Nokia has confirmed that it is ditching Symbian in its top of the range mobile phones, opting to go instead with its new OS; MeeGo.

"MeeGo running on high performance devices, will deliver a wealth of Internet, computing and communication experiences with deep Ovi service integration. Going forward, Nseries devices will be based on MeeGo”, said Nokia in a statement to Pocket-lint.

The move comes as Nokia gets ready to launch its final Symbian^3 powered N series handset; the Nokia N8.

The Nokia N8, which features a 12-megapixel camera, is expected to be available by the end of the summer, however Nokia hasn't said whether the handset will be updatable to the new OS.

MeeGo, first announced at Mobile World Congress in February is born out of a merging of the Intel Moblin and Nokia Maemo software platforms to form one new platform that will be available on phones, TVs, tablets, and laptops.

At the time both Nokia and Intel "bigged up" the new OS, the company's only real announcement at the trade show saying that "the open software platform will accelerate industry innovation and time-to-market for a wealth of new Internet-based applications and services and exciting user experiences".

That "time-to-market" is expected to be by the second half of 2010.