Troubled former rubber boot maker Nokia is going to rush its first smartphone using the Microsoft Windows platform later this year. Vole's man abroad, Chief Executive Stephen Elop has announced that Nokia will begin to ship the models in volume in 2012 but it should be out in time for Christmas.

Nokia's primary smartphone strategy is to focus on the Windows phone, Elop told a telecom conference in Singapore. He provided few details on how he planned to arrest a slide in Nokia's market share, other than waving the Microsoft deal around. Elop has promised a turnaround in the company's fortunes so it looks like he really is betting the farm on his deal with Steve Ballmer.

Yesterday, Nokia also unveiled its new N9 smartphone, the first and last to use the MeeGo platform, apparently this will be in the shops later in the year. The N9 model,comes with a large touch screen and is available in black, cyan and magenta. Nokia pulled back from MeeGo four months ago.

It will all be too late to stop the slide from the top for Nokia. It is expected to lose its place as the top phone maker to Samsung this quarter. Next quarter Apple will be the number two spot next quarter and Nokia will be pushed to third.

Nokia's market value has plunged by more than half since February. Elop has compared the company's market position to a man standing on a burning oil platform. Yeah, we have had days like that too.