Intel, Nokia merge Moblin and Maemo into single OS
updated 01:10 pm EST, Mon February 15, 2010
Intel, Nokia create MeeGo from Moblin, Maemo
Chipmaker Intel and cell phone manufacturer Nokia on Monday announced they will merge their respective Moblin and Maemo mobile device operating systems into a single OS. Dubbed MeeGo, the companies plan to have the Linux-based platform running a plethora of devices including smartphones, tablets, netbooks and in-car entertainment systems as well. MeeGo will be hosted by the Linux Foundation, and apps written for it will be available both through Nokia's Ovi Store and Intel's AppUp Center.
Development of said apps will be done in Qt, and will build on the Moblin core OS and Moblin users' feedback. Writing one application will also allow it to be used on other operating systems, including Symbian.
Not many specifics about MeeGo were offered, but the founders promise Internet, computing and communication capabilities along with multitasking, multimedia and high-performance graphics playback.
MeeGo is the product of the partnership between Intel and Nokia that started last May. It was known as the oFono project.
Moblin is also Linux-based and powers some smartphones and netbooks with Intel Atom CPUs. Maemo most notably can be found on the Nokia N900 smartphone and the sixth generation of the software was expected for release later in 2010.
MeeGo is said to show up in the spring, with the first devices running on the platform due later this year.
