On February 15, 2010, Intel and Nokia, announced joining their existing open source projects (Moblin and Maemo respectively) to form a new project called MeeGo, hosted at the Linux Foundation.
MeeGo is a Linux-based OS built for the next-generation of computing devices. Different from other mobile OSes, MeeGo is a truly open source platform that includes the core OS, UI libraries and tools, references user experiences for multiples devices and applications, a standard set of APIs across all target device types and the flexibility to support proprietary add-ons. MeeGo supports a magnitude of mobile client devices (Handsets, Connected-TVs, In-Vehicle Infotainment, Netbooks and Tablets) and provides choice and flexibility to create and deliver a uniquely differentiated service offering.
MeeGo is aligned closely with upstream projects and combines development resources towards a unified platform that supports multiple device types (handsets, tablets, netbooks, connected-TVs, in-vehicle infotainment systems). It requires that submitted patches also be submitted to the appropriate upstream project and be on a path for acceptance. As a result, a large number of upstream projects will benefit from the MeeGo contribution.
MeeGo offers a complete and optimized software stack, from the kernel to the libraries and middleware components up to reference UX implementations, along with a rich cross-platform development environment and tools.
MeeGo has a very active community that consists of more than 12,000 participants registered at MeeGo.com contributing source code, QA, documentation, translation, etc.
MeeGo offers equal opportunities for all industry players to participate in the evolution of the software platform and to build their own assets on MeeGo and offers differentiation abilities through the customization and branding of the user experience. Furthermore, it offers the ability to participate in the evolution of the software platform, and other Linux mobile and desktop efforts will benefit from MeeGo’s work.
For application developers, MeeGo has a very attractive offering:
MeeGo also offers a compliance program to certify software stacks and application portability from the get go.
MeeGo supports multiple hardware architectures. Currently, ARM and x86 processors are supported with possibly support for additional architectures in near future.
MeeGo offers differentiation abilities through UX customization. You can use the reference UXs and customize it for your own brand or create your own UX.
The MeeGo open source project is unique in that it offers benefits to everyone in the ecosystem starting from the developer all the way up to the operator and the industry as a whole. Meego allows participants to get involved and contribute to an industry-wide evolution towards richer devices, to rapidly address opportunities and to focus on differentiation in their target markets.
The MeeGo project is a true open source project hosted by the Linux Foundation and governed by best practices of open source development. From meego.com, as an open source developer, you have access to tools, mailing lists, discussion forum, accessibility to technical meetings, and multiple options to make your voice heard over technical and non-technical MeeGo related topics. Furthermore, all source code contributions needed for MeeGo will be submitted to the upstream open source projects from which MeeGo will be built.
As an application developer, MeeGo significantly expands the market opportunities for you being the only open source software platform that supports deployments across many computing device types. MeeGo offers Qt and Web runtime for application development, cross platform environments, so application developers can write their applications once and deploy easily on many types of MeeGo devices or even on other platforms supporting the same development environment. Furthermore, MeeGo offers a complete set of tools for developers to create easily and rapidly a variety of innovative applications (see http://meego.com/developers/getting-started). The major advantage from this approach is having a single set of APIs across client devices. In addition, in this context multiple devices is much broader than just multiple handset for instance; MeeGo device types include media phones, handhelds, IVI systems, connected-TVs and netbooks. In addition, MeeGo application developers will the opportunity to make their applications available from multiple application stores such as the Nokia’s Ovi Store and the Intel’s AppUp Center. In addition, there is the opportunity of hosting the applications on other app stores for specific carriers carrying MeeGo devices as part of their device offering. These MeeGo capabilities, cross-device and cross-platform development, are major differentiator and offer huge benefits to the developers.
MeeGo helps accelerate time to market using an off-the-shelf, open source and optimized software stack targeted for the specific hardware architecture the device manufacturer is supporting. From a device manufacturer perspective, MeeGo lowers complexities involved in targeting multiple device segments by allowing the use of the same software platform for different client devices. In addition, as an open source project, MeeGo enables device manufacturers to participate in the evolution of the software platform and build their own assets for it through the open development model.
For operators, MeeGo enables differentiation through user interface customization. Although many devices can be running the same base software platform, they can all have different user experiences. Furthermore, it provides a single platform for multitude of devices, minimizing the efforts needed by the operators in training their teams and allows their subscribers to be familiar with the experience common to many device types.
MeeGo is a vehicle for fostering innovations through an open collaborative environment promoting exchange of ideas and source code, peer review, unifying development from across multiple device categories, and driving contributions and technical work upstream to the various open source projects. In addition, MeeGo is helpful for Linux as a platform as it combines mobile development resources that were recently split in the Maemo and Moblin projects into one well-supported, well-designed project that addresses cross-platform, cross-device and cross-architecture development. One major benefit from the MeeGo project is that all other Linux mobile and desktop efforts that use the components as MeeGo will benefit from the increased engineering efforts on those components. This is the power of the open source development model.