Nokia continues to keep us guessing about their operating system plans. Just days after buying out the company behind the Symbian OS used in most of its mobiles, the Finnish company has announced that it plans to use Linux for future high-end mobile phones.
The Open Source operating system Linux has been gaining ground in the mobile world in the form of a couple of indie Linux phones (e.g the OpenMOKO Freerunner) and of course Google’s Android Linux-based operating system. Rather than make use of existing developments, Nokia are keen to work on their own implementation of the OS – Maemo.
Nokia has been using Maemo Linux to power its range of Internet tablets – the N770, N800 and N810 – since 2005 and the OS already has a shedload of working apps – including a port of the popular Firefox web browser – as well as full touch screen support.
“I don’t see anything in Android which would make it better than Linux Maemo,” said Nokia’s Ukko Lappalainen, speaking at Nokia World.
