Wind River Blog Network

Google I/O and MeeGo Developer Conference – A Tale of Two Events

By Chris Buerger

First off, let me say that it is not fair to directly compare the two conferences to draw a conclusion about the comparative future of Android and MeeGo. Both software stacks are at a different place in their respective life cycles, and important maturity indicators such as overall ecosystem support (silicon providers, device manufacturers, application developer community etc…) as well as software quality/complexity are simply at a different stage for each technology.

However, who is interested in fairness? There is a perception in the marketplace that Android and MeeGo are competitive technologies in a proliferation war that includes other heavyweights such as Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and HP. If industry analysts put all of these software stacks on a single Mobile OS market share chart, they’ve got to be competitive, right?

Not quite. One important reason Android got to where it is today is that its first mass-market device, the HTC G1, sold millions of units across the globe, thus delivering a very tangible proof point to rally a worldwide ecosystem to participate in the development of Android. MeeGo’s proliferation, partly because of the rather wide device scope the software stack is attempting to cover, is following a different path.

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Come and see us at Mobile World Congress!

By Chris Buerger

Grab a pen and write down this number: Hall 2, booth 2C04 – this is where you’ll find the Wind River booth at Mobile World Congress (MWC).

Mobile innovation comes alive at demonstrations. At this year’s MWC event, we are showcasing the latest and greatest mobile Android and MeeGo innovations from Wind River. Along with the newest features within our Wind River Platform for Android such as DLNA Media Server and multi-windowing capabilities, we are also showing off the latest version of our Wind River Framework for Automated Software Testing (FAST) for Android that includes significant real world enhancements developed jointly with our customers. As Android is becoming more complex, an automated test tool to help you validate the performance and reliability of your Android stack can save both time and money. Come and see out what we have to offer to make your Android project a success.

MeeGo also continues to be a significant part of our efforts. At MWC, we are not only showing off brand new FAST for MeeGo technology; we are also proud to be the first software vendor to showcase a new MeeGo tablet user experience co-developed with Intel. It’s a definite must-see if you’re interested in creating a differentiated tablet device!

Check out our latest news and see additional details regarding Wind River’s presence at MWC.

 

Making the Case for MeeGo 2.0

By Chris Buerger

As an owner of the original Maemo-based N770, today is a sad day. Earlier, Nokia announced it would make Windows Phone 7 Nokia’s primary mobile platform, not MeeGo. This puts the brakes on what many considered a bold corporate initiative to bring Linux to a new class of Nokia mobile devices. Well before the iPad, well before the undoubtedly innovative yet largely undifferentiated avalanche of Android based devices, there was a dream, a vision to create unique Linux software for a new class of Nokia devices.

There are plenty of opinions that this announcement marks the end of MeeGo. Personally, I do not subscribe to that view. MeeGo, and the open source projects that are part of it, has a place in open source mobile Linux, and in many cases will continue to evolve and thrive. 

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The Myth of the Killer Mobile Reference UX

By Chris Buerger

The "killer" preloaded mobile UX...is the concept on life support?

I just came back from IDF, and while the event was strong on mobile market assertions but somewhat lightweight on public proof points, it did give me a chance to spend some time with the German-designed WePad running an embedded Linux kernel incorporating a number of MeeGo 1.0 release elements and a completely custom UI.

Experimenting with the WePad (and getting it to crash twice within five minutes) got me thinking about the evolution of user interfaces in mobile devices, both Tablets and Smartphones. From a high-level perspective, there are really three approaches in the market.

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The ‘Big Reveal’ Release Approach in Mobile Linux – How Android and MeeGo Differ

By Chris Buerger

A couple of weeks ago, I read through a somewhat heated email thread about the ‘Big Reveal’ mentality that Intel and Nokia were claimed to apply to the pending MeeGo 1.0 release. By coincidence, the timing overlapped with the excitement Google was stirring up for its 2.2 (Froyo) release of Android. Both events made me wonder about the value of a ‘big reveal’ approach in mobile open source stacks, and whether there might not be developments that occur within rapidly maturing software stacks that are native and systemic to the open source model, and that at the same time change the potential impact of ‘Big Reveal’ releases of either Android or MeeGo.

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