MeeGo
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Nokia's treatment of MeeGo smartphone UI revealed?
We've already gotten a glimpse at MeeGo's prerelease stock UI for handsets, but just like Symbian, there's no guarantee that the experience is going to be consistent across manufacturers -- and a new video apparently captured from an online survey makes it seem like Nokia might be looking to go in a slightly different direction. The one minute, twenty-nine seconds of footage walks us through five parts -- starting up, the "powerful multitasking UI," getting connected, the Ovi Store experience, and the music player -- and as you might imagine, it's the Ovi Store portion that has us feeling like this is a thoroughly Nokia-customized experience (not to mention the copyright in the lower left). It generally looks richer and more functional than what we've seen before, and parts -- like the webOS-esque multitasking -- remind us of Maemo 5's thumbnails, which makes perfect sense considering MeeGo's roots. Follow the break for the full video. [Thanks, MTA] Update: The video has since been removed from YouTube. New embed posted.
Keepin' it real fake: TESO LPAD runs 'MeGoo' or 'Andriod' on Moorestown
Chinese company TESO has an unrequited love for all things Apple. Not that it cares, we're sure it's doing just fine on the grey market with its KIRFy Cupertino crafts. But maybe it's time for this Shenzhen cloner to go mainstream with what's purported to be a 9.7-inch tablet running "MeGoo" (a MeeGo typo, certainly) or "Andriod2.2" (that'd be Froyo) OSes on a 14-mm thick LPAD powered by Intel's newest 1.9GHz Z600-series Moorestown processor. Of course, it's a hell of a lot easier to list specs on paper than it is to ship highly spec'd product. And given TESO's inability to correctly copy the names of its choosen operating systems onto a sheet of paper, what hope is there of it cloning the user experience of a class-leading tablet?
MeeGo becomes infotainment operating system of choice for BMW, GM, Hyundai and more
It's getting to the point where it's not terribly easy to keep track of all the in-car entertainment initiatives our wondrous connected future has in store, but here's two names you'll want to remember: GENIVI and MeeGo. The former is an industry alliance that now includes automakers GM, BMW, Hyundai and Peugeot Citroen alongside the likes of ARM, NVIDIA, Nokia and Intel, and MeeGo is the Linux-based OS that they've just decided will soon be powering our cars. Don't expect this to affect your daily drive anytime soon, but in the long run we wouldn't be surprised to hear that the Moblin-Maemo base underpins future revisions of Terminal Mode and OnStar.
Aava Mobile reveals Virta 2 smartphone development kit, we go hands-on
When we met with Finnish startup Aava Mobile today, they pulled out the same old prototype phone... then, to our great surprise, dropped a brand-new device right alongside to show us how their Moorestown-based ambitions have grown. This is the Virta 2 reference design, which will ship to developers soon, with the same basic hardware inside but a few important tweaks. First of all, you'll note that's MeeGo on this screen, not the droid we were looking for, but that's because the development kit can switch between operating systems by merely swapping out the microSD card. Whereas the original prototype had a thin, flimsy shell, the Virta 2's gone downright rugged, ditching the iPhone chrome for a more durable gunmetal frame, and there's a full compliment of sensors (compass, accelerometer, ambient light and proximity) alongside quad-band radios, WiFi, Bluetooth and a pair of cameras for your video chat testing needs. At €1900 (roughly $2393) per unit, the dev handset isn't exactly cheap, but where else are you going to get an Atom Z600 to play around with? Devices ship late August or early September, and Aava expects the platform (but not this exact handset) to see commercial availability next year. Find preorders at our source link, if you've got the bankroll. %Gallery-97354%
Aava Moorestown phone running MeeGo hits the wilds
If you don't understand the significance of what you're looking at then you're probably not paying attention. First off, that Aava slab of WoW slaying smartphone is underpinned by Intel's Moorestown processor. Yes, Intel, not ARM, as Chipzilla gets serious about taking its silicon mobile. Second, that's the freshly minted MeeGo OS for handsets that just made its first alpha appearance last week. And it just happens to be the OS that Nokia, the world's largest handset manufacturer, will be building its future generation of super smartphones upon. We'll give you a second to take it all in. Fortunately for us, the device is in the hands of Steve "Chippy" Paine over at Carrypad / UMPC Portal. As such, this is just the first of many revelations to come. Hit the man up on Twitter if you want to follow his adventure first hand.
