Example screenshots of MeeGo GUIs for netbooks and smartphones
The interwebs have been feverishly pouring over the Moblin-inspired screenshots unveiled as "MeeGo" by Intel at their Developer Forum. Among the announcements there's talk of their MeeGo collaborative platform with Nokia. That includes some UI examples - for both netbooks, as seen here, and mobile devices - together with feature lists and roadmaps. Nothing specific in terms of actual device releases, of course, but Intel have confirmed that MeeGo v1.1 should land in late October 2010. Quim Gil has pointed out (see below) that these aren't necessarily indicative of any final device shipped by a manufacturer; but do give an indication as to the "base" MeeGo UI which manufacturers will build on; or possibly replace.
MeeGo screenshots and Nokia: things to understand
As mentioned, Quim Gil has been managing expectations about the "MeeGo" screenshots: The only MeeGo real screenshots are the ones coming from a real MeeGo release. Take the rest as potential previews, concepts, proposals. MeeGo screenshots can refer to one or many UX categories: nobody is trying to squeeze the Netbook UX in a handset etc. MeeGo screenshots can refer to the system UI or applications; then vendors can ship their devices with those apps or another, with that same system UX or a different one (changing the theme or bringing deeper changes).
Video: Intel & Nokia presenting MeeGo running on different kinds of devices
Following on from the screenshots above, an early draft of MeeGo - which bears more than a passing resemblance to its Moblin parent - has been shown off on various devices and form factors by an enthusiastic Intel. Engadget says, Here we go open source fans, the first debut of MeeGo 1.0 running on Intel silicon -- an Acer Aspire One netbook with a Pinetrail processor to be precise -- sporting a simplified UI that looks to have inherited far more Moblin DNA than Maemo. You've got tasks, appointments, most-used apps, and a quick-launch bar all up front. We're also seeing 3D gaming support; Zones, Applications, People, Internet, Media and Settings tabs; and real-time social networking integration for Twitter, Facebook, and instant messaging with task bar alerts As Engadget then points out, this is Intel's take on the base MeeGo UI and - with Quim Gil's comments above - Nokia's may well be different.
Mer 0.17 on Joggler with 3D acceleration
Carsten Munk - the hacking guru behind Mer - has been working on Mer, MeeGo and Qt on the O2 Joggler, which we mentioned last week. He's now succeeded in getting Mer 0.17 - which runs Maemo 5's hildon-desktop - running on the small x86 device. The posted video has some errors (due to 24/32bpp buffer), but looks good and nice. Carsten has since recompiled Clutter and solved the display issue and posted a new Mer image for people to download from jogglerwiki.info.