Nokia launch new smartphones

Finnish giant Nokia has unveiled an arsenal of smartphones at London's ExCel centre at its annual showcase conference.

This comes hot on the heels of a change in top management, announced last week. Neither outgoing Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo nor incoming CEO Stephen Elop attended the event.

But Nokia still presented a strong front, hitting back at competitors Apple and Research in Motion by launching new phones with large touchscreens.

"For today it's all about here, and now. It's about three words. Nokia is back," said Nokia's Executive Vice President for Markets, Niklas Savander.

Nokia still controls around 40 per cent of the global smartphone market, but has lost out in the fatter-margin market for the most expensive phones.

The new smartphones E7, C7 and new version of the C6 - in addition to the N8 that was previously announced - will go on sale before the end of the year.