Nokia killing MeeGo on its phones even if the N9 sells well

Remember the Nokia N9, the Finnish company’s first device running on MeeGo? Yeah, it turns out it’s also going to be the last MeeGo device that the company releases. In an interview with the Finnish Daily Helsingin Sanomat, Nokia head honcho Stephen Elop has pronounced MeeGo’s fate on future Nokia devices. There is no returning to MeeGo, even if the N9 turns out to be a hit, writes Helsingin Sanomat. “I have taken part in the conversations with the teleoperators and I have been part of the consumer test groups. The feedback has been extremely positive and I am sure that the Windows Phone system will be a great success”, said Elop, referring to the partnership with Microsoft.
This announcement may partly explain the convenient leak of an N9-like device running Windows Phone 7 a couple of days back, as the CEO seems to be preparing customers for Nokia’s comeback. That doesn’t mean everyone is happy with the change of tactics – a lot longtime supporters of Nokia (which coincidentally have an attachment to MeeGo) fear that the Finnish company would become just another OEM manufacturer for Microsoft. “Nokia will continue its research and development on the software side, as well as in services and equipment design. We will build inventions for our Windows phones that will make us stand apart from our competitors and bring significant additional advantage to our application developers”, he declared firmly. “Those working within the software R&D sector are more and more motivated thanks to our achievements. I am continuously in touch with them. I constantly receive emails that tell me how the pace of problem-solving has quickened.”
Source: Helsingin Sanomat

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Nokia “unveils” first Windows Phone 7 device, codenamed “Sea Ray”

You just gotta love reporters who don’t follow instructions. In a private event where Nokia CEO Stephen Elop gave a talk to reporters, the Nokia head honcho gave selected media a sneak peek into the first device of the company running Windows Phone 7 with strict instructions not to photograph or record it. Naturally the reporters then promptly ignored him and took videos and pictures of the new device. Eerily similar to the just released Nokia N9 device unveiled earlier this week, the new device seems like a good match of the excellent hardware we saw on the N9 combined with some of the more distinct features of Windows Phone 7. More importantly, the device tells us that Nokia probably  has smartphones in its HQ running Windows Phone 7, and that it won’t be long until we see full fledged retail units with Phone 7 running. We’ve embedded a short snippet of the presentation below, and you can go to Technet.nu for the whole shebang.

Source: Technet.nu

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