Reports: Meego is out, is WP7 in at Nokia?

Nokia-LogoReuters is reporting a rather cryptic report today that two of its sources are saying that Nokia has ended development of the first Meego powered Nokia phone before it even launched. Nokia has refused comment on the report, and the Reuters article goes on to say that Nokia could actually show the new OS either Friday or on Sunday at MWC, something that wouldn’t happen, obviously, if the OS has been killed.  Troubled Nokia, who have a widely anticipated announcement tomorrow by new CEO and ex Microsoft President Stephen Elop on the future of the company, had been developing Meego, a Linux based mobile operating system, as their new smartphone OS.

Elop emailed employees this week in a brutal and frank assessment of Nokia’s current position in the marketplace, likening them to a man on a burning platform, needing to make a decision to stay he was and perish, or jump to an uncertain future.

There has been much speculation about whether Elop will align Nokia with the new Windows Phone platform, which he has some familiarity with as a former MS President, or go with Android.  At least one Google executive doesn’t seem to think it will be Android, however.  VP Vic Gundotra, also a former Softie, tweeted his thoughts in a somewhat obvious reference to a Windows Phone / Nokia collaboration:

#feb11 “Two turkeys do not make an Eagle”.about 13 hours ago via web

It’s unclear, even with what would be a somewhat surprising announcement that Nokia would go with Windows Phone, how soon or in what capacity Nokia would use the new Microsoft mobile OS.  Microsoft has placed strict hardware guidelines for the phones, and it would seemingly take Nokia months at the very least to prepare a Nokia WP7, all the while falling further behind in market share, even while Windows Phone itself struggles in the marketplace.  Two turkeys indeed?



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