Finnish phone maker has launched a smartphone based around a technology which it dumped in February this year after signing a software partnership agreement with Microsoft.

The new N9 handset, which has an all-screen control, uses the MeeGo operating system. The model is available in black, cyan and magenta.

The commercial launch is expected to take place later this year, the company said.

Nokia head of design Marko Ahtisaari told The Telegraph, "The details that make the Nokia N9 unique – the industrial design, the all-screen user experience, and the expressive Qt framework for developers – will evolve in future Nokia products."

Nokia chief executive and ex-Microsoft employee Stephen Elop said he has "increased confidence" that the company will launch its first Windows Phone device this year.

"Our primary smartphone strategy is to focus on the Windows phone," Elop said.

The N9 is the first and probably the last smartphone from Nokia to run the MeeGo OS.

Nokia dumped the OS it had jointly developed with Intel in February.

Intel had called the move disappointing.

Intel said at the Mobile World Congress 2011 that Nokia’s open-source operating system MeeGo will continue.

Although the chip maker termed Nokia’s decision to stop work on it as "disappointing", it insisted that MeeGo "was not an Intel and Nokia effort; it was an industry effort".

MeeGo will be used across devices from tablets and mobile phones to televisions and in-car entertainment systems, said the company.