Nokia N9 and MeeGo will be supported and updated 'for years'

Nokia has given the Nokia N9 a shot in the arm, by committing to the phone and its condemned software MeeGo for 'years'.

The N9 will be the only phone to run the MeeGo operating system, leading many to think that the otherwise decent-looking phone will be dead on arrival. But Nokia boss Klas Ström tweeted that the Finnish phone flingers "will support #NokiaN9 for years AND release several SW updates... #nottoworry :)".

We'd like to see the N9 do well: it's an innovative button-free piece of kit, and the MeeGo software looks great in our hands-on video. Hopefully some of the better ideas involved will find their way into the forthcoming Nokia Windows Phones.

The first taste of Nokia Windows Phone is the Sea Ray prototype, which appears to be moulded from the same DNA as the N9. Perhaps the N9 is less of a sideshow to Windows Phone and more and of a dry run.

Nokia-loving CNET UK readers have rallied around the N9, making the perfectly reasonable point that most smart phone users change phones every two years or so. Some also suggest that a lack of apps isn't that big a problem, but we'll have to agree to disagree on that point: apps are the lifeblood of smart phones. Technically the N9 can run Android apps but it's unlikely Nokia will go down that route, having already rejected Android once.

Ström later tweeted about how developers can make N9-friendly websites, but we wonder how many website-builders will bother.

All this may be academic here in the UK anyway, as it's not been confirmed that the N9 will even come to these shores. Despite Nokia's commitment, none of the networks have embraced the phone, and dear old Blighty is noticeably absent from a list of countries where the N9 is set to launch.

Is this enough to make you consider an N9 or is this too little, too late? Offer your support in the comments or on our Facebook page.