Closer look at MeeGo Linux for tablets

MeeGo is a custom Linux environment designed for netbooks, tablets, smartphones, and other portable devices as well as connected TVs and in-car systems. And while MeeGo v1.0 for netbooks just hit the streets last week, it looks like the developers already have a few other tricks up their sleeve. Yesterday we got a first look at a tablet running a version of MeeGo with a custom touchscreen interface. Today, we have a 7 minute hands-on video taking a closer look at the new UI, courtesy of Chippy at CarryPad.

You can find the video after the page break. But here are some of the highlights.

• There are two ways to launch apps, either using the iPhone-like program launcher with shortcuts, or a panel system that shows your personal data including movies, music, web pages, Facebook and Twitter data streams, and so forth.
• Under the hood, the OS is the same as the netbook version of MeeGo, but the user interface has been completely redesigned.
• You can switch between running apps by hitting a box at the bottom left corner to bring up thumbnails for running programs.
• The photo app supports pinch-to-zoom functionality.

One thing that I’ve found a bit strange in the netbook version of MeeGo is the fact that the so-called music player is responsible for all multimedia playback, including videos. That seems to be true on the tablet edition as well, since the demonstrator opened the music app to show off the tablet’s 720p HD video playback capabilities. Hopefully the developers will either create a separate video app eventually… or at least rename the software so that it’s called a media player instead of a music player.

You can check out Chippy’s hands-on video below.