Meego isn't a development platform, and while Maemo used to be (which was a disadvantage to some extent), it isn't really anymore. The development platform for both (and Symbian as well) is Qt.

Why not? As long as Nokia makes the process for deploying apps to Ovi store (and/or other repositories) easy enough for developers (which seems to be the case with multi-target support in Qt Creator), applications developed for Nokia/Ovi should be available for all supported devices.

So far the statement is that Nokia will not provide a "supported" image of Meego for N900. That does not mean that there can't be a "finished, polished, stable release of Meego for N900". Nokia employees have stated on this forum that they may be able to provide Nokia applications for Meego on N900 which would allow the completion of a Meego image with handset UX and Nokia apps.


The screenshots I have seen of Ovi maps on N8 look exactly like Ovi maps on my Nokia N900. I suspect this version of Ovi maps (which looks radically different from Ovi Maps for Series60) is built on Qt, and will be available on Symbian and Maemo/Meego, and I am hoping for an update to Ovi Maps with voice guidance shortly after N8 ships ...

I don't think you can make that analogy, and Meego is the future anyway. You may be able to make the reverse analogy with Meego and Android ...

Why not? The platform isn't Maemo or Meego, but Qt, which exists on all currently supported Nokia smart devices.

Is the N900 as functional as other Nokia alternatives? My E75 has much fewer apps, gets almost no updates (and certainly doesn't do it directly over-the-air), and is hugely inferior to my N900 for listening to podcasts, viewing large web paegs, but they are of similar price. Should Nokia not have sold the E75?

Note that Nokia doesn't market the N900 as a phone, but as a mobile computer that can make phone calls. I have seen people who are unaware of this with an N900, but they didn't seem to think it was a bad phone.

I see no obstacle to it getting to step 5, but it depends on exactly what step 5 is. If step 5 is full HD video over HDMI, then I guess no ...

I bought my N900 2 months ago (though I had it for about a week, then let my wife take it for 4 weeks while she traveled, and have only had it back again for about 3 weeks), shortly after it became available in Africa. I know a number of people in other African markets who will take the N900 as soon as their contract renewals come up (N900 is now offered by a number of carriers in South Africa, as of August).

On receiving it I immediately upgraded my phone (I think it told me there was an update, so I let it do its thing), upgraded Ovi Suite, loaded some maps on my phone, and then left for the airport for a 1-week visit to my home country. I was very happy with it just like that, especially skype, gtalk IM, facebook IM etc. allowed me to stay in contact much more easily than before. While traveling, I did install some apps from Ovi, but didn't get around to trying the app manager (which I only did about 3 weeks ago after getting it back).

I haven't had an android phone or an iPhone, but my colleague who has had an iPhone and currently has an Android phone has:
-spent about a week trying to root his Android phone and make it a mobile hotspot, while I just installed mobilehotspot and rootsh from the app manager and rebooted
-said he will probably need to buy an app to monitor his 3G data usage (where my N900 does it for me out-the-box)

I have been very happy with:
-gpodder + FM transmitter
-Skype, gtalk, facebook integration
-Web browser, and availability of firefox/fennec
-Xterminal and ssh (haven't tried vnc and rdesktop much)
-mobilehotspot (+kernel)

I struggled a bit setting up Mail for Exchange, but that's probably due to our MS shop guys doing things in weird ways, my colleague using Android also had similar problems ....

I have a 4GB sdhc card ready and waiting for Meego Handset UX release in October, which I will dual-boot and, depending on how much functions, use as much as I can.

The only thing I would like to see from Nokia which is not a given is a cross-platform Ovi suite in Qt, available for Mac and Linux.

What Nokia themselves need to do is improve the Ovi store, and consider selling content to other platforms. I would really like to be able to get more content legally over the internet (being in deep-dark africa means the only content you can buy on the street is pirated anyway), whether music to listen to on N900, or videos to watch on xbmc or stream from xbmc to the N900.

Anyway, I don't see a need for endless whining threads. The statements we have had from Nokia so far are relatively clear, their strategy (Qt) is quite sound, and they have provide us with one of the least restricted and most functional devices, in many more countries than Google's Nexus One. It is a pity that they were late to the market, and I hope more handset manufacturers look at Meego as an option, but I don't see what you think Nokia should do differently. Should they compromise Meego by spending more time getting new features into Maemo (when the hardware won't cut it compared to other platforms for much longer)?

