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Feb. 16, 2010

Nokia and Intel say they are planning to merge their Linux-based software platforms for next-generation MIDs (mobile Internet devices). MeeGo, which merges Intel's Moblin and Nokia's Maemo platforms, the software is intended to support multiple hardware types across a host of market segments, ranging from mobile computers, netbooks and tablets to next-generation smartphones, connected TVs and in-vehicle systems.

The project's code will be available to mobile system developers in the second quarter of 2010.

Intel and Nokia declined to tell names yet, but committed to launching on a variety of MIDs across products from numerous manufacturers in the second half of 2010.

The goal is to allow mobile developers to write a Linux application once and have it work immediately on a variety of devices and platforms and then sell through Nokia's Ovi Store and Intel's AppUp Center.

Through MeeGo, Intel and Nokia are decidedly not going after the PC market, but rather new, different mobile experiences that open up opportunities beyond what can be done on smartphones today.

Following the MeeGo announcement, Niklas Savander, EVP of Nokia's services business, took the stage to give updates on Ovi Maps, Comes With Music, the Ovi Store and more.

Having only launched Ovi Maps for mobile just twenty-six days ago, Nokia has already managed more than three million downloads of the free application, averaging about 100,000 downloads per day.

Nokia declined to give the total number of Comes With Music users, perhaps partly due to its confidential agreements with various record labels, but Savander did say the company experienced a 400 percent increase in activations month-over-month from November to December of last year.

On the Ovi Store, Nokia has localized its offering in eighteen countries with integrated billing across sixty mobile and wireless service operators.

The top five countries using it are India, Indonesia, Italy, Russia and the United Kingdom. The Ovi Store is approaching fifteen downloads per second with daily highs of more than 1,000 downloads per minute.

As for the latest numbers on Nokia's unlimited Comes With Music offering, Savander pointed to eleven new global markets where the service recently launched in the Middle East and Africa, combining now for a total of twenty-seven countries.

Two weeks ago, Nokia said it is seeing a lot of demand for its free GPS navigation service.

Today, Nokia reports that its new version of Ovi Maps, with free walk and drive GPS navigation app has been downloaded more than 1.4 million times.

Nokia says that the success of its new version of Ovi Maps is a key part of its strategy to lead the wireless market in mobile maps, GPS navigation and location-based services (LBS).

By fully leveraging its investment in maps provider Navteq, Nokia says it has been able to remove the huge costs associated with GPS navigation for drivers and even pedestrians, and is quickly activating a massive user base to which it can offer new location features, content and services.

Nokia says it reached the 1 million download mark just one week after the launch of its new nav service. The company even says the number of people now using Nokia for navigation is growing faster than it predicted.

And as you can expect, this is giving Google a good run for its money... It seems now that people like Nokia's navigation service more than Google's.

Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia executive vice president says "this is great news for our third-party mobile apps developers. Within just one week from launch, we had an installed base of more than 1.2 million active users all potentially hungry for new and innovative location-aware apps. For the wireless providers there is a also a growing opportunity to offer more data-plans and a complete navigation package to existing and new mobile customers."

All new Nokia GPS-enabled smartphones will include the new version of Ovi Maps pre-loaded with local country map data, with high-end walk and drive navigation and access to Lonely Planet and Michelin travel guides at no extra cost.

Source: Intel and Nokia.

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