Samsung may buy MeeGo OS

PanARMENIAN.Net - Samsung Electronics may be considering a purchase of the increasingly defunct smartphone operating system MeeGo as its own proprietary platform, according to CNET news.

The platform chatter highlights the increasing dilemma that Android handset manufacturers face now that Google plans to buy Motorola Mobility and make its own smartphone. The companies that have been reliant on Google for its Android operating system must compete against it now, leading many in the industry to wonder if those handset makers wouldn't prefer to use their own software, the report says.

The N9 smartphone features a curved touch screen and runs the MeeGo operating system.

Unlike other Android supporters, Samsung already has its own proprietary software in Bada, which it has seen success with in select regions around the world. Recently there was a speculation that Samsung was interested in buying the WebOS platform from Hewlett-Packard, which it denied.

MeeGo, built from a partnership between Intel and Nokia, was essentially left for dead when Nokia opted to drop investment in the platform and move to Microsoft's Windows Phone platform. Nokia built one MeeGo smartphone, which was critically praised but was little more than a one-off experiment.

If Samsung wasn't interested in WebOS, which at least had minor developer support and visibility through the Pre smartphone and TouchPad tablet, it's unclear how much use it could make out of MeeGo, which has garnered no interest from developers.

Intel, meanwhile, is likely eager to sell MeeGo, having spent the past two years trying to get the project off the ground with Nokia - only to see it implode.