I would much prefer to see more positive threads, such as people hacking on Meego, seeing whether existing Maemo apps run on Meego without much more than a recompile, testing how uploading packages to repositories works etc., so that day one of a Meego handset release comes with a working app manager with our favourite apps.

Unfortunately, I already do way too much open-source stuff, so my time for Meego is a bit limited at the time, so I will wait for a ready-built Meego image myself.

Can you give us a reference?

I would like to evaluate a credibility of that source.

http://forum.meego.com/showthread.php?t=737

It is not really whining. It is saying it as it is. Sure, I can watch TV if I jiggle a bit. I can get skype, with delays and limited video capability which cuts out after a minute due to issues with mobile bandwidth. Out of my ubuntu & Win7 laptops via a WiFi mobile broadband router, the n900 was the only one that got me watching the programs I wanted to see.

I would like to be able to use the n900 with maps to navigate. Not a big deal.

M.

The question asked and answered in the thread to which you linked was, effectively:

It's a bit of a jump to take that as saying MeeGo will never be stable on the N900. "Polished", and even more so "finished", can be tough terms to reach consensus on in relation to software products, and I've no interest in debating the placement of those goalposts here. MeeGo Core and the Handset UX are clearly under active development though, and the publicly stated goal of those doing the work is to turn out a usable, high quality product.

The coming months will reveal the outcome of the project, and in the end, each N900 owner will need to decide whether MeeGo for the N900 meets his or her standards of stability, polish, completeness, and suitability. No matter what, I feel I can safely predict that some users will proclaim MeeGo on the N900 superior to Maemo 5, while others decry it as sorely lacking. And why not? We already have a diverse community with members who feel Maemo reached its peak of suitability to their needs at every point from OS2006 on the 770 to Maemo 5 on the N900.

The one piece we know for sure will always be missing from MeeGo on the N900 is official support. So, no seamless OTA upgrade from Maemo to MeeGo that preserves all your data, and no help from Nokia Care when MeeGo on your N900 somehow deletes the best 12 GB of your prized collection of funny cat photos.

That's another piece each N900 owner will need to weigh as he or she decides whether to make the jump or stay with Maemo.

I've had iPhones and Blackberrys and numerous Nokia phones, and the only device which comes close to how *I* want my device to be, is the Nokia N900. For me its also the closest any smartphone on the market gets to being a decent usable reliable working telephone.

Yes its not perfect, but its the beginning [i think] of how devices should and will be and its nice to feel like the owner of something I've bought and its super special to have this lovely real community to talk and share and not some ibull5hit ipropaganda itype iforum where negative comments are deleted and problems are denied.

Its just a truly awesome platform and the device has yet to really dissapoint me at all. Nokia need to improve and replicate this, as its really the key to happy customers who will like the company and remain loyal.

Question:

"At this date (02 sept 2010) is it possible that there will be a full and operational MeeGo version for our Nokia N900 ?"

Not "is", but "will be".

Reply:

"If it means to have a working touch graphical interface that is stable and feature complete, with telephony stack, efficient web browser and base applications the answer is no."

In the country I am in, if somebody asks if something will happen (future tense), and the answer is no, that means it won't happen. The country I am in is England, and this is where I learned English, as I was born and raised here - and we came up with the language. Next week the country I will be in will be New Zealand, and I believe this linguistic feature applies there too.

Mish.

That reply didn't come from someone within the MeeGo N900 team and is wildly inaccurate.

Our current images has a working touch graphical interface, bugs still remaining to be ironed out (we are in feature freeze so that's normal). Telephony stack works but not integrated (I made a audio call using it and sent an SMS). People who can generate own images can get an image with telephony stack active. Web browser is Fennec-qt (2.0) but doesn't start currently (getting looked into). Has worked fine in the past. Base applications exist too.

It's not all gloom and doom, you know. And there's always MeeGo 1.2 to improve things. We don't just leave when it is october, you know

Why all this fuss about Meego...its yet to come out and just because its new release software doesnt automatically mean it will be better...so its entirely possible that Maemo will still be better, preferred by users / developers....

Dont panic is the message!

A lot of people act as if Maemo will self destruct once Meego is out.

Look, Maemo is an open platform and works pretty well now. If Nokia would officially kill off Maemo, nothing would change this. Your phone will still work the way it does now. People will still use it, and the community will not go a way in a single day. Relax and enjoy that we will have the option of running Android, Maemo and Meego on our phones.