Windows Phone 8 unveiled

The Lumia launch was also the first proper look that we've got at Windows Phone 8, Microsoft's latest version of its radically-revamped smartphone operating system. Among some of the improvements are a more flexible and personalisable start screen; new camera features, which let you select different apps to control the image from within the camera (including "Blink Lens", which takes multiple images to get the best photo); and deep integration of SkyDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage platform, which lets you easily sync content across mutliple devices, including Xbox and Windows 8 PCs and tablets.

Microsoft's Jo Belfiore also announced that every Windows Phone 7 app will work on Windows Phone 8 - hopefully avoiding some of the version compatibility problems that apps on other smartphone platforms can sometimes suffer from.