Handset version of MeeGo set for June 30 release

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) plans to release a preliminary version of its MeeGo platform for handsets on June 30, according to Valtteri Click here to watch Nokia’s Alberto Torres discuss MeeGo.Halla, director of MeeGo software at Nokia.

The release likely will provide details on the combination of Intel's Moblin and Nokia's Maemo platforms intended for phones, including images of the user interface and an SDK for developers.

"It's what we call Day One for the MeeGo handset release," Halla explained. "The productized release of the software is still (set for release in) October of this year, but this is a kind of pre-Alpha release."

Nokia plans to ship a MeeGo-based device in the second half of this year.

The news comes as little surprise; Nokia said in May that it would introduce the "MeeGo Handset user experience" sometime this month.

Announced in February, MeeGo represents a Linux-based combination of Nokia's Maemo platform and Intel's Moblin platform, and Nokia plans to use the software as the basis for its high-end Nseries smartphones (Symbian will remain the company's platform for mid-range smartphones). Nokia in May released the "MeeGo Netbook user experience," which provides the basic framework for netbooks to run the platform. Next up is the handset version of MeeGo, and Nokia and its MeeGo partners also plan to release iterations of the platform for in-vehicle devices, connected TVs and "media phones."

Several wireless carriers--as well as computing vendors including Acer and Asus and chipset companies such as ST-Ericsson--have voiced support for MeeGo.

For more:
- see this MeeGo post on the Netbook user experience

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