Engadget Podcast 203 - 07.02.2010
Robots, death, Epic Fascination, and tropicalia: genre-surfing tokenism dominates the Engadget Podcast this week. Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller Guest: Chris Ziegler Producer: Trent Wolbe Music: Castor - Rude Boy Hear the podcast 00:02:58 - Motorola Droid X review 00:04:40 - Introducing review scorecards! 00:18:48 - Droid X ad pokes fun at iPhone 4 antenna troubles 00:26:15 - Samsung's American Galaxy S phones pose for family portrait 00:26:48 - Samsung Vibrant is official on T-Mobile, coming July 21 for $200 00:26:53 - Verizon ropes in Samsung Fascinate, US Cellular gets a Galaxy S too 00:26:55 - Samsung T-Mobile Vibrant and Verizon Fascinate preview 00:27:00 - Samsung's Epic 4G for Sprint seems to live up to its name 00:30:10 - Samsung Epic 4G preview 00:42:41 - Microsoft says Kin software update is scheduled for mid-summer 00:42:45 - Kin One drops to $29, Two drops to $49, data plans remain silly expensive 00:42:50 - Microsoft Kin is dead 00:42:55 - T-Mobile kills off current Sidekicks, Kin says 'welcome to the club' 00:47:00 - What killed the Kin? 01:11:05 - Hulu Plus announced with support for iPad, iPhone, PS3, Xbox Live, and more (update) 01:15:15 - Hands-on with Hulu Plus via Samsung HDTV, iPhone and iPad 01:15:45 - Hulu Plus preview arrives in iTunes App Store, Flash be damned 01:16:00 - Hulu CEO: we're 'complementary' to cable 01:16:23 - HP / Palm buyout officially complete -- get ready for webOS printers 01:19:35 - MeeGo for handsets makes its first appearance Subscribe to the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC). [RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator. [Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace Download the podcast LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) LISTEN (OGG) Contact the podcast 1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com. Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget
Nokia: the fight begins now, Symbian^4 N-Series device later
Nokia's newly appointed Mobile Solutions chief, Anssi Vanjoki, has penned an impassioned post over at Nokia Conversations today where he sets out his perspective on the company's current position and future challenges. Describing the Finnish phone maker as "a challenger now," rather than an incumbent, Vanjoki wants to introduce a "laser focus on quality," with his two central aims being to reclaim Nokia's reputation for high-end devices and to re-energize a flagging fan base. He specifically namedrops Ricky Cadden -- who yesterday shut down Symbian-Guru because he'd lost faith with the company -- and clearly considers grassroots support like that an important aspect of how Nokia's success will be judged. As to the actual software front, Anssi confirms that the N8 will be the final Symbian^3 handset in the N-Series, but describes a Symbian^4 device in that family as a "strong possibility," a note which he follows up with a wink (seriously). Symbian is apparently still Nokia's smartphone OS of choice -- no Androids shall be found inside Nokia's hardware under Anssi's watch -- though MeeGo also earns a mention as the "awesome" platform for delivering "market-changing mobile computers." Just in case you were wondering, Anssi finishes off by telling us that these wondrous computers will be small enough to fit into your pocket -- though, sadly, he fails to specify exactly what sort of pocket that might be. [Thanks, Peter]
Did Nokia just confirm a MeeGo tablet?
