That's according to Reuters, which claims that the long-rumored touchscreen handset—code-named "Tube"—will be unveiled in London next Thursday.

Nokia isn't commenting, but Reuters says it has a pair of "industry sources" who swear that come Oct. 2, the Tube—or whatever the Finnish phone giant ends up calling the thing—will become official.

Word of the Tube first surfaced back in April, and since then, details have come in drips and drabs. Most recently, tech site Mobil.cz snagged a leaked press shot of the Tube (above), while Unwired View has a new name—the 8500 XpressMusic—plus a litany of purported specs, including 3G HSDPA access, Wi-Fi, a 3.2-inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi, GPS, and a 3.2MP camera with auto-focus. It's a sure bet that the Tube/8500 XpressMusic will be powered by the Symbian OS—which, if you remember, is getting teed up by Nokia as an open-source competitor to Google's Android platform. Pretty nice, although I'm guessing that the handset will arrive in Europe and Asia well before it makes landfall in North America (think 2009, at least).

Nokia's pretty late to the touchscreen party—besides Apple, you've also got LG, Samsung, and HTC shipping their own touchscreen handsets. Then again, Nokia makes some of the best cell phones on the planet—thanks in no small part to the sleek-yet-powerful Symbian operating system. Stay tuned.

[Photo credit: Mobil.cz]

Related:
Nokia to unveil touch-screen phone next week: sources [Reuters]