LG dashed the hope of all MeeGo hopefuls today by claiming the GW990 was just a concept device. At CES when we saw the devices in person, we knew that it was a proof of concept device, but it was rumored to come to market in the Fall or at least by the end of the year. Along with the news that it was merely a concept there was slience and no explanation of why they have changed their minds.
Proof of concept devices that don’t come to market are a dime a dozen, what makes us sit up and take notice about this one is that it i was meant to be the first MeeGo handset that was also going to be running Intel’s Moorsetown. It was shown off proudly by Intel at CES as the reality of what was to come. Moorestown is Intel’s system-on-a-chip version which is small and efficient enough to run properly in a smartphone-sized device. MeeGo, if you haven’t been following it is a new mobile OS based on a hybrid of Intel’s Moblin Linux and Nokia’s Maemo.
There is no comment from Intel about this devlopment, but what I think everyone needs to keep in mind, if that Nokia is a much larger handset producer then LG. This product drop was inspired by Intel’s closer relationship with Nokia could be a factor. Nokia must be getting prefered treatment as Intel development partner, although we can’t see Intel closing any doors this early on in the chipsets development. Its going to be an interesting IDF & MeeGo summit this fall.
Below is our video with the LG GW 990 as you can see it would have been one of the largest phone screens ever with a 4.8-inch, 1024×480 touch display.
Intel hasn’t commented on the reduction of the GW990 to concept status; LG also hasn’t said whether an alternative to the phone would ship in a similar timeframe or at all.
[via Electronista via Phone Arena]
