MeeGo’s Promising ‘Debut’ in Nokia’s New N9

When Nokia unveiled its newest phone on Tuesday, June 21, it wasn't a Windows Phone 7 device. The Nokia N9 uses the MeeGo operating system, which Nokia originally intended to succeed its aging Symbian OS. With Nokia having adopted Windows Phone 7 as its primary platform, MeeGo was relegated to "experimental" status. That might prove to be a viable backup plan, judging from early impressions of the new smartphone.
Nokia's big problem has never been its handset hardware. The N9 continues a tradition of smart industrial design paired with capable components. A 3.9-inch, curved Gorilla Glass display dominates the phone's front face, which is buttonless. A penta-band radio ensures support for voice and mobile broadband data on many global networks, while an NFC chip allows for the possibility of simple device pairing and wireless payments.The camera specifications are typical high-end Nokia: an 8-megapixel sensor with Carl Zeiss optics, dual-LED flash and wide aperture (f/2.2) that allows for excellent low-light use.A PDF with the full specs can be found here.

Software, particularly the user interface, was the big issue for Nokia. Symbian went from market leader to has-been after 2007, when Apple launched the touch-friendly iOS platform, followed by a number of more modern operating systems such as Google Android and Palm's webOS. Nokia attempted to enable touch on Symbian in a number of handsets, but a key difference stood out: While rivals designed and built platforms specifically tailored to touch, Nokia tried to graft touch controls onto an existing user interface. MeeGo, however, is designed for touch. Had it arrived sooner, it might have stemmed Nokia's losses.
MeeGo is finally here, if only in a single handset with no official price or release date. Both phone and OS show promise, at least in first impressions. The device unlocks with a simple double-tap of the display, while a full-screen swipe returns the user to the home area from any running application. The main interface is a trio of screens in a carousel: one for application organization; one for social networking feeds, events, and notifications; and a third that shows small previews of currently running apps you can switch among.

Nokia's N8 Soon Left Me Wanting More

That sounds good, but I'd still like to go hands-on with the device. I initially had high hopes for the Nokia N8, which sported revamped Symbian software. Notwithstanding favorable first impressions, daily use left me wanting more.
Although Nokia has deemed MeeGo an experiment, there's a chance it could become more than that. The situation reminds me of a strategy Samsung employed.Samsung is set to become the top seller of smartphones after adopting Android as its main OS while maintaining Bada, its own little experimental in-house mobile platform.Bada is doing relatively well amid estimates that it will have powered 3.5 million handsets during the first quarter of this year.
Simply put, Samsung has built market share and expertise by selling well-designed Google Android phones while building its own software platform in the background. If MeeGo is as capable as it looks, Nokia could potentially replicate Samsung's strategy by using Microsoft Windows Phone 7 to buy the time MeeGo needs to grow. MeeGo will need more than fancy hardware and smart software. Given our growing addiction to apps, it will need a wide variety of applications in its ecosystem. MeeGo's answer for that is Qt, a cross-platform framework that lets developers run their software easily on a wide range of devices.
Had MeeGo panned out as a swift response to the 2007 iPhone launch, Nokia might well have avoided the doldrums it's in today: a recent 13-year low in stock value and a sinking smartphone market share. Now the company has linked its immediate future to that of Microsoft. Should that coupling end in divorce, MeeGo could be waiting in the wings for a second date with smartphone destiny.

Nokia N9 gets August 19 launch date

Though the news is still unconfirmed, there is a possibility that the MeeGo - based Nokia N9 will not be arriving in India at all. Many consider the fate of the N9 already sealed, and the general consensus is that it will be the first and last MeeGo device from Espoo’s stables. Unfortunate yes, but we hope for the sake of the developers, as well as for consumer choice, the platform will find adoption amongst other manufacturers. Things look a bit bleak however.
Keeping all this in mind, it is hardly surprising that the industry expects Nokia to limit the sale of the N9 to select countries. Other reports, by the usually well-informed Eldar Murtazin, predict that Nokia will be making comparatively few units of the N9, less than 100,000.

The Nokia N9 is the MeeGo smartphone that many felt could have lead Nokia out of the wilderness and according to at least one retailer the fight back begins on the 19th August – just long enough for us to save up. Read on to find out more about the Nokia N9 August launch date.

The Nokia N9 is the 3.9-inch smartphone running the MeeGo OS that Nokia had pinned its hopes on prior to switching strategy to the Windows Phone platform. We’ve no idea whether it will be supported by similar devices but safe bets are saying it’s a one-off device.

YOU SHOULD READ – Nokia N9 versus Nokia N8

Nokia hasn’t made any official announcement as to when the Nokia N9 will launch, nor has it said how much it is likely to cost. However, it’s popped up on one etailer which once run through the translator states that it will ship on the 19th August. Check out the pre-order

What’s more, with a price of 99,990 KZT, which is around the £420 mark, this looks like it could be a highly affordable price-point for most folks looking to get their hands on the Nokia N9. Tempted? Let us know in the Comments below.