Like most people who read a lot about the wheelings and dealings of our beloved Nokia, I am excited at the prospect of the next generation of Maemo, because I think that there is very little wrong with Maemo5 and I thoroughly enjoy using it, but everything (just like Dr. Who) needs to be upgraded and improved upon. Sure, it's a shame Nokia ditched it so quickly, and that the Ovi experience for N900 users is somewhat limited, and updates are few and far between (and now done as far as Nokia are concerned).

But Nokia make great hardware. Just take a look at the video comparing the build of the E7 with the HTC Desire! I wouldn't buy the Desire based on this video alone!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WFbWTLTygI

So here's the question: knowing that Android is doing so well out there, what is so wrong with having maybe just one, top-end Nokia handset released with Android? This would be in addition to a future, top-end Meego phone, and of course with Nokia continuing Symbian for cheaper models. That way, if Meego doesn't do so well afterall, Nokia can concentrate on high-end expensive smartphones with a popular and reliable OS that USA carriers will be happy to promote.

As a Brit now living in the US, it seems to me that few buy a phone based on one factor, such as model brand. It's (now) a very important trifecta of Carrier, OS and Model. Not many people know about the N900 here, because it isn't the norm to shop on Amazon for a $500+ phone with no discounts, buy a sim card and arrange a plan with T-Mobile / AT&T. Most people either wander in like zombies to the Apple store and walk out with the iPhone, or they wander in like zombies to any carrier-branded store and walk out with a Samsung or HTC. And why? Because that's how they do it here, and you can't blame them.

Having Android on board would allow 'the masses' to get on board with a quality Nokia handset, and the $$$ help keep Nokia in the game.

The rest of us? We carry on enjoying our Maemo powered N900s, or the Meego powered N9, should that ever exist.

Android sucks

Well, nothing WRONG with it, but big companies don't like to settle on using a platform that another one controls. Google, Nokia, Apple and Microsoft all have their own operating systems and related stores and other junk they want you to use. These guys don't want to help each other out and release any devices that make someone else's stuff more popular. Hopefully some of the smaller handset manufacturers see the light of MeeGo and help it succeed while increasing their own profits! They at least have a lot to gain by switching to a more open OS. But the big companies really only care about profits, and they've already maximized them by locking you in to their devices and stores. Giving that up would really be a big step back, so they will continue to throw all their efforts behind their own platforms.

I see the problem with Nokia making an Android phone in the simple way of the world then thinking Nokia is a "Hey, me too! Me too! I want to play too!"

Let's face it, the majority people in the USA are sheep. (I should know, I've been a wolf among them all my life).

Android itself is kind of crappy. I had a Motorola Cliq for a short period of time, before I saw the N900 and bought it. It seriously is leaps and bounds cooler than any Android phone.

Android is to me, a stop gap between being a full on iPhone wannabe and a locked out Linux box. Sure you can open up freecell on it, and maybe play with the screen saver, but not much under the hood you can do. Rooting the phones are always a pain in the butt. Or just different between model.

So I say, why bother?

But it really comes down to Nokia (and many of their fans) not wanting to be just another "Me too!" which is partially why I believe they named it "MeeGo." See the nice play on words?

slaapliedje

I think that MeeGo is just a truncated Amigo and your "nice play on words is not clever.

As for Americans being sheep, I don't see us as being more sheeplike than other nationalities. Baah.

There's really no point. Android is going after the exact same market that iOS and Windows 7 are -- people who just want to buy a tiny box with lots of pretty graphics and neat little apps. And Nokia already has Symbian for that.

MeeGo (like Maemo) is qualitatively different; a MeeGo device is a computer, not just a media display box or a gaming console. The n900 is the latest in a line of "internet tablets," not the latest in a line of high-end phones. If the concept of a hand-held computer just doesn't catch on, Nokia can simply go back to continuing to upgrade Symbian, and the vast majority of cell phone users won't care in the least.

I think there are at least a few of big downsides to Nokia releasing some Android phones. First, and most obviously, their software team would then be supporting three operating systems, and their efforts will be further diluted. Secondly, Nokia explains its simultaneous support of both Symbian and Meego by arguing that Qt-everywhere means that all their smartphones will present a single API, so their phone lineup really isn't fragmented, from the perspective of app developers. But Android meshes poorly with the Qt-everywhere philosophy. Thirdly, there is wide speculation here and everywhere else on the net where Nokia is discussed, that Nokia is going to abandon Symbian and Meego and adopt Android or WP7. If Nokia does actually start shipping Android phones, many app developers will see that as the start of an inevitable All Android strategy for Nokia. Would you bother writing commercial apps for Symbian and Meego when Android is growing rapidly, has already passed Symbian in market share, and Nokia has started building Android phones too?

I think Nokia must either abandon Symbian and Meego, or stay away from Android.

They won't make an android phone because for nokia, using android would be like
"peeing in your pants for warmth in winter"

Real wolves don't have to announce what they truly are. In fact, real men don't have to say a thing. They just are acknowledged as being something more than just a person that's taking up space.

The jury is out on you; especially given such comments.

If the Americans are such "sheep", then it means that the previously higher selling Symbian in Europe meant that the amount of sheep noises from there should have been deafening.

However, neither is the case. Nokia and the Nokia fans (and/or self-proclaimed wolves) don't want Android on Nokia because it would be going against their much known culture of being the master of their destiny in all regards; OS inclusive.

Going to Android would be them giving up some control to Google. And as it stands, they have viable options and reasons to avoid that if only they would focus properly.

Anyway, such outlandish comments I still find amusing. Carry on...

2011 will be quite a defining year for Nokia in this smartphone market. Android is ubiquitous, on your friends' phones, advertised on TV, subways, bus stops etc. Money talks and ***** walks. If Nokia can't pull a rabbit out of the hat this year (a rabbit wearing a Meego bowtie?), I can only expect their smartphones sales to continue to dwindle, while everyone and his wife buys iPhone 5 and Android phones. Nokia will rank nowhere near 1st and will have to settle with the releasing the kind of phones your parents think are cool.

I understand the problems Nokia would face releasing an Android powered device, and I for one would not rush down the street to buy one, but if it's easy money for them, surely as a business strategy, should they completely ignore it as an option?