I do think Nokia needs to come out with something innovative/game changing and service oriented if they want to compete with their MeeGo offerings against the major smartphone platforms. Intel always have Android there, they can cut their losses with MeeGo. The problem with innovative game changing ideas is they don't come along that often

You'd think with Nokia's colossal research spending there must be something hiding filed away somewhere that could be wheeled out. They didnt spend those $billions on Ovi Store!

I must admit, I would love a day just sifting through the archives of the research labs at Nokia. 6 or 7 years ago i did an assignment on mobile payments which included info from Nokia research. If Nokia and Intel got together with Visa and MasterCard to enable mobile payments at cash points using their hardware and rolled it out right that might be a real winner. Well. I dunno maybe it wouldnt, thats why im not working for Nokia research lol

Nokia and Intel have always been hardware focused companies. Remember the first time you seen the n95 specs, I wanted that thing badly I was almost drooling. I was a student at the time and sold my 6600 and collected together enough pennies to get a second hand one off ebay. Throwing the kitchen sink into the hardware isn't enough anymore to sell devices to the masses. The next big breakthrough in mobile hardware is battery tech, and that isn't very sexy. Sticking 3D screens on a handset or a heartbeat monitor or an extra speaker you stick up your *** and it massages your prostrate to the beat of your mp3 tracks might be more interesting. But it's services that sell mobiles in the modern marketplace.

Hardware is converging and becoming homogeneous. HTC have realised this and make handsets as good as Nokia's, but they have invested heavily in the Sense UI to differentiate their products. Android was built on services and apps. Iphone, I don't need to go there. We have yet to see what MeeGo has in store in terms of UI or apps, we have not so much as a mockup of the Nokia UX and only scraps of information regarding the app store ecosystem of MeeGo. It's embryonic, and far too early to know what kind of success or failure it may be. If i was forced to make a punt at it though, from the track record of Moblin and Maemo, i don't see MeeGo making many waves. I can see it being an interesting niche OS which will attract some, but not the mainstream.