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Due to arrive in March, Nokia delayed shipping its new business-orientated Eseries because of unspecified software issues. Well, it appears the mobile phone vendor has started to overcome these problems, as a spokesperson recently informed Reuters that it is finally delivering the BlackBerry-like E61 - with a thumb-keyboard - to customers.

When Nokia announced the Eseries delay early last month, it indicated the E61 communicator would most likely see release first, once software testing finished. They also said it would be available in large Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) markets first.

Nokia's Enterprise division's Pekka Isosomppi said, "First deliveries started late last week. It's gradually becoming available across the globe." PDAStreet guess is that these deliveries are to Nokia's carrier customers, so it may still be a while before end-users find the 'BlackBerry-killer' in their hand.

If Nokia sticks to its EMEA plans, it could even longer before the E61 makes its way to the U.S. Although the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which must okay all device that use U.S. airwaves, has already approved all the Eseries handsets for release in this country.

The Symbian OS, S60 interface E61 looks quite a bit like a BlackBerry or Treo, which is no accident. It is Nokia's bid gain better traction in the more lucrative entperise space, at the expense of market leader Research In Motion and others.

Key to any business smartphone is mob-e-mail compatibility. All Eseries models support several such platforms, including GoodLink from Good Technology, Seven Mobile Mail & Always-On Mail, Visto Mobile and Nokia's own new Nokia Business Center. They will even work with BlackBerry Connect, a service that allows devices other than BlackBerrys to leverage RIM's e-mail and data access solutions.

The E61 is a quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900) smartphone with support for UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System ) 3G, averaging 300 to 400 kbps data transfers over a compatible cellular network. It also offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Infrared and USB 2.0 connectivity.

It has a four-way joystick and QWERTY thumb-keyboard combined with a wide 320 x 240- pixel resolution, 16 million color screen plus 75 MB of RAM and a miniSD slot. It weighs 5.1 ounces (144 grams) and measures 4.6 x 2.7 x 0.55 inches (117 x 69.7 x 14 millimeters).

Full attachment handling (documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDF viewer and ZIP manager) and an editing function (document, spreadsheet and presentation) are included.

Nokia says all Eseries phones also support advanced voice features, such as Internet (Voice over IP) phone calls, Push to talk, and other SIP-based rich call solutions. In addition, companies deploying an Avaya or Cisco IP PBX can connect Eseries smartphones directly to their corporate phone networks, enabling functions like four-digit dialing and assisted call answering.

Still waiting in the wings are the E60, E71 and - possibly - the E62; a stripped down version of the E61 with more mass market ambitions.