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MeeGo Released To Developers
By: Bryan Young
Expert Author
2010-07-07
Last year, Intel and Nokia entered into partnership together in order to bring computing power to the mobile arena. To accomplish this, they have combined their individual mobile operating system software (Moblin from Intel, and Maemo from Nokia) to create a brand new Linux-based mobile operating system. It is named MeeGo, and an early version was released in the middle of last week to developers.
Nokia, the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, is looking to gain an edge in the smartphone market where it has lagged behind in recent years. This is not the edge of their vision, though. MeeGo will eventually be running in five different categories of devices: netbooks, handsets, media players, in-vehicle infotainment systems, and televisions. This cross-compatibility will serve as a marketing point, where having everything running on a single operating system means that you can take your apps with you on whatever medium you desire.
Unlike the Android platform, which allows some native code components, but must have a strong java base, MeeGo will allow applications to run fully native code. In order to write applications, developers must download the MeeGo SDK, which includes Qt 4.6.2, then develop their applications in C++. The SDK basically runs a virtual environment which emulates developing directly in the MeeGo OS, and gives access to all libraries available for an application to use. This opens up all kinds of doors to creating fast, strong programs for use on all devices running the OS. Distribution is also easy, as both the Intel AppUp app store and the Nokia Ovi app store will remain open and host public repositories.
It is unclear whether or not MeeGo will ever be as poppular or as widespread as iOS or Android operating systems. From the look of things, it does have a good foundation to grow upon. Nokia plans to release its first MeeGo running phone by the end of this year.
About the Author:
Bryan Young is a staff writer for WebProNews.
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