LG often emerges as the savior of lost operating  systems, as it seeks to differentiate its own platforms from those of  HTC, Apple or Samsung. It is said to be interested in taking over  Nokia's role as the main vendor supporting MeeGo as a next generation OS  for cloud oriented devices, and possible challenger to Google Chrome  OS.
Nokia's own partnership  with Microsoft has sidelined its Intel venture, MeeGo, though the  Finnish firm still plans to release a device running the OS this year  and to maintain it as an open source project - and possible back-up plan  for the cloud sector. Meanwhile, LG had its own deep partnership with  Microsoft, and in 2009 pledged to release 50 Windows Mobile products in  two years. At the time this was the most significant WinMo commitment  apart from HTC's, but few results have been seen and LG's position will  have been undermined by the signing of Nokia.
This may be turning the Korean supplier's eyes to a  platform it could control. Although it is belatedly making some progress  in Android smartphones, it has not achieved the differentiation in  brand to pose a serious threat to Samsung, HTC and Motorola. Last year  its CEO stepped down, with failure in the smartphone market cited as a  major factor. So now the company badly needs new weapons to boost its  market share in 2011, especially at the high end, where its brand is  weakest.
LG has worked with  Intel more closely than most handset majors, and has shown off a  smartphone running on the Atom processor, even though this was not, in  the end, commercialized. Now Valtteri Halla, a member of the MeeGo  technical steering group, has told Reuters that Nokia's new strategy is  "opening opportunities for the others to come in …. Discussions are  taking place. You'll see things coming out this year, pretty soon." In  particular, he said LG has joined a working group to develop a version  of MeeGo specifically for handsets. To date it has mainly been geared to  netbooks, tablets and emerging form factors such as 'cloudbooks'.
Other  companies that are aiming to stand out from the smartphone crowd  include ZTE, which has also joined the working group, as has China  Mobile. The latter has created its own software platform based largely  on Android, but wants a multi-OS play, and had a deepening partnership  with Symbian until Nokia's change of direction. China is seen as a  potential center to create some real scale around MeeGo, partly because  of Google's problems there - earlier this month, Intel set up a joint  venture with Tencent in China, to create a MeeGo development facility  that will employ up to 200 engineers. It is also rumored to be creating a  reference design with ZTE.
However,  the Atom/MeeGo combination has a long way to go to be proven for low  power handsets or to score any points against Android. It is more likely  to thrive in newer device categories where the battle lines are more  fluid and LG itself told FierceWireless that its first MeeGo products  would not be phones by in-care infotainment systems. This is a sector  where MeeGo is widely expected to become a serious force.
In  February, Intel CEO Paul Otellini told an analysts' meeting: "We will  find another partner for MeeGo. The carriers still want a third  ecosystem and the carriers want an open ecosystem, and that's the thing  that drives our motivation."
 
 
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