We've heard the rumors, hell, we've even seen Intel reference designs (pictured) running the MeeGo OS. But now we seem to have confirmation that a proper MeeGo tablet built by Nokia is on the way. Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's newly crowned chief of Mobile Solutions, said the following in an interview captured by the Wall Street Journal: Due to the spread of cloud computing and new advances in electronics and network technology, mobile devices will increasingly move beyond smartphones to include other computer-like gadgets such as tablets, and the MeeGo platform will be an important asset for Nokia. Remember, Nokia already makes a netbook and the smartphone qualifier would seem to remove any speculation that Anssi is referring to its Internet Tablet class of Maemo devices. So maybe, just maybe that rumored 7- or 9-inch Nokia tablet is real. Did we say maybe?
MeeGo for handsets makes its first appearance
As promised, Nokia and Intel have revealed the pre-alpha version of MeeGo for handsets today, supporting the Intel-powered Aava reference phone and the Nokia N900. What's most interesting at this early stage is the UI, which appears to have taken a big Nokia-influenced step away from the Intel-designed MeeGo netbook and tablet UI -- and we're definitely detecting some hints of Android and webOS here and there. Seriously, just check out that task switching interface. Of course, MeeGo is open-source, so we're sure Nokia has some deeper UI customizations in store -- like homescreen widgets, which are notably missing here. On a deeper level, this build of MeeGo includes the base MeeGo APIs, including Qt and the MeeGo touch frameworks, the Firefox-based browser, a photo viewer, and some basic UI elements like the status bar, app launcher, and virtual keyboard. There are pre-built images for the Atom-based Aava handsets available now, but N900 owners will have to do a little building until someone makes an image available. Be warned, though: there's a long enough list of known bugs, and while that's totally fine for pre-alpha code, it might not be too fine for your device. That's not going to stop us from installing this thing, but you be careful, alright? And let us know how it goes. Video of the UI after the break. P.S. Given that the N8 is destined to be the last Symbian N Series device, we can't help but feel it's being overshadowed by MeeGo before it's even out. Can we pre-pour one out? Is that a thing? It is now.%Gallery-96645%
Nokia N9 (or something) in the wild: 8 megapixel camera, American 3G?
We told you, didn't we? Whether you want to call this the N98, the N900's successor, or the N8 plus QWERTY, what you're looking at above is potentially the visage of Nokia's next smartphone. It's being dubbed the N9 by the folks at Negri Electronics, who also inform us it has an 8 megapixel imager on the back, 850 / 1900 3G bands (good for AT&T, Rogers, Telus, and Bell), and "ridiculous screen clarity." This sort of throws us for a loop, since we're looking at some straight Symbian action up there, whereas Nokia has told us directly that there'll be no more Symbian on the N Series after the N8. A clue to what might be going on is provided by the "C0" label at the upper left corner of this device, suggesting that it could be a future C Series member. All we know is that the thing seems pretty real and it's headed to a full video review in the next few days. Yay! [Thanks, Jason]
NPad tablet shown off in China, running MeeGo
Red Flag Software's just shown off a custom MeeGo tablet that's China-bound. Though we don't have any images of the unit yet, we know that the NPad be a Moorestown-powered, 10.1-inch touchscreen tablet that "looks like" the iPad, and it'll boast WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G, and GPS. The company also says that it'll be cheaper than the iPad, so there's that!
Nokia N900 drops to $369, unlocked
Hard to believe but after all this time the N900 remains the most powerful handset in Nokia's vast collection of cellphones. No other Nokia handset even comes close and that won't change until Nokia launches the Symbian^3-powered N8 or the MeeGo-powered N9. So if you've got the dough and a certain inclination to write Python scripts on a Friday night, you might want to think about sliding $369 (down from $649 at launch or $479 currently at Nokia USA) Espoo's way for a crack at the ARM Cortex A8 slider. Sure, it's not the freshest face on the block, but the development community will certainly help eek-out every last bit of value for many months to come. P.S. Don't forget to apply the coupon code LL17PBSTFKZ440 to get the reduced price.
