In the Face of Android, Why Should Nokia Stick With MeeGo?

[lsolano]

from /.

http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/10/10/24/0414213/In-the-Face-of-Android-Why-Should-Nokia-Stick-With-MeeGo?from=rss

this is a question I've been asking myself lately.

[Dave999]

More alternatives is always better, for one thing. Don't want to be in a market with only one OS.

[etuoyo]

The author of the article threw away his/her credibility by saying Nokia had abandoned symbian 3 and 4 efforts when that is clearly not what has happened. Finds it difficult to take them seriously.

Also let's wait to see how well N8 does before deciding that Nokia is dead in the smartphone sector. I suspect globally it will sell just as good as many of the high end android devices (though personally I prefer the android devices to symbian).

I suspect the article is about Nokia becoming a force in the Us smartphone sector. Globally they seem a force enough even with crappy devices like N97. Nokia is not going to be a force in the US with symbian. It is just too ugly for that. Let's give Meego a chance before we say Nokia needs to embrace android. However, even if Nokia's meego phone fails in the US I suspect it will be a success globally so why would Nokia need Android even then. The world is a far far far bigger place than the US, contrary to what many in the US seem to think.

[andyfrommk]

AFAIK MeeGo and maemo are the most free/libre operating sytems for mobile devices which is a major selling point for me.

I sat through a presentation on why and how to root your android device, all those man-hours spent getting it into a state where you can code your own apps could have been spent coding your own apps

[mbo]

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=62665

"using Android is like pissing in your pants for warmth"

[richwhite]

Android isn't that great, it has lots of annoyances for me and f nokia ambrace it they will have nothing to separate themselves from the other manufactrers, plus as has already been said, one OS is not the way forward. Consumers want choice and diversity.

[Mandibela]

Where the hell does one find news that Symbian Foundation is quitting? Please?

Oh yeah, and Symbian Foundation != Symbian...

[tissot]

Nokia gets thrown alot these days and no doubt much of that is desereved also, but Nokia is still the giant in mobile industry and if somebody can have their own OS, it's Nokia and like they have said they don't wanna be under somebody elses control and that includes Nokia own services it got for Symbian and MeeGo.
MeeGo is also perfect OS to be thrown to many different kind of devices that no doubt is Nokia's long term plan.

And really who needs another Android manufacturer looking from buyers perspective? HTC and Samsung are already doing great job there.

I like my Galaxy S alot and the Android 2.2 that it got inside, but i'm honestly more excited about MeeGo.

[perus]

IMO we need MeeGo, just have a look at the current situation with Android (http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/06/ars-explains-android-fragmentation.ars
Even if they have this approach to minimize fragmentation it's a bit messy and if MeeGo makes it easier to use native code instead of some JIT compiled software that surely minimizes the overhead.

Both Intel and Nokia are experienced hardware vendors and that is important when planning a safe road map i believe.

Just take Skype as an example, in my SGS (yes it happened) it doesn't work with Android 2.1 and the official 2.2 is yet to be released - fun ehh?

/Per

[Mandibela]

IMO we need MeeGo, just have a look at the current situation with Android (http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/06/ars-explains-android-fragmentation.ars
Even if they have this approach to minimize fragmentation it's a bit messy and if MeeGo makes it easier to use native code instead of some JIT compiled software that surely minimizes the overhead.
....

And as I understand it, the thing is really to get the developers to do stuff that the end users will like. With MeeGo the dev's can do more with less work... The dev's are basically lazy, so the OS that lets them to do the stuff they want more easily, is the one they'll choose? Maybe?

[tzsm98]

Looking over your shoulder or looking foward is a choice Nokia has made. Adopting Android, and all the constraints, both in design and software implementation, that will bring is looking over their shoulder. Adopting MeeGo is looking forward.

Many of the complaints some people have about Symbian^1 are true also for Android. It is slow, quirky, inconsistent. This is the way forward? There is a reason 7/8 of the people buying smartphones do not choose Android.

Control of the OS is paramount to offering unique devices. Apple understands this. Nokia understands this. The tight integration between OS and device is what makes the iPhone4 such a sought after device by people who do not feel a need to tinker with their phones. MeeGo can have the possibility of offering that same tight integration and the ability to "look under the hood". Android, by design, offers a commonality among devices.

