Nokia N900 smartphone now available in the US

In the battle for the hearts and wallets of smartphone owners in the U.S., there’s a reigning champion platform, an up and coming competitor, and a handful of former champions whose stars appear to be waning. Then there’s Nokia: a mobile phone company that has been narrowly holding onto its number one mobile market share worldwide but whose top of the line smartphones haven’t seen much traction in the U.S. thanks to a lack of subsidized offerings from American carriers.

Although the new N900, which began shipping last week in other parts of the world and today comes to the U.S., continues that unsubsidized tradition, there are a number of reasons to pay attention to the device as part of Nokia’s strategy to boost visibility in the States and shore up market share losses in recent years to Apple and Research in Motion’s popular BlackBerry lineup.