First MeeGo Smartphone Was Cancelled by Nokia, Second One to be Shown Soon!

While Nokia is struggling to define itself and its smartphone platforms moving forward, Reuters is reporting that the company had cancelled its first MeeGo smartphone device. There were a number of leaks in the past for Nokia’s MeeGo device, which many have referred to as the Nokia N9. MeeGo is the jointly developed scalable operating system by Nokia and Intel as a result of folding their respective Maemo and Moblin OSes into the new project.

It’s unclear why Nokia had cancelled its unannounced MeeGo smartphone at this point. In recent days, the company is rumored to attempt to forge an alliance with Microsoft or Google to utilize an established OS as a stepping stone in defining its mobile strategy, which could potentially mean that a Windows Phone 7 or Android Nokia phone could make it to market this year. Whether this has anything to do with the first MeeGo smartphone’s cancellation is unclear. In the past, prior to its recent CEO change, Nokia has stated that it was committed to both Symbian and MeeGo, stating that it didn’t want to join Android because it didn’t want to be just another one of Google’s hardware manufacturers vying for consumer attention.

A strategic partnership with Microsoft to use Windows Phone 7 in the interim is seen by many as being more likely than an Android effort given that the company has praised Windows Phone 7’s unique UI approach in the fast. Current Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is also a Microsoft alum.

According to Reuters,  a second MeeGo device, which thus far is in development and not yet finished, may be shown off at the company’s Capital Markets Day or Mobile World Congress. A lot is up in the air with Nokia and which software platform(s) it will use, support, or adopt in the short-term. The company makes excellent hardware, but many find Symbian to be lacking the polish and user experience that is expected after the launch of iOS and Android devices.

Via: The Nokia Blog