MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — Linux fragmentation was further reduced today with the announcement that Intel Corp. and Nokia are merging their popular Moblin and Maemo software platforms into one, unified Linux-based mobile operating system called “MeeGo,” which will run on a wide range of computing devices from Nokia itself and others, including handsets, mobile computers, netbooks, tablets, mediaphones, connected TVs and in-vehicle infotainment systems. The move gives Nokia a new lease on life in some ways, as the No. 1 handset manufacturer has seen its market share chipped away by Apple’s iPhone and others. The merger also sets up a potential challenge to the meteoric rise of the Linux-based Android operating system.
The first devices are due in the market in the second half of the year.
“Both realize that the world is converging. Intel’s strength in the PC world and Nokia’s strength in the phone market are driving them to meet in the middle as the two platforms converge into super smartphones, netbooks and assorted network personal information appliances that share the need to connect to the Internet and utilize the cloud,” said analyst Jack Gold. “We see this as a positive step for both companies, and a direct assault on the emerging dominance of Google’s Android/Chrome OS (from Nokia’s perspective) and ARM’s chip architecture (from Intel’s perspective) in the smartphone and smart personal appliance marketplace. Is this ‘NokIntel’ alliance set to surpass in the mobile and personal appliance space what the dominance of the Wintel alliance accomplished in the PC space?”
If that turns out to be the case, it would be a major coup for Nokia. The doyenne of the cell phone world has been struggling with a device stable that has been incapable of harnessing third-party ecosystems very well for lower-cost devices. This would provide an avenue to tap the same cost-effective connected device opportunity that Google’s Android is taking on.
The alliance also gives Nokia a pincer movement opportunity; Symbian is of course the other OS that Nokia supports with its devices; recently converted to an open-source model, Symbian announced its own revamp today, aimed at being able to support device functionality for the next generation of upper-end smartphones. Between that move and MeeGo, Nokia has the ability to canvass the market, in theory.