Going Android gives control to Google. Going MeeGo gives control to Nokia. Who has the deepest experience in buidling phones?

[erniadeldesktop]

yaawn...
there's no hope for new original content here in tmo?
tl,dr: same stale discussion of other thousands of threads.

[!!Nokia N900!!]

This Article is Bull-****. How come the symbian will shut down and just day-before-yesterday the CTO of Nokia stated , the future of Symbian^3 & MeeGo are starting Now..!!!!1

[ericsson]

Funny. A totally bogus article from a US blogger with no idea of what Symbian or Nokia is all about, and it is full action :D

Relax, the N8 is a hit, and Nokia will sell more units of this device than all the other "high end" androids and iPhones combined. Nokia will survive. Symbian will survive, and MeeGo will survive.

The end is near, and the end is good, for now :)

[qgil]

You can extend the question of the subject of this thread beyond Nokia to any device vendor. Why would they go for Android once MeeGo is consolidated?

You are invited to check and contribute to http://wiki.meego.com/Community_Office/Marketing/MeeGo_vs_Android

[lunat]

Hmm,

realy can't say with whom they should stick. i can however say that i do want a choice(whereever possible) what runs on my phone.
meego did a very good job examining the phone and producing open/ free solutions for this phone.
good thing as i now can use their work and put on my phone whatever i want. good thing to have a choice.

if you look around in this forum you see what great work many people here did. they only could do it for nokia didn't restrict them as much as with other phones.

so it's no so much if android or meego is the better choice. it's giving people the freedom to choose instead of making the decision for them. great things happen if you let them. not everything will find its way into mainstream. but that doesn't matter. what matters is to have a choice.

[GeraldKo]

Why would [device vendors] go for Android once MeeGo is consolidated?


Makes sense to me! Assuming that Meego is as good or better an OS compared to Android, if a phone manufacturer could have a true open source OS, hosted by the Linux Foundation, which helps "keep it honest," or an OS controlled by Google, why would the manufacturer choose Android? Or why would a vendor like a telecom want to cede more control to Google, or Apple?

(OK, it might choose Android because it offers spiffy stuff from Google, like voice recognition, coordination with GMail and Google Calendar, lots of third-party apps, ... So, can Nokia and friends provide enough spiffy stuff beyond the OS, as well as a superior OS?)

[maluka]

Original article (http://www.infoworld.com/t/mobile-platforms/symbians-dead-and-meego-wont-cure-ailing-nokia-659) is just FUD. Even the title is pure flamebait:

"Symbian's dead, and MeeGo won't cure ailing Nokia
Not-so-smartphone vendor Nokia must swallow pride -- and medicine -- and embrace Android or even Windows Phone 7"

[vivainio]

You can extend the question of the subject of this thread beyond Nokia to any device vendor. Why would they go for Android once MeeGo is consolidated?

Even further - what is Google gaining from keeping Android alive once MeeGo is consolidated? ;-).

[gerbick]

Even further - what is Google gaining from keeping Android alive once MeeGo is consolidated? ;-).

Android has already been adopted by more folks than MeeGo. That would be reason #1.

MeeGo's adoption rate will be what people will pay attention to. Well that and if it will get dumped, stopped, restarted, non-upgraded on a device like Maemo in an official manner.

Time to just wait and see what will happen in regards to MeeGo. Until the products start shipping, I'll remain hopeful yet skeptical.

[tissot]

Android has already been adopted by more folks than MeeGo. That would be reason #1.

MeeGo's adoption rate will be what people will pay attention to. Well that and if it will get dumped, stopped, restarted, non-upgraded on a device like Maemo in an official manner.

Time to just wait and see what will happen in regards to MeeGo. Until the products start shipping, I'll remain hopeful yet skeptical.
I'll sign that. I will more than probably buy MeeGo phone(s), but i have to be a bit skeptical about it getting big as MeeGo really do need that wow effect and we really haven't seen that for some time from Nokia that is afterall the one that will decide if MeeGo handhelds will fail or not.

It's no doubt a uphill battle for the MeeGo phone side, but in a same time there's lots of promise there too.

[niche]

Thou shalt not be fooled by the green goo of deception which masks the androids rotten grimace...