MeeGo Needs Intel Investment To SucceedMeeGo Needs Intel Investment To Succeed

Intel and Nokia are hoping to convince manufacturers to embrace their MeeGo operating system in future tablet-style computers and other devices. But at least one analyst firm says a far larger investment is needed to win the ongoing platform war.

Announced in February, MeeGo represents the first effort to build a scalable device and application platform that can span a variety of device categories while also providing manufacturers and Web service providers the freedom to change the platform and user experience anyway the wish. However, despite this flexibility, in the short term it's unlikely MeeGo will alter the momentum of vendor-driven offerings from Apple, Google and Microsoft, market researcher Ovum says. Those offerings include the iPhone OS, Android and Windows 7, respectively.

"From the perspective of most third-party developers, MeeGo remains an unknown and unproven quantity that is entering an already highly competitive and crowded landscape," Ovum analyst Tony Cripps said in a report released Wednesday.

Intel showed off a MeeGo tablet-style computer Tuesday at the Computex trade show in Taipei, Taiwan. The tablet featured a 10-inch touch screen and was powered by Intel's recently released Moorestown platform for smartphones and other mobile devices requiring low-power chips. At the heart of Moorestown is Intel's recently released Atom Z6 processor.

MeeGo combines Intel's netbook-focused, Linux-based Moblin platform with Nokia's cross-platform application framework, Qt. However, despite the strength of the technologies, computer makers haven't used MeeGo in significant numbers.

The platform's success will depend on how well Intel and Nokia can make the case for cross-platform Qt development, first on tablets and other non-smartphone devices, Ovum said. Developers will have to be persuaded that Qt's attributes make it a better platform than alternatives.

"Doing so may not prove easy, and will require considerable investment," Cripps said. "We have yet to see whether MeeGo and its backers have the stomach for the fight, but it would be wrong to write off its chances until we see the merchandise."