Intel has revealed its plans for the Linux-based MeeGo operating system, as the company announced that it has joined the Linux Foundation and LiMo Foundation, in support of Tizen, a new Linux-based open-source software platform for multiple device categories.

Hosted at The Linux Foundation, Tizen is a “standards-based, cross-architecture software platform,” which, like MeeGo, supports multiple mobile device such as smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, netbooks as well as in-vehicle infotainment systems.

The development of Tizen will be completely open and led by a technical steering team comprised of Intel and Samsung. Its initial release is targeted for Q1 2012, which will mean that the Tizen-operating devices will come to market in mid-2012. Intel stated that Tizen builds upon the strengths of MeeGo and that the company will be working with its MeeGo partners to assist them in transitioning from MeeGo to Tizen.

Origins of MeeGo

MeeGo was created by Intel and Nokia when the two tech giants combined their two OS platforms, Maemo and Moblin, last year. After Nokia concluded an agreement with Microsoft to employ its Windows Phone OS as its primary smartphone OS, things started to look a little shaky for the mobile OS.

Intel reaffirmed its commitment to the OS, following reports that it is temporarily halting the development of MeeGo. However, the chip maker along with Google announced that they will enable and optimise future versions of Android for Intel’s family of low power Atom processors.  

And MeeGo’s other parent?

Despite Nokia’s love for Windows Phone, the Finnish company recently showcased its MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan running Nokia N9 smartphone at a function held in Cape Town. This device should become locally available by November at a recommended retail price of R5999.

The Finnish phone giant has also revealed that Nokia N9 buyers can expect software updates for this smartphone in future. Espoo said that the first updates will be based on feedback that it has received from operators and users, and will be targeted towards making the smartphone even more intuitive to use.

When we played around with the N9, we noticed that there isn’t a multitude of apps available for the N9 on Nokia’s Ovi Store as yet, but the company also noted that this is set to change. We have many activities in the developer side, where we help developers make new applications for Nokia N9,” explained Janne Heikkinen, Nokia’s product planning director in a post on the company’s official Nokia Conversations blog.