MWC 2010: Nokia and Intel join forces to launch MeeGo

Maemo and Moblin merged into single development platform

Nokia and Intel promise a 'new era of mobile computing'

Nokia and Intel have announced the merger of their respective Maemo and Moblin Linux-based development platforms into a new offering called MeeGo.

MeeGo will use the Nokia-backed Qt development platform, and both companies stressed that it would be fully open, presumably a dig at Apple as well as Microsoft's newly announced Windows Phone 7.

Nokia and Intel said that the move will allow developers to write an application once and make it available for a wide variety of devices, and to sell it through Nokia's Ovi Store and Intel's AppUpSM Center.

MeeGo will run across a wide range of formats, including tablets, netbooks, smartphones, car entertainment systems, pocket-sized mobile computers, media phones and connected TVs.

The new platform is said to support the best features of Maemo and Moblin, and will be available in the second quarter. Products are expected before the end of the year, at about the same time as those for Windows Phone 7.

Nokia chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo claimed that MeeGo heralds a "new era of mobile computing" that will "create an ecosystem that is second to none" .

"MeeGo will support a range of business models across the value chain, building on the experience and expertise of Nokia, Intel and all those who will join us. Simply put, MeeGo heralds a new era of mobile computing," he said.