Nokia may not be making smartphones with MeeGo Linux anymore, but a new company is hoping to keep the open source, Linux-based mobile software platform alive. Jolla plans introduce a new smartphone running MeeGo-based software later this year.

Nokia N9 with MeeGo
Nokia N9 with MeeGo

MeeGo was formed when the Moblin netbook operating system and Maemo smartphone OS merged a few years ago. Nokia was the primary backer of the project, but Nokia pretty much dropped the platform after releasing the Nokia N9 smartphone. Instead, the Finnish company is now partnering with Microsoft to release devices running Windows Phone software.

Jolla isn’t just a group of enthusiasts hoping to keep MeeGo alive though. The Jolla team includes folks that worked on the Nokia N9, including former directors of the project.

MeeGo isn’t under active development anymore, with much of the action now focused on the the Tizen Linux operating system, which emphasizes web-based technologies. But there is an open source continuation of the MeeGo project called Mer, and Jolla’s new phone will include software based on both MeeGo and Mer. It will Jolla’s own custom user interface.

Jolla is based in Finland, and has been working on its new phone since late 2011.

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2 replies on “MeeGo isn’t dead yet: Jolla plans to launch smartphone with MeeGo software”

  1. p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; }

    Meego is the natural evolutionary successor to Windows and iOS.

    It cannot be stopped.

    Meego is the future, and now with Jolla, there is light for the future. The Jolla team is making aggressive statements regarding their MeeGo development. CEO Jussi Hurmola stated that they will be revealing a MeeGo-based smartphone later this year. They have been working on this project and the OS since the end of 2011.

    The Jolla project will go down in history as the first company to have a global market and fiercely loyal and passionate customer base even before their product is launch.

    The future of open source have just been reborn.

    Light up the darkness!!!

  2. Although I currently roll Android, as an owner of a Nokia N9, I’m happy for them. MeeGo-Harmattan is/was the most elegant of all the smartphone operating systems out there. Such a shame Nokia killed it.

    Still, they’ll have to cross a lot of hurdles. The “Harmattan” part of the N9’s Meego-Harmattan still belongs to Nokia, as far as I can tell, which means they still own the Swipe-UI. The Joola team can find a way to prize that away from MS-Nokia, or build something better (which will prove difficult).

    There’s also the matter of hardware. They’ll need some sort of partnership with a handset manufacturer to get even a small foothold in the market. Plus they’ll have to worry about all sorts of patent-suits that’ll be thrown around if they become even remotely successful.

    Then there’s the entire matter of getting developer support. QT is a great toolkit and HTML5 looks better and better each day (even if not quite ready in terms of performance), but making convincing devs will require more than just a good development platform.

    Quite the long road, but I wish them all the best. Even if it does become only a hobbyist OS, I’ll still give them (along with Mozilla’s Firefox OS) proper attention. Been waiting for a native Linux (not a Java OS running on top of a Linux kernel like Android) operating system, secure, non-bastardized and light.

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