So seems to be a repackaging of an app so that it becomes a 'normal' maemo/meego application!?
Then what is the difference with something like https://build.phonegap.com/ ?
That requires applications to be written entirely in HTML/CSS/JavaScript, so is basically just packaging websites up as applications.
I believe this kind of service will grow up fast because there is a need to decrease the cost of development while the number of platform is increasing.
Ok a difference is that it may target Maemo but if this is costly for developpers (and it will probably be), then the chance to have anything available for Maemo is small.
That'll depend on their licensing terms. The usual method for this sort of technology is a flat license fee (either one-off or annual) plus a per-unit royalty. If the license fee itself is low enough then we could soon see developers interested.
Realizing they are being ****d big time, IBM did a last-ditch effort with their own OS/2 3.0 Warp, even tried to combat the lack of native apps by embracing Java (getting on-topic, woo !).
...
OS/2 tried to gain traction from an existing ecosystem through compatibility not once, but twice, and both times failed horribly, exactly because of lack of native 'killer application' momentum.
I remember this to be somehow different: IBM never targeted end users. Instead, IBM was an old-fassioned company that used to shell "computers" (using the term just like it was in 1980's) to large organizations and enterprises like banks, governments etc. They almost always used to shell both the hardware and the software.
OS/2 failed mostly because IBM never cared about end-user adoption. They did not consider end-user bugs (like the infamous single-message-queue problem). Technologically-wise, OS/2 was far superior to windows, providing true multitasking, great VM management, pure object-oriented interface and other great things that were later adopted by other OSes and became the de-facto. For example: OS/2 supported windows applications, it had most GNU libraries, there was a native X-server (making it possible to run linux apps) and the then-famous 'bochs' emulator was ported to it, making it possible to run MS Windows in a window under X under OS/2 (yes... they irony).
However, since IBM never supported end-users and since they were selling their own hardware, they never had drivers as a priority. Supporting foreign hardware was not an issue (after all, in their minds, they were the old great IBM) since they were providing the hardware as well. When windows 95 came out with 'plug-and-play' every user's life was made easier and every hardware manufacturer jumped in. No more user-based IRQ, DMA and I/O port configuration.
OS/2 Warp was just the dying breath because IBM only cared about its own world and its own customers. When their customers started using other hardware, OS/2 died. In fact, they were very very lucky because windows supported their platform. Else IBM could have died a quick death when windows were adopted, just like famous unix manufacturers (digital, sun, etc) did.
Who are the owners of the Myriad, does someone know?
Maybe it has been "clear" to them from the beginning, Nokia will license Alien Dalvik to every Meego-phone. There has been "dubious" spin-off companies from Nokia before also.
The first Meego-phone would have critical mass of working applications at once. Later then time and evolution mechanisms would tell if Android- or Qt-platform would dominate, or both.
Who are the owners of the Myriad, does someone know?
From the press release:
Myriad was created from the combination of industry leading companies, Esmertec and Purple Labs. It operates worldwide, with offices in Switzerland, France, UK, USA, Mexico, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia. Headquartered in Dübendorf Zürich Switzerland, Myriad is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX Symbol: MYRN). For more information, please visit www.myriadgroup.com.
