The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release [LWN.net]

The MeeGo handset user experience project has announced the "day 1 release" of its code. "The MeeGo Handset Day 1 image is provided as a community developer preview and we are in a very early and active development state. While we don't recommend installing it on your primary phone just yet, we invite all developers who are interested to have an early look using a development device." More information can be found in the release notes; there's also a number of screenshots available.

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The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jun 30, 2010 17:59 UTC (Wed) by tzafrir (subscriber, #11501) [Link] (3 responses)

Aava Intel and not Nokia ARM?

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jun 30, 2010 20:01 UTC (Wed) by sumC (guest, #1262) [Link] (2 responses)

From the first link "Hardware adaptation support for Intel Atom-based handset (Moorestown) and ARM-based Nokia N900"

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 1, 2010 3:14 UTC (Thu) by csamuel (✭ supporter ✭, #2624) [Link] (1 responses)

I think what he means is that you can only download images for the Intel platform, for the N900 you can only build your own (currently at least, no idea if that's going to change).

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 1, 2010 13:08 UTC (Thu) by sumC (guest, #1262) [Link]

Its there http://repo.meego.com/MeeGo/releases/1.0/core/images/meeg...

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jun 30, 2010 18:18 UTC (Wed) by jeroen (guest, #12372) [Link] (2 responses)

From the screenshots I get the impression that they are cloning the iPhone UI instead of basing it on the maemo 5 UI of the N900. That's a pity, because the maemo UI has a lot of nice things, such as widgets, a task switcher where you see all your currently open programs with a small window, etc. that make it really nice to use.

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jun 30, 2010 18:28 UTC (Wed) by shmerl (guest, #65921) [Link]

MeeGo's demo for tablets looked nice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4vv7yFaqxw

It's hard to tell from these screenshots whether handset UI is a minimal version of tablet one, or something significantly different.

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jun 30, 2010 23:40 UTC (Wed) by dilinger (subscriber, #2867) [Link]

I thought the "handset people" and "handset messages" screens looked very much like Android (which I find frustrating, because I dislike the Android UI quite a bit).

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jun 30, 2010 20:46 UTC (Wed) by jebba (guest, #4439) [Link] (1 responses)

...still can't charge the N900 battery...

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jun 30, 2010 23:34 UTC (Wed) by Lovechild (guest, #3592) [Link]

I am excited, though I wish there were instructions on how to install it in a dual boot scenerio (like NITdroid). That would make this a lot easier. Since one installs the preview and MeeGo has package management I assume that will take care of updates unless stated otherwise in upcoming previews.

I think the new UI looks very spiffy and since I am generally a bit unhappy with my N900 I would love to try it out as it evolves. Hopefully it will improve on Maemos weakness such as proper google account integration, the poor mail app. I like the look of things and look forward to seeing how things turn out.

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jun 30, 2010 23:46 UTC (Wed) by b7j0c (guest, #27559) [Link] (13 responses)

its just like android and iphoneos....without the apps or a real phone or a carrier or users

nokia and rim continue to waste more time developing platforms no one will ever care about. i used to think that if they jumped on the android bandwagon, it might keep them both relevant...but the asian OEMs and motorola seem to be producing new android phones weekly. one wonders what rim and nokia would even bring to the table now. most of the people i know working in mobile go out of their way to tell me they are short both RIMM and NOK. easy money when you see where the smartphone market is headed

cue the predictable parade of replies telling me rim still matters because they sold a lot of phones in 2007.

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 1, 2010 3:10 UTC (Thu) by csamuel (✭ supporter ✭, #2624) [Link] (7 responses)

The important thing is to try and make as open a system as possible - Android is all very well but the open source version cannot access the Android Market or the Google APIs because those parts are not open. :-(

It's a bit like saying in the early '90's that Linux was all very well but it had no apps or users and there was this great thing called Unix that had both - and we know how that one ended..

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 1, 2010 16:59 UTC (Thu) by b7j0c (guest, #27559) [Link] (6 responses)

look i am a card-carrying freetard too. don't get me wrong, i want open-source end-to-end and i am even willing to be a fascist about it.

but i am also a realist. if you want to blunt the orwellian future of iphoneOS, which is frankly set to become the windows of the next twenty years, you need something realistic that people can use now. meego doesn't have a phone or a carrier. android can be used now and doesn't require users to slum it with ghetto phones or carriers.

