Back in February 2010, two heavy weights in their respective fields, Intel and Nokia, came together to announce a breakthrough partnership in developing a brand new open source project known as MeeGo. Being an open source affair, Linux had to be there. In fact, it actually hosted the function.

Before you get to know about MeeGo, you got to understand where it got its genes from. Two independent open source projects namely Moblin belonging to Intel and the Maemo project developed in house by Nokia have singled out their best features to integrate them into the new generation MeeGo Operating system.

A Glance At MeeGo and Its Potential Capabilities.

Both, Nokia and Intel, along with the various independent development professionals working tirelessly on open source ethics and compatibility wanted to realize a Linux based system that can take interconnectivity between different devices to a whole new level. This includes not just the Smartphones but also the in-car devices, TVs and even the new Tablet PCs.

MeeGo creators point out a series of core functions that MeeGo is built to carry out. The significant ones are:

  • Optimizing performance as well as quality in terms of graphic rendering without having to walk a tight rope between the two
  • Providing a highly compliant internet standard that will allow mobile and other device users using the MeeGo UI to seamlessly interact with each other
  • User-friendly applications as well as OS experience that has the same base but can have varied user experiences based on the device being used

The MeeGo Handset UX (User Experience)

On the lines of the joint announcement, Intel and Nokia have released the “Day 1” for user experience relating to the cellular level “MeeGo Handset” project. This includes application-application interfacing using Qt as well as the Touch UI Framework. It also includes the basic bunch i.e. status bars, battery indicator, virtual keyboard along with dialer, SMS as well as Browsing applications. Underneath that is the MeeGo core OS as well as the Hardware support for Atom as well as ARM processors.

Just as any good open source software system, the baseline or initial handset source code was released under this ‘Day 1’ project. What this does, is give the viewers as well as developers the fist look at what any handset releasing late in October 2010 with MeeGo is going to look like. In fact, they (MeeGo Team) are so serious about the project that they are actually developing it to reflect in the form of the MeeGo ver.1.1 in the future.

The Hits and the Bugs in MeeGo Handset Project

There are a lot of cool features shown in this baseline version. From easier contact storage to searches and nice interactive application layers, like the folder type message service or the highly receptive picture browser, all show off the simplicity as well as the power of the MeeGo.

There are a few bugs that produce white screens on certain touch and command options. Nevertheless, these hiccups are a natural course for any open source product. In fact, by releasing the source code, the patches coming in from various developers will make sure that all problems are fully taken care of when the new Nokia phones as well as the Atom processor phones sporting MeeGo hit the markets later this October.