Some bitterness has remained with Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia, announcing the N9 on MeeGo and then somewhat shifting all focus onto "SeaRay". Many MeeGo fans are slightly confounded as to whether Nokia will be supporting their platform or will Windows Phone receive more attention in favour with Microsoft.
Michael Faro-Tusino, of MyNokiaBlog, decided to get in touch with Elop and get some answers. He was greeted with the following reply:
"Thanks for your note. The second button on the side is indeed the power/screen lock button. We are not confirming the sequencing of markets, as they each have unique requirements that must be considered and it is hard to predict the precise order as we go through various national certification programs. The N9 will be supported by Nokia in the years to come to ensure customers are well served. And finally, elements of the N9 will live on in the future, although we are deliberately not sharing all details, although we have noted that elements of industrial design, user interface and the development environment are of particular interest. In our strategic assessment, we determined that the MeeGo effort could not quickly enough deliver us a range of solutions across price points, radio technologies, etc. for us to effectively compete, so we had to make an alternative decision."
It's interesting to note the last sentence about covering multiple price points and radio technologies. If this is the case then one could confirm everyone's suspicion that Nokia will be pumping out entry-level handsets as well as power horses in their volume shipping frenzy.
Coming to a personal opinion, I still stand by what I've continuously said to everyone when this topic is discussed: "it's really a no-brainer". Microsoft supports the platform they're developing (we've all witnessed how much funding they can splash out) and it's still being painted as number three after iOS and Android. At least the N9 will be out and Nokia fans will have a choice between the two platforms. Who knows? If the N9 is incredibly successful then the mobile giant could be saved by not just one OS, but two.
Source: MyNokiaBlog; via WMPU
