WOMWorld/Nokia just sent me a a previously un-released video of the E7 along with a message that the E7 will be shipping “very soon”. The short clip (below) features Nokia designer Shungiro Eguchi speaking about some of the design ideas behind the phone.

Update: the video has been taken down.

I spent some time with the E7 at Tech.Ed Europe in November and was very impressed with the phone, especially the form factor and keyboard. It manages to pack a four inch screen and a very good hardware QWERY keyboard into a sleek all metal body scarcely any larger than that of the N8 or iPhone.

A pocket-able device with both a touch screen and a physical keyboard is my preferred form factor.  Touch screen keyboards are OK but I find myself typing much faster and with greater accuracy on a real keyboard. The E7’s keyboard is one of the best I’ve used on a phone. There are four rows of large, well spaced keys that have a decent amount of travel and very good tactile feedback.  The keyboard also has directional arrow keys, something that I consider essential for text editing and clicking tiny image links in the browser.