MeeGo

What is MeeGo?

The MeeGo project provides a Linux-based, open source software platform for the next generation of computing devices. The MeeGo software platform is designed to give developers the broadest range of device segments to target for their applications, including netbooks, handheld computing and communications devices, in-vehicle infotainment devices, smart TVs, tablets and more – all using a uniform set of APIs based on Qt. For consumers, MeeGo will offer innovative application experiences that they can take from device to device.

In short it is an open mobile operating system. Initially launched by Intel and Nokia, it was the time when the Finns were stumbling around in the shadow cast by Apple in search for a new smart phone and Microsoft was not quite the eligible bachelor then.

So it is puzzling why Nokia had actually abandoned MeeGo in the beginning of 2011 after one year, for the other suddenly eligible bachelor. What if the N9 becomes successful, would Microsoft find itself left at the altar?

Within a short time of the announcement of the N9, there seem to be a lot of positive response to the MeeGo interface, although technically the N9 is not a MeeGo product. The rest of the phone makers have adopted the green robot and unlikely to "unlike" the little droid too quickly, so would MeeGo still have a chance? Would we see a MeeGo tablet in the likes of N9?

Or perhaps meet the same fate as WebOS in the hands of HP's ex-CEO Leo Apotheker?

2011 seems to be the year where newly appointed CEOs abandon newly completed or nearly completed projects. From MeeGo to WebOS, TouchPad and even Halloween Parties. And they get paid how much for such failures? Ok sure, they get fired, but they still get paid ridiculously well.

For the curious, this guy has gathered a fair bit about Nokia and MeeGo, worth a peek.