MeeGo: What it is and what it isn’t

Within the past month or so a lot has subsided, namely, Ricky Cadden (of Symbian-Guru) has decided to drop Nokia/Symbian and move to a Nexus One and the Android platform. This (and other things) has sparked a lot of talk concerning Nokia hardware coupled with Google’s Android platform. Kyron cleared a lot of air with his MeeGo article, explaining…what it is, and what it isn’t. I floated an article for some time and when it was finished – it sounded just like his. Great minds and all that, right? Well, this is my take on MeeGo. Part deux.

What do optical network switches, mobile phones, nuclear pulse analyzers, encrypted Finnish Defense Force telecoms, map/navigation systems and the worlds first GSM phone call have in common? They’re all part of an immense portfolio that Nokia has built up since 1865.

From the days of MikroMikko PC to the N770 Internet Tablet, Nokia has always been a player in markets that have yet to fully peak and reach consumer interest. Unfortunately by stretching out – your coverage starts to get thin and you aren’t able to divert resources to a single point of success (or failure) for an industry, like many other companies do. Apple gets kudos to their marketing and PR team who gussy up an old idea with a new design and seem to completely dominate whichever market they set their sights on. Many Nokia die-hards are concerned about Symbian and the direction that the company is heading in, hoping they drop Symbian, Maemo and MeeGo platforms in favor of Android – I’m here to tell you why this won’t happen.

Nokia has partnered with Intel, tossing a lot of their icebreaking eggs into one basket. MeeGo. At the outer larger branches, they still have handset development, network systems, Ovi (et al) services, software development and partnered sections of mobile phones. Too many resources have been poured into the Symbian Foundation to simply drop it and go Android. The issue with Android is that, currently, anybody can license and use the code on any hardware, with any front end and modifications – which will cause “UX dilution”. I’m talking about Sense, MotoBLUR and TouchWiz. Apple has done it right by controlling the hardware and software. Optimization and solidification is king. It’s a unified experience when you have complete control over what the user interacts with. Nokia has had this option for years, however seems to have failed at execution. S60 and S80 are the smartphone platforms, S40 for lower end devices. Maemo was tossed into the mix for Internet Tablets, now Symbian^N has been taking (unfair) criticism in the media as “dead in the water”. MeeGo is also now available for netbooks, handsets, infotainment/automotive guidance system and hopefully other consumer electronics. Nokia doesn’t only compete with Apple and Google in the smartphone market, they also have opposing services to offer.

In order for Nokia to be considered ‘successful’ in the western world, a single ubiquitous platform for consumers needs to be introduced; MeeGo. If you took the best of Maemo and Symbian, stacked a couple multi-billion dollar companies behind it and turned the dial to sic ‘em mode – you’d have MeeGo. This isn’t Nokia coming up from the back. This isn’t Nokia trying to break into the market. This isn’t Nokia trying to become relevant again. This is Nokia taking the reigns of their omni-directional, one finger in every pie, behemoth company and poising it to take over a complete industry that’s not really an industry. Technology.

Get ready for puns, because we’ve already got some of the most successful automobile manufacturers riding along. The worlds largest microprocessor company on board. The top in-car navigation and audio companies think it’s a sound investment. Who else wants in before MeeGo carpetbombs your platform? Now’s your chance to ride the tuxedo tails straight to the top.