It does sound good - it's nice to see that Nikon isn't abandoning the quality P&S market - but that choice of raw is going to be an issue for me. It can be developed in-camera, on a windows-only program that 'will be released in October', or with one of the bits built-in to Windows Vista. Until/unless there's solid support for it from other raw converters, I can't see recommending this as a camera for serious photographers.
The choice to include an ethernet port instead of WiFi is another odd choice.
The GPS is a great addition, and putting in a 28mm wide lens is excellent. Nikon does have some ground to make up, and this camera (oddities aside) looks like a good step forward.
I also do not understand why they did not implement NEF. They are following MS standard, so that I would imagine that other companies will be able to support it. I agree that I would not touch the camera, unless Adobe supports it. I am also curious about the noise. Most older gen Nikons (not D3, D300 and D700) are noisy and this is a small sensor with too many pixels. Both Sigma and Ricoh (my too other potential candidates) have a noise problem and i would not touch them. I would wait for a respected review that says that shooting at ISO 400 (at least) is still fine and that that noise is not just smeared away. Canon G9 with a wide lens would probably be a good choice for me. As the lenses are not interchangeable in these cameras, I do not care about the brand. The new generation of small advanced cameras with EV are not for me. I want an optical viewfinder.
Pavel