Nokia drops MeeGo phone before launch (Reuters) [LWN.net]

Nokia drops MeeGo phone before launch (Reuters)

Posted Feb 9, 2011 18:38 UTC (Wed) by b7j0c (guest, #27559)
In reply to: Nokia drops MeeGo phone before launch (Reuters) by Hausvib6
Parent article: Nokia drops MeeGo phone before launch (Reuters)

this seems likely, regardless of the wisdom. the new ceo is a former msft man, and msft desperately needs a partner for wp7, which is going nowhere.

this won't help nokia though, because wp7 is a platform that was never really anything to stand on, let alone burn. there are no apps. there is no cultural momentum. there is very little mindshare available after ios and android. microsoft has zero pull in the mobile market. if nokia makes the ill-advised decision to jump on wp7, it will only hasten its descent into utter irrelevance

Nokia drops MeeGo phone before launch (Reuters)

Posted Feb 10, 2011 14:25 UTC (Thu) by yaap (subscriber, #71398) [Link]

Elop now works for Nokia, and is seeing Nokia interest not MS interest. The fact that he was an ex-MS guy for a short 2 years makes sure he has good contact, but it would be naive to think he won't consider Nokia interest only.

And I don't think going WP7 is in their interest. They have a good long term strategy, who's not fast enough (Elop only complaint). They only need a quick fix, that can also address the low end.

So it seems to me Android is the best course for Nokia:
- already successful NOW (unlike WP7);
- good future target for low-end;
- leave room for Meego (with Android compatibility) for the high-end.

Android is moving from OS to development platform with the Dalvik ports. It will become the low-end common denominator for products. I would be surprised if RIM, HP/WebOS and Meego all didn't have their Android compatibility system at some point (see recent announcements).
Of course adopting Android may divert some developers from one's native environment. But I'm not too worried for Meego as:
- different demographic (Java vs. C/C++/whatever linux);
- linux roots make many port practical on Meego which would be cumbersome for Android. Android is kernel and a few utilities (DHCP client & the like), but is not a linux distro. And it's not in Google interest that it becomes one, and they want to draw you to their cloud.