MeeGo 1.2 released

The MeeGo project developers have announced the release of MeeGo 1.2, described as a "solid baseline for device vendors and developers to start creating software for various device categories". The Core OS component of MeeGo 1.2 includes reference kernels for Intel Atom and ARMv7 platforms and a Qt/QML-based application framework with the Qt-Mobility APIs. It also includes enhanced telephony and connectivity including GSM, GPRS and HSPA+ support, a SIM application toolkit, expanded Bluetooth profiles, VPN/wireless authentication methods, and more multimedia support with RTSP streaming and progressive download. More details on the enhancements are available on the Core Software Platform page along with links to download bootable images for supported hardware.

The release also includes the Netbook UX 1.2 (User eXperience), and In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) UX 1.2 with a speech recognition enabled, QML based application launcher and a sample IVI home-screen. Missing for this release is a Handset UX, development of which was led by Nokia, but there is a tablet developer preview.

The MeeGo 1.2 SDK is available for developers working on the Core OS and supported UX options and can be run on Linux and Windows. Updates to the SDK are planned to add support for Ubuntu 11.04, Fedora 15, 64-bit Linux and Windows; a Mac OS X SDK is due by the end of 2011.

Development on MeeGo 1.3 is already ongoing, with features already accepted in the developer's "Featurezilla". MeeGo adheres to a six month cycle so the 1.3 release will be due in October. This release is out in time for the MeeGo Conference in San Francisco which runs from 23 to 25 May.

(djwm)