First MeeGo smartphone build available for developers

Mobile phone developers have been given their first taste of MeeGo, the Linux-based platform developed jointly by Nokia and Intel, with an early version of the mobile OS now available for download.

A similar early build of the operating system, which is built on the foundations of Nokia's Maemo and Intel's Moblin platforms, appeared for netbook developers last month, with the smartphone version promised by the end of June a promise Nokia and Intel managed to keep... just.

Alongside the MeeGo Core OS with middleware components, the release also includes MeeGo APIs, a reference user interface and a selection of applications that cover basic functions: a status bar, lock screen, application launcher, on-screen keyboard, phone dialler, short message service client, browser, contacts application and photo viewer.

The build is compatible with Intel Atom-based devices, as well as Nokia's N900 smartphone the only Nokia handset that appeared running the final build of Maemo before it was incorporated into the MeeGo project.

In a blog post to mark the release of the preview build, MeeGo Technical Steering Group members Valtteri Halla and Imad Sousou said the OS' arrival cemented Nokia and Intel's relationship on the project.

"This milestone marks the completion of the merger of Moblin and Maemo as major architecture decisions and technical selections have been determined," the post wrote.

MeeGo is crucial to Nokia's hopes of regaining a foothold in the high-end smartphone market. After the successful N95 and N96, the Finnish phone maker's flagship N-series line has increasingly struggled to compete against the likes of the Apple iPhone and high-powered Android devices from the likes of HTC.

At the end of last year, Nokia announced that the Symbian OS that previously was to be found on its entire range of mobile phones would in future be restricted solely to its mass-market "feature phones", while the N-series would run the newer, more powerful Maemo OS as seen in the N900.

Maemo may not have disappeared from the scene but MeeGo now holds the key to its smartphone fortunes. Nokia confirmed as much recently when it said the newly launched Nokia N8 would be the last Symbian-based N-series phone.

The first final version of MeeGo is due to be released around October, with actual handsets running the platform set to arrive shortly thereafter.

The pre-release build of the new operating system can be downloaded directly from the MeeGo website, which also has screenshots and video clips of the OS in action.