Nokia plans one Linux phone next year
By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 01 December 2009, 21:49 IST   |    1 Comments
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Nokia plans one Linux phone next year
Helsinki: Nokia plans to install Linux software on just one new smartphone next year, which might dampen the prospects of a quick makeover of the Finnish group's struggling product line-up. The Finnish firm has started to invest more in Internet services in recent years, seeking to counter falling handset prices and increased competition in smartphones from the likes of Apple and Blackberry-maker RIM, reports Reuters. The Linux Maemo operating system is seen as key for Nokia in its rivalry with Apple's iPhone, and many analysts and industry players have been expecting the firm to roll out numerous Linux models already next year. "This is not necessarily worrying, but they need a hit product. It has to be a winning one and Nokia needs to continue to work on Symbian in the meantime," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. Nokia started to sell its first Linux phone, the top-of-the-range N900 model, this month. "The potential of Linux computer operating system is in the high-end, and we have not yet fully harnessed that," Ari Jaaksi, Head of Maemo at Nokia, said. Nokia has used open source Linux Maemo since 2005 in its niche range of Internet tablets - sleek phone-like devices without connection to mobile networks. "The key lesson we have had - almost everyone asked for a phone: ain't there a cellular connection?" said Jaaksi. The Maemo operating system will be updated in 2010, with full integration of Qt technology, which enables software developers to create one application for different operating systems, iPhone-like capacitive touchscreen support and a tighter integration of Nokia's services.

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