Nokia has unveiled its latest smartphone – a handset based on the company's MeeGo operating system, not the Windows Phone platform the company hopes will turn its fortunes around.
Nokia recently agreed a deal with Microsoft to use Windows Phone 7 as its chief smartphone OS, but the company has admitted it won't be shipping Windows-based handsets in volume until next year.
The delay could prove catastrophic for the once-dominant company, which admits it has fallen behind Apple's iPhone and a host of manufacturers using Google's Android platform.
"I have increased confidence that we will launch our first device based on the Windows platform later this year and we will ship our product in volume in 2012," Elop said at an event in Singapore, in an admission that puts the development cycle for a Nokia/Windows phone at almost a year.
Tough sell for N9 handset
The announcement of the sleek N9 smartphone - the first and last handset to be made using Nokia's now sidelined MeeGo platform - was made all the more bizarre by the fact Nokia reiterated it wouldn't be backing the fledgling platform in the future.
"Our primary smartphone strategy is to focus on the Windows phone," said Elop.
With MeeGo already sidelined, the N9 looks destined to struggle, raised on a platform that developers and corporate partners might find hard to support.
"The N9 comes too close to the expected launch of Nokia's Windows Phone device to have any impact on its current smartphone woes," Ben Wood, head of research at London-based mobile consultancy CCS Insight, told Reuters.
"The strength of rival ecosystems leaves little room for MeeGo powered devices. It's difficult to see the N9 being anything more than a niche device - it will be a tough sell."
The N9 comes in 16GB and 64GB versions, each with a 1GHz ARM A8 processor, 1GB RAM and a 3.8in 854 x 480 Super AMOLED screen protected by Gorilla glass.
Nokia faces increasing pressure to get the Windows handsets into shops as soon as possible, with the company expecting to miss sales and profit targets, and shares falling by more than 50% since February.
This article originally appeared at pcpro.co.uk
