Meego got me go-ing

I recently had a chance to fiddle with the new Nokia N9 recently and my reaction to that was
"What was Nokia thinking?"

To start off, the N9 has got an odd design. It has a curved display when the other's are flat and sharp corners when the rounded corners are the norm. Except for its two rounded sides, all other surface is flat. It has no button on its face and this new level of minimalist design squeezed a 3.9" screen into a body only marginally bigger than the iPhone. The phone looked rather blocky but its slim profile and display curved glass that almost cover the entire front from edge to edge gave it an unusual appeal that screams one of a kind. It's a trick of course as the display isn't really as big as the glass itself but it makes it look really good. I can't say I like the overall design although I must admit the design of the display over the AMOLED screen really capture my eyes. Don't judge it merely by the photos though as the N9 looks better in real life.

As unusual as the design of the phone is, it is the OS inside that everyone is excited about. Here is how the N9 basically works. Unlock the phone by switching the unlock button or by simply double tapping the screen. We will see a screen that shows all the updates of your friends or whatever news you subscribe to. One swipe and we arrive in the menu screen, through which we access all settings and apps. Another swipe will take us to the task switcher, for quick access to any unclosed application. That's it! That is all we need to know to start using the N9. It's almost as intuitive as the iPhone, plus some extra functionality, like iOS Expanded Edition.

Back to the question earlier, what was Nokia thinking?

They finally have something that excite the world which they co-own, which may become their golden ticket back to the number one spot, and their decision is to let it go and focus on Window Phone, which they will never own, and which other manufacturers could use as well? Again, what was Nokia thinking?

I cannot say for sure they made a mistake but the decision is made and it is unlikely the N9 will be receiving much after sales software support / updates. It doesn't even have Whatapps while Nokia alredy made a deal to have Whatapps developed for its non-smart feature S40 platform. Maybe that is why it wasn't released in the US or Europe and instead, we in Malaysia are the 'lucky' one to have it. Because we are less demanding for such updates.

Whatever it is, at least Intel is smart enough to realized Meego generated too much excitement to be discontinued and found a new partner in Samsung to continue its development under the name Tizen. Even if Tizen really grow, I can't imagine Samsung rolling out new updates for a Nokia device. Furthermore, Nokia still owns the beautiful rounded icons design used in Meego's menu.

It's a shame. Meego is such an easy platform to fall in love with and the N9 is really beautiful. Again, Nokia comes so close to creating a winner but it still couldn't reach the finishing line. One last time: What was Nokia thinking? Sigh...