If you thought MeeGo was dead now that Nokia is in bed with Microsoft, you’d be wrong. LG Electronics will be working on developing a version of MeeGo for handsets and it will likely develop a smartphone in the future.
LG is the third-largest handset maker in the world, so its backing breathes some life back into MeeGo. If you don’t remember, MeeGo came about when Intel and Nokia combined the Moblin and Maemo to create a modern operating system to go against the iPhone and Android.
Many thought the MeeGo platform would be what Nokia rode to get back in the smartphone game in a big way but it apparently wasn’t good enough, so the world’s largest handset maker went with Windows Phone 7. That didn’t stop Intel though, as the company still wants a platform that can get it in the mobile space in a big way.
LG has committed to help making a version of MeeGo for handsets but it isn’t diving in with both feet yet.
“At this point in time LG has no definitive plans to mass produce devices with MeeGo other than car infotainment systems,” an LG spokesperson told Reuters.
LG should bring some serious handset expertise and up-and-coming ZTE has also committed to the platform but I don’t know how long it will take to make this competitive. I got an early look at an alpha version of MeeGo on a tablet at Mobile World Congress and it was just sad. It was slow, laggy, the multitouch wasn’t implemented and it was nowhere near the level of the competition.
That one was extremely early version so it’s tough to be too harsh but I’m not sure if this can be better, or even as good as iOS, Android, webOS or even QNX. Let’s see how this turns out.
[Via Reuters]