MeeGo will continue for now says ASUS

Rich Fiscus
30 Sep 2011 15:17

Intel may appear to have moved on from MeeGo, but ASUS isn't ready to ditch the mobile OS just yet.
Intel announced their plan to move on from MeeGo and support the upcoming Tizen mobile OS. Like MeeGo, Tizen is based on Linux.

In reality, the timing of their announcement probably had more to do with taking a shot at Nokia, their former MeeGo partner, who released a phone running the OS just two days earlier. Tizen also happens to have the support of Nokia rival Samsung.
ASUS Technical Marketing Manager Gary Key told PCMag.com reports of MeeGo's demise are greatly exaggerated, or at least premature. ASUS released a MeeGo based netbook, the Eee PC X101, earlier this month.

Key also says he expects Intel to release MeeGo 1.3 on schedule next month.

That's not to say ASUS plans to stick with MeeGo indefinitely. He said:

I actually think it is a good thing as there are some real positives with MeeGo, especially for its intended audience, but with full support from the two Linux foundations and additional technical support from the Hardware Council, it should be a very viable player in the sub-$200 market next year.

Of course, there will be some challenges for Tizen to overcome, not the least of which is the short lifespan of MeeGo. Many developers and hardware vendors will be leery of investing in Tizen until its clear it won't share MeeGo's fate.

For developers in particular, it won't be simple to move from MeeGo to Tizen. Where MeeGo features a more traditional application framework based on Qt, Tizen will be designed around HTML5 and other web technologies.

The flip side of that is that HTML5 apps should generally be more portable. HTML5 is well supported by most modern operating systems, mobile or otherwise.