Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop said this week that the company is sticking with Microsoft's Windows Phone platform, and promised to unveil a new smartphone using the latest Windows 8 software soon. Nokia's new Windows 8 smartphone may be launched in early September, ahead of rival Apple's expected unveiling of its next-generation iPhone.

Once the world's biggest mobile phone maker, the Finnish company is now fighting to keep its head above the water after losing considerable ground in the highly competitive smartphone business. Nokia is due to hold its Nokia World trade show in Helsinki on Sept. 5-6, just before an Apple event scheduled for Sept. 12, where the U.S. tech giant is expected to announce a new iPhone.

Nokia did not detail what it plans to announce at the Nokia World 2012, but business magazines expect it to unveil the new Windows 8 smartphones. Meanwhile, Elop did not deny a September launch for the new devices, and said that Windows 8 smartphones would arrive "relatively near term." Elop's comments boosted Nokia's shares up 7.5 percent, after having traded near all-time lows.

Windows Phones have seen limited success so far, but Elop pledged to fight the current smartphone war using Microsoft's software. Elop moved to Nokia from Microsoft in Sept. 2010 to lead Nokia's battle against Apple and Samsung, which now dominate the smartphone market. To this end, in early 2011 Nokia finally decided to ditch its Symbian software in favor of Microsoft's Windows Phone in an effort to catch up to rivals.

"I don't think about rewinding the clock and thinking about competing elsewhere," Elop told reporters, as cited by Reuters. "In today's war... (between) Android, Apple and Windows, we are very clear, we are fighting back with the Windows phone."

Nokia continues to fight for relevancy after slipping to third place earlier this year, trailing behind Samsung and Apple in smartphone unit shipments and market share figures. In the second quarter, the Finnish company lost 1.53 billion euros and sold only 4 million Windows phones, a fraction compared Apple's sales of 26 million iPhones and Samsung's 50 million smartphones.

"Our smartphone future is in Windows Phone," reiterated a Nokia spokesperson.