Nokia N8 to be final Symbian N Series device, all MeeGo from here on out
Whoa. Nokia's premier range of devices, the N Series, will bid adieu to the Symbian operating environment and go MeeGo full time after the introduction of the N8. That's what we've just heard directly from the Finnish horse's mouth. Nokia will naturally keep Symbian around -- of course there's a whole Symbian^4 to come -- but will utilize it on more mass market devices as it seeks to push smartphones further down the product hierarchy. So it's not necessarily bad news, as such, it means we'll likely see Symbian trickle down to handsets priced more like featurephones and less like miniaturized laptops. What it does mean, however, is that Nokia is pushing forward with its modernization plans, and doing so more aggressively than previously thought. Which we consider to be a pretty awesome (and necessary) thing.
MeeGo for tablets gets a pre-alpha video demonstration
We managed to grab some hands-on time with a Moorestown-powered MeeGo tablet prototype during the hustle and bustle that was Computex 2010, but if you're looking for a more subdued, PBS-approved rundown of what the forthcoming operating system will offer, you're in the right place. Hosted up just after the break is a video demo of the pre-alpha user interface, complete with a finger-led walkthrough of the entire system. We'll be frank -- what we're seeing here is downright dazzling, and it all looks a heck of a lot easier to wrap one's noodle around than a full-on copy of Win7. Peek it for yourself, won't you? [Thanks, Allen]
Nokia: pre-alpha release of MeeGo for handsets coming June 30th
We've already gotten an early peek at what's in store for MeeGo on handsets courtesy of some leaked UI guidelines, and it looks like folks now won't have to wait too much longer to try it out for themselves -- Nokia has confirmed that the pre-alpha release will be available on June 30th. That will be followed by the "fully productized" version sometime in October, which should also coincide with the release of some actual MeeGo-based handsets. No further details beyond that just yet, but N900 users should be the first to get a taste of a true MeeGo handset experience -- despite Nokia's lack of official support.
Nokia 7- or 9-inch MeeGo tablet rumored to be running ARM (not Moorestown) in Q4
While DigiTimes has been known to get a rumor correct now and again, its success rate falls off dramatically when dealing with companies HQ'd outside of its native Taiwan. Keep that in mind when you hear it discuss a Nokia tablet with either a 7- or 9-inch screen. DigiTimes, speaking with "upstream component makers," claims that the Foxconn manufactured device -- of which, about 100 engineering samples have already been produced -- will be ARM-based with a Q4 launch targeted. If true (and that's a big IF) then it would certainly be running the MeeGo OS (that's a Quanta-built prototype above) when it ships. Of course, DigiTimes has been rumoring an ARM-based smartbook from Nokia due in mid 2010 for almost a year. And guess what? It's mid 2010, with smartbooks/netbooks now out of style and tablets all the rage. Thing is, we'd have thought that Nokia would be more likely to opt for Intel's Moorestown in support of their partnership given the Q4 timing. But hey, it's just rumor, let's not get too carried away.
Meego handset UI guidelines offer details aplenty, suggestion of WebOS, Android influences
Sure, you can already download MeeGo 1.0 and try it out on your netbook or N900, but Nokia also has some grander designs for the mobile operating system, and a new Handset Interaction Guidelines document published on (and then pulled from) the official MeeGo wiki has now offered some more details on exactly what's in store. Among the highlights are confirmation of support for both portrait and landscape keyboards, and some pretty strong evidence of WebOS and Android influences, including a task manager that's similar to WebOS's card system but becomes a grid view with a multitouch pinch, and a notification system and taskbar that are apparently similar to Android's -- not to mention some centralized account management. There's pages and pages of details beyond that, however, so hit up the link below to dive in (courtesy of Google Cache, of course). [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Nokia N9 MeeGo slider leaks in early video tease?
