Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

MeeGo adds developers, needs 'investment' to succeed

New environment must appeal to developers first

Less than a week after the MeeGo 1.0 netbook operating system was released by Intel and Nokia, six companies have announced support for the platform while a market analyst firm has called for a “major investment” if it is to compete with Apple, Google and Microsoft.

Since the 1.0 release, MeeGo has added Novell, Telefónica, UI design company Movial, netbook software provider DeviceVM and Chinese companies CS2C and Red Flag Software to its list of support partners.

They join existing big names like Cisco, Acer and BMW.

MeeGo is the result of the combination of Intel’s Moblin and Nokia’s Maemo operating systems and is aimed at handheld devices, including netbooks, tablets and mobile phones.

The MeeGo user interface is developed with Nokia’s Qt development environment.

According to analyst firm Ovum, MeeGo needs “major investment” to claim “the big prize in the battle of the platforms”.

In a new report titled Smartphone and smart device platform profile: MeeGo, Ovum principal analyst, Tony Cripps, said the volume and variety of devices on which MeeGo is deployed may prove meaningless unless the consistency in the underlying OS is matched by its ability to provide a true multi-screen application platform for developers.

“The reality is that Nokia and Intel need to sell more MeeGo devices if they want access to the potentially lucrative seam of tools, consulting, and systems integration surrounding cross-platform, multi-screen application development that Qt offers,” Cripps said.

That said, Ovum is generally positive about the MeeGo concept and thinks it represents the first concerted effort to create a complete, robust, and scalable device and application platform that spans an array of device types “while offering OEMs and service providers complete freedom to modify the platform and user experience as desired”.

“Its flexibility means MeeGo devices will likely become commonplace in a short space of time,” the analyst said.

However, Ovum doubts MeeGo’s ability to upset the “increasingly vertically integrated, vendor-driven offerings” from Apple, Google, and Microsoft in the immediate term.

Cripps said for the wholesale leveraging of Qt to become a reality, developers must be persuaded that it is a better cross-platform and cross-device application than existing alternatives.

“This is a big ask. From the perspective of most third-party developers, MeeGo remains an unknown and unproven quantity that is entering an already highly competitive and crowded landscape,” he said.

In the short term, Ovum believes Nokia and Intel should ignore smartphones and push the case for cross-platform Qt development in other devices. They can then capitalise on any successes to “cross-sell” the benefits of Qt development onto Nokia’s Qt-enabled smartphones.

“Doing so may not prove easy, and will require considerable investment,” Cripps said.

“We have yet to see whether MeeGo and its backers have the stomach for the fight, but it would be wrong to write off its chances until we see the merchandise.”

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

More about: 2C, Acer, Apple, BMW, Cisco, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Moblin, Nokia, Novell, Ovum, Red Flag Software
References show all

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: analysts, Intel, MeeGo, mobile linux, netbooks, Nokia, ovum, Qt
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • Think print, Think security - Plugging the printer security gap
    The widespread use of networked printers and multifunction peripherals (MFPs) which scan, print, fax, copy and email has increased productivity in the production of all types of business output. However, the growing sophistication of these devices has also increased security risks associated with printing. Network connectivity, along with hard disk and memory storage, means that MFPs are now susceptible to many of the same security risks as PCs and servers alongside the traditional risk of sensitive printed output getting into the wrong hands. However, all too often the security of the print environment is overlooked and little is done to mitigate these threats. Read more.
    Learn more »
  • Top Reasons to Implement an SOA Governance Strategy: A List for IT Executives
    Service-oriented architecture (SOA) has moved beyond hype to widespread acceptance as an IT strategy for delivering business value. SOA promotes the notion of modularity, providing overwhelming flexibility and superior economics for addressing business demands. However, undertaking the transformation to SOA is not without its challenges. If left unchecked, your inventory of SOA assets will become unmanageable; the reuse of services will diminish in favor of custom development; or even worse, modifications will be made to your existing services that break other business processes. The purpose of SOA governance is to help you ensure that this does not happen. This paper outlines the most compelling reasons for you to establish SOA governance within your organization.
    Learn more »
  • Aberdeen Group Analyst Insight Report: Does Your Enterprise Have a “Dropbox Problem?”
    Without policies, education, and officially supported alternatives for sharing files securely, end-users will often overlook security in favor of getting the job done by using free, readily available alternatives. Read this Aberdeen Group report to learn how top-performing organisations support business objectives of end-users while meeting security requirements and: The "Dropbox Problem" defined; Research findings on the changing characteristics of data; Characteristics to look for when evaluating enterprise-class secure file sharing solutions.
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.
Recent comments