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 1, 2010 19:01 UTC (Thu) by jdave23 (guest, #27160) [Link] (1 responses)

"Card carrying freetard"? I have to call Troll on that.

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 4, 2010 17:10 UTC (Sun) by bronson (subscriber, #4806) [Link]

It was obvious humor. And it's bizarre watching a guest trying to label a subscriber a troll.

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 1, 2010 20:15 UTC (Thu) by sumC (guest, #1262) [Link] (1 responses)

Are your seriously saying N900 is a ghetto phone or that Nokia and Intel(wrt to tablets etc) are going to release crappy handsets?

Nokia's intentions with MeeGo is to only use them on its high-end devices. Carrier subsidies are important but mostly in the USA. In Europe and I think the rest of the world most phones are sold unsubsidized, since it's cheaper in the long run.

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 5, 2010 14:46 UTC (Mon) by trasz (guest, #45786) [Link]

Nokia specializes in releasing crappy handsets since 2003. They even have problems with figuring out which side of the device "Cancel" is supposed to be on, or with making speaker mode work properly (both noticed on E51).

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 2, 2010 7:57 UTC (Fri) by jku (subscriber, #42379) [Link] (1 responses)

"fascist freetard", huh?

You keep mentioning these doomsday scenarios where no-one is building phones on MeeGo when Nokia has explicitly said they will. In fact they've recently stated that N8 will be the last Symbian based N-series phones.

Regarding the carrier mess: Carriers are an issue for Nokia in the States but that doesn't seem to be related to the operating system... you will have to explain why the carriers would be more willing to accept Nokias terms on other OSes than they are with Symbian/Maemo/MeeGo if you want to make a point out of that.

The important thing, comparing the user experience with the competition, will of course have to wait until there are products out but your baseless talk at this point makes me think maybe it was you who shorted NOK :)

disclaimer: employed by Intel

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 2, 2010 12:42 UTC (Fri) by jku (subscriber, #42379) [Link]

Actually, it seems the status of Symbian is not as gloomy as I thought: just a couple of days ago Nokia PR director explicitly said Symbian won't be used anymore on N series but then today Vanjoki wrote that Symbian 4 is a possibility.

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 1, 2010 6:29 UTC (Thu) by togga (subscriber, #53103) [Link] (3 responses)

Think about it in another way. Smartphones gets more and more of PC features as they become more and more powerful. They'll pretty soon have 1080p out, you can connect keyboard/mouse through bluetooth/usb/ and you'll constantly have broadband connection.

Soon, we will be able to dock it when we come home or to work and use it for standard office applications. You may want "phone"-view on your data when you're mobile and "office"-view on your data when you're in the office - this might even be two different apps.

MeeGo is going the upstream way with standard components which will be a much better fit to get the "office"-view working with the standard applications you use today. Easy installation of ordinary packets used in distributions today may become a reality as well as execution of Android applications.

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 1, 2010 16:03 UTC (Thu) by martinfick (subscriber, #4455) [Link] (2 responses)

Agreed. In fact, we might be able to classify today's "smartphones" as dumbphones soon (including all the apple devices). Afterall, they aren't really that smart, just smarter than yesterday's phones. Compared to PCs, they are dumbed down limited application appliances. They will always have a place (just like today's simpler "dumb" phones will), but there will also soon be a market for true smartphones. I suspect that Meego is much closer (or at least more easily adapted) to that future smartphone model than any of the other smartphones today.

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 1, 2010 16:42 UTC (Thu) by klbrun (subscriber, #45083) [Link] (1 responses)

I am not so sure that there will be a huge market for smarter phones. The desktop PC market did not get going until the spreadsheet program convinced small businesses and consumers that they needed a computer. The killer app for today's smart phone seems to be watching youtube videos; I can see the development of a smart phone into a video camera / video editor / video uploader device in addition to video streamer. But I don't think the majority of people want a general purpose computer in their pockets, with attendant worries of viruses, upgrades, etc. They expect a new mobile platform every couple of years, but they don't change their desktop devices that frequently.

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 4, 2010 22:07 UTC (Sun) by klbrun (subscriber, #45083) [Link]

Of course, the other killer app for today's smart phone is the app store.

The MeeGo Handset Project Day 1 release

Posted Jul 1, 2010 13:28 UTC (Thu) by RCL (guest, #63264) [Link]

If Android supported writing native programs as easily as Maemo does... I would switch to it. Meanwhile, Android is promoting freaking Java and its hardware platform is not well defined. Not worth targeting with multimedia applications.