Um, yeah. Let's just put this out there: the image above was grabbed from a video that could be an early, leaked teaser for the N9, Nokia's first handset to run the MeeGo OS. Could be. The production quality of the promo is certainly up to snuff and the industrial design of the slider itself features just enough N8 to make the whole thing seem very plausible. It doesn't hurt that it resembles an earlier leak... but that doesn't help authenticate it as real either. And what's with those impossibly shallow keys on the QWERTY? Watch for yourself after the break. [Thanks, Tigran]
Nokia's 16 model house reveals a smokin' S series, N9 MeeGo?
Lovely home except for those pesky leaks. This Nokia house built (circa 2010) upon on a foundation of Symbian with a MeeGo roof is also sporting an interesting looking S-series smokestack. Most of the building blocks we've already seen including the flagship N8. The N9 is almost certainly Nokia's followup to the N900 and Espoo's first handset to feature its new MeeGo OS. But what's with the business-class E7, mainstream C7, and socially entertaining X7? None of these handsets have been announced, yet all three are at the top-end of their respective series meaning more functionality at a higher price. Still, the most interesting revelation is the S-series which Nokia has never referenced under its new naming scheme. The translated text from the S-series bullet describes it as, "A name reserved for limited phones. Mobiles that do not fit in other categories come in here." The first Moorestown phone to run MeeGo, perhaps? Hey, we can dream. [Thanks, Mark]
Engadget Podcast 199 - 06.04.2010
Conferences. Trade shows. Exotic locales. Special guests. Tablets. Fish legs. Tablets. Fish balls. Tablets. You know the drill.Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul MillerGuests: Joanna Stern, Darren MurphProducer: Trent WolbeMusic: Boys Don't CryHear the podcast00:02:38 - Engadget dines at Taipei's Windows 7-themed restaurant (video)00:06:05 - Windows 7 tablet roundup from Computex, nay Tabletex00:07:03 - Microsoft's Guggenheimer dismisses Android on tablets as 'an experiment'00:09:05 - Microsoft reveals Windows Embedded Compact 7 at Computex, hosts heaps of tablets00:10:40 - Microsoft Windows Embedded Compact 7 explained, trial download now available00:12:10 - Microsoft: Windows Phone 7 not planned to hit tablets, Courier was always a concept00:13:00 - NVIDIA CEO says Android is an OS to 'unite behind,' will be better tailored to tablets this Fall00:13:40 - Microsoft Windows Embedded Compact 7 tablet prototype preview00:14:20 - Samsung Galaxy Tab revealed00:17:10 - MeeGo Moorestown-powered tablet preview00:18:40 - Pixel Qi introduces tablet-ready screens, we go hands-on (video)00:23:40 - Exclusive: LG UX10 tablet preview at Computex00:39:46 - Intel demos Android 2.1 on Moorestown smartphone (video)00:41:45 - Qualcomm ships first dual-core Snapdragon chipsets clocking 1.2GHz00:45:47 - Labor practice protest goes down at Computex, Steve Jobs called an 'OEM profit bloodsucker'00:54:40 - Steve Jobs live from D801:02:57 - Steve Jobs' D8 interview: the video highlights (updated)01:03:38 - Steve Jobs on Foxconn: 'We're all over this'01:05:52 - Steve Jobs on lost iPhone 4G prototype: it's an 'amazing' story01:14:45 - Steve Jobs on TV: 'no one wants to buy a box'01:24:55 - Steve Ballmer and Ray Ozzie live from D801:25:06 - Jobs: The PC is a truck. Ballmer: There's a reason they're called 'Mac' trucks.01:27:00 - Steve Ballmer at D8: the video highlights (updated)01:38:38 - Kno dual-screen tablet appears at D8, we go hands-onSubscribe to the podcast[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune MarketplaceDownload the podcastLISTEN (MP3)LISTEN (AAC)LISTEN (OGG)Contact the podcast1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget
