Rumor Mill: Intel to temporarily halt MeeGo development

Intel has decided to temporarily stop development of the MeeGo operating system due to a lack of support from handset and tablet vendors, according to a DigiTimes report.

The report, which cited unnamed sources, said Intel will instead focus on developing chipsets for hardware using Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android platform or Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone operating system. Intel developed the MeeGo platform with Nokia (NYSE:NOK), but Nokia decided to abandon continued support for the software after releasing one MeeGo device earlier this year, the N9, and will instead focus its efforts on Windows Phone.

An Intel spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, an Intel representative told CNET: "We remain committed to MeeGo and open source, and will continue to work with the community to help develop and meet the needs of customers and end users."

The MeeGo operating system, originally conceived as a platform that would power Nokia's high-end devices, suffered a grievous blow in February when Nokia threw its support behind Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform. Intel, which has been trying to catch up to the likes of Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), Nvidia, Samsung and Texas Instruments and others in mobile silicon, then redirected its resources.

In May, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said the company's Atom-based Medfield chipset for smartphones will ship in products in early 2012--comments that appeared to represent a slight delay based on Otellini's earlier indications that Intel's silicon would be incorporated into smartphones this year. Intel said at the time that Medfield as a product remained healthy, on track and was already sampling with customers.

For more:
- see this DigiTimes article
- see this CNET article

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