Nokia’s eagerly anticipated Tube phone could appear before Christmas. One of the Finnish firm’s executives has certainly confirmed that the company plans to launch a touchscreen mobile by the end of 2008.

Could Tube arrive in time for Christmas?

Devinder Kishore, Nokia India's marketing director, this week said: "We have been working on the Series 60 platform for touchscreen user interface, and a mobile device is expected to be launched by the year-end."

Kishore, speaking to reporters in India, didn’t mention any specific phones. But it’s reasonable to assume he’s talking about the Xpress 5800, which is codenamed 'Tube' and unofficially called the next iPhone.

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Nokia has already said that such a phone is in development, but until now the firm’s never revealed when it will be launched.

Nokia released pictures of Tube earlier this year, but said very little about the phone’s features, except that it’ll support Java and allow photos to be uploaded to the web.

It’s also been rumoured that the Tube – given the name – will be a telly-centric phone supporting the DVB-H mobile digital TV standard.