, apparently, that retailers are already trumpeting its existence -- no, even the FCC is going to break the cover on this one before Nokia does. Hey, whatever, that's cool with us. Not much here to look at, but we can confirm that the phone offers up both GSM 850 and 1900 plus EDGE, offering a level of US compatibility that its flashier big sib, the 8800 Sirocco, has failed to do. Still no word on a release, but we're going to go ahead and set up a tent outside our friendly local flagship store in (excessive) anticipation.

The rumored Nokia 8600 "Luna" just got a lot more real now that a suspiciously similar twin is teasing us from the Carphone Warehouse site. The site dubs the phone the Nokia High Fashion because it's "so new it doesn't even have a model number." Sure, whatevs. At least they know that it's "coming soon" with an "on-screen menu system," 2 megapixel camera for photos and video, MP3 player, and 1GB of built-in memory. It's also likely to be sporting Series 40 under that sliding, semi-transparent hood. Nice.

[Via Stuff.tv]

Could this devilishly winsome Nokia device be the successor to the much loved (but grossly overpriced) Nokia 8800, the rumored (and potentially cheaper) Nokia 8600 "Luna," or something else entirely? It's clearly a slider, but we lack pics of the business side of the device to get a feel for what it really has to offer as far as keyboard and other goodies go. Also no word on specs dates prices or carrier info in here, folks -- this is purely eye candy -- but we will hopefully see more of this little mystery in the not so distant future.

[Via Just Another Mobile Phone Blog, thanks David and Yogev]