Nokia might be walking away from QT and MeeGo but its clear that MeeGo is not going anywhere. Just because Nokia thought twice it doesn’t mean that the train still isn’t moving ahead a full speed.
MeeGo early version 2.1 was being shown on the Pegatron 11.6 tablet which we’ve seen before on with the ExoPC and the WeTab. Quickly if you’re not familiar its running the Intel Atom N450, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, a 32GB or 64GB SSD and a multitouch screen that isn’t currently supported. No on ever said that building a cross platform OS would be easy, Intel has definitely lined up its share of adversity this week. But hardware wise for all of these software pitfalls I do however wish that they’d shown MeeGo off on at least the Oaktrail.
Getting back to the MeeGo Tablet User Experience or the MeeGo tablet UX its based in QML. If you’re unfamiliar with this QML it is also known as QT, which is a definitive programming language, which allows for great flexibility. If you remember back to Computex when we first saw the tablet UI, it has a similar look and feel but now the backend has been completely built out.
When looking to design at the tablet UI they’ve asked some hard questions about how to represent that layered online experience with rich local content on a tablet? On a pc the answer is with the file structure that we’re used to seeing on a desktop. On the tablet MeeGo is treating the interface as a surface that brings forward not only your contacts and content but also your context. What is clear from playing with the UI is that it’s aimed at the multitasking generation. It focused on bring multimedia, online presence and local content to the surface. This tablet uses the panel concept that gives you unlimited real estate as you can swipe between various panels infinitely in any direction.
According to the folks at MeeGo it’s aimed at being natural to someone who has used and is familiar with technology. Looking at UI interaction the double click we’re used to with a mouse is represented with a tap and a right click with a press and hold. Application wise MeeGo will be shipping with email, calendar, music, video, the swype keyboard, social networks, twitter, rss and a chrome browser. The choice of Google’s browser is particularly interesting since this is the first tablet with a dedicated tablet O/S that is shipping with a full browser. This has us a little excited since the only tablet to date that is shipping with a full browser is Windows 7, but the UI is not intended for tablets so it’s a very big sacrifice to make. Originally MeeGo was rumored to be shipping with Fnac, Mozilla’s touch friendly mobile browser, so this full Chrome browser experience is a pleasant surprise.
We’ve heard the first devices will be hot on the streets in June, and we should expect then to be 11.6 inch, however they are prepared for 7 inch tablets and above. The 7 inch form factor is the one that I tend to get most excited about since its an optimal size for mobility. A factor that does have me excited for these 7inch devices is that MeeGo has been pushing for higher resolution devices the ExoPC being 1366 x768, when this OS scales down to smaller devices the higher resolution will also be pushed. Its something to look forward to since low resolutions are often killing the success of a device, just look at the Dell Streak 7.
If you’re wondering when you’ll be able to get your hands on this tablet Operating System you won’t have to wait long, they are planning on releasing it during MWC, what date, they haven’t specified. The conference comes to an end on the 17th so expect it before then. If you are here are the show and want to get your hands on one right away you’ll be pleased to find out they will be handing out 200 tablets at the show. In order to pick one up you’ll have to be one of the lucky developers who are in attendance at their developer days. Not here or have a Pegatron tablet kicking around? They’ll also be porting it over on the Lenovo S10-3t’s they handed out in Dublin.
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