Nokia to buy out the their partner Symbian worth $411M. The reason for the purchase is to have a better control over the OS, which is being used in two thirds of all smartphones. It also sounds like a defensive move against other OS entries into the smartphone areas such as Linux based, RIM, Apple, Microsoft, and others.

In a research note, Avian Securities analyst Matt Thornton says he thinks Nokia is on track to deliver its first touchscreen device, the Tube, in the second half of the year–probably in the fourth quarter. This device, which has been pegged as Nokia’s answer to the iPhone, is both Java and Flash-enabled.

Thornton’s insight is timely, considering Nokia has been taunted for not having a handset that effectively competes with Apple’s 3G iPhone. When Apple CEO Steve Jobs debuted the 3G iPhone earlier this week, he took some swipes at the Finnish manufacturer by pointing out that the iPhone 3G managed to download a website in 21 seconds while the Nokia N95 took 33 seconds to load the same page.

Possible expected date is Q1 2009. Since this is a Nokia phone, we can only expect that the operating system will be Symbian.

Finally a touch screen phone from Nokia that is both Java and Flash-enabled to take on Apple’s iPhone. The code name is currently “Tube”.

The Tube will also be able to upload photos. While the handset maker did not disclose any details about the timing of the launch of the device, reports claim the company plans to launch it before the 3G iPhone drops, which could be as soon as 60 days from now, but is scheduled to drop before the end of 2008.

Forum Nokia’s VP Tom Libretto poked fun at the recent news that Apple had shipped between 5 million and 6 million iPhones to date: “We’ve done that [volume] since we’ve had dinner on Friday,” Libretto said. Apple later said that only 4 million iPhones shipped as of January.