Linux Foundation announces MeeGo Smart TV Working Group, Intel, Nokia and others sign on

The future of MeeGo may not look quite as bright as it once did, but there's plenty of folks still committed to it, and the Linux Foundation is now starting to place an increased emphasis on one area in particular: smart TVs. To that end, it's just announced the formation of the MeeGo Smart TV Working Group, and it's already signed up quite a few companies as members, including Intel, Nokia, Nokia Siemens, Sigma Designs and others. Not surprisingly, there's not much more than some generalities at the moment, but the working group has committed to meeting twice a year (the first meeting is next month), and it's promising to "begin defining software components providing platform standardization," while also encouraging "competitive differentiation within the TV market segment with tools such at Qt." Full press release is after the break.

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The Linux Foundation Announces MeeGo TV Working Group

MeeGo Smart TV Working Group Begins Its Work to Bring Open Framework and Innovation to Television Ecosystem

LONDON - IPTV World Forum - The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux, today announced the formation of the MeeGo™ Smart TV Working Group.

MeeGo is an open source Linux project targeting multiple segments including automotive systems, netbooks, tablets, TVs, and set-top boxes, among others, and uses Qt to enable cross-device applications. The Working Group is designed to help drive the evolution of MeeGo within the television ecosystem and provide an open framework for industry creativity and innovation.

Early Working Group participants include some of the most innovative thinkers in the Smart TV industry and represent leading service providers, system integrators, hardware platform manufacturers and solution providers that include: Amino Communications, Intel Corporation, JetHead Development, Locatel, MIPS Technologies, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, Sigma Designs, Telecom Italia, Videon Central, and Ysten, among others.

Working Group members will define software components and a compliance program as well as focus on building an innovative and thriving ecosystem of developers and content providers with leading capabilities and tools.

"The Smart TV segment is growing fast, and with it comes both opportunity and complexity," said Ibrahim Haddad, Director of Technical Alliances at The Linux Foundation. "MeeGo is built from the ground up to address next-generation computing in multiple market segments like Smart TV and is intended to help advance Linux in this burgeoning market in the year ahead."

Smart TV allows consumers to access new entertainment choices with virtually unlimited content from the Internet and TV programming, a new world of TV applications and a browser to search and discover content. The transition to Smart TV will introduce dramatic changes to the television industry and will provide new programming, application and services opportunities to the entire ecosystem of service providers, content creators and distributors as well as to hardware and software developers. MeeGo Smart TV specifications are designed to provide an open framework to enable this community to drive these innovations to consumers.

The MeeGo Smart TV Working Group will begin defining software components providing platform standardization, while giving developers the ability to focus on competitive differentiation within the TV market segment with tools such at Qt. Members of the Working Group will submit code, which upon acceptance will be made available to the industry via MeeGo.com on a twice a year release cadence (Q1 and Q3). The first MeeGo Smart TV Working Group meeting will be held in April 2011. For more information, please visit http://www.meego.com.

Participating Companies Voice Support
Amino Communications
"We are delighted to be a founding member of the MeeGo Smart TV Working Group and look forward to sharing the experience of developing the technology that has underpinned the world's first deployments of smart TV-based services by a tier one operator," said Amino Communications Chief Executive Officer Andrew Burke. "MeeGo has proved to be a key element in enabling the rapid development and delivery of Smart TV related products that are perfectly aligned with today's fast-changing marketplace."

Intel Corporation
"Intel is working with leading OEMs and service providers to revolutionize the TV industry," said Keith Wehmeyer, general manager, IPTV Segment, Intel Digital Home Group, "MeeGo Smart TV will play a crucial role by providing a robust framework for new devices and services, and we're looking forward to helping provide high-performance processors needed for media-rich applications and user interfaces, as well as for cross-device integration."

JetHead Development
"MeeGo brings a powerful and diverse set of features to the Smart TV market," said Ben Payne, JetHead Development. "We are working with operators all over the world that are looking for a major step forward in what their middleware and applications can deliver. We believe that MeeGo Smart TV is well positioned to answer their needs."

Locatel
"Locatel has always been providing leading edge interactive TV solutions to the Hospitality market," said Antoine Trannoy, CTO, Locatel. "We are happy to contribute to the MeeGo Smart TV Working Group. We indeed strongly believe that it will shorten development cycles and allow us to bring more value to our customers."

MIPS Technologies
"Smart TVs and other connected products are fundamentally changing the consumer entertainment experience. As the leading provider of processor IP for the digital home, MIPS Technologies is looking forward to contributing to the MeeGo Smart TV Working Group to provide our customers with an appealing option for development of connected consumer entertainment products," said Art Swift, vice president of marketing and business development, MIPS Technologies.

Nokia
"Qt is a leading application and UI framework for a wide range of platforms, including smart set-top-boxes and TVs," said Dilip Kenchammana, head of Products, Home Media Segment, Nokia Qt Development Frameworks. "The MeeGo TV community project will deliver a world-class open-source Smart TV software platform, enabling developers, manufacturers and operators to create a differentiated, engaging end user experience that builds on the cross-platform power of Qt."

Nokia Siemens Networks
"Nokia Siemens Networks strongly supports a much more open environment within the IPTV industry and believes that real innovation is driven through open communities contributing to the market, enabling future proof solutions," said Brook Longdon, Head of Media and Entertainment, Nokia Siemens Networks. "The MeeGo project is the kind of platform that will help us innovate in this space as we press into the future."

Sigma Designs
"By working closely with partners, customers and others throughout the industry, we are able to provide robust solutions for the connected home," said Vikram Shrivastava of Sigma Designs. "We believe the MeeGo Smart TV Working Group will help lead the way in providing important innovations across platforms as content is distributed more broadly. Our deep culture of expertise will allow us to play a significant role in helping the evolution in content delivery continue."

Videon Central
"Videon is looking forward to collaborating on MeeGo Smart TV. By creating an open TV and set-top box framework, the MeeGo Smart TV Working Group will enable the rapid creation of next generation Smart TV solutions by easing the development and integration of multiple applications into a single platform environment," said Jim Condon, CTO, Videon Central, Inc.

Ysten
"Smart television with enhanced services is rapidly developing in the PRC," said Limin Hou, general manager, Ysten Technology. "MeeGo provides a well-defined ecosystem with the necessary flexibility for customization and extension for China."

About the MeeGo Project
The MeeGo project is an open source software platform for the next generation of computing devices. The MeeGo software platform is designed to give developers the broadest range of device segments to target for their applications, including netbooks and entry-level desktops, handheld computing and communications devices, in-vehicle infotainment devices, connected TVs, media phones and more -- all using a uniform set of APIs based on Qt. For consumers, MeeGo will offer innovative application experiences that they can take from device to device. The MeeGo project is hosted by the Linux Foundation. For more information on MeeGo, visit www.meego.com.

About The Linux Foundation
The Linux Foundation is a nonprofit consortium dedicated to fostering the growth of Linux. Founded in 2007, the organization sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and promotes, protects and advances the Linux operating system by marshaling the resources of its members and the open source development community. The Linux Foundation provides a neutral forum for collaboration and education by hosting Linux conferences, including LinuxCon, and generating original Linux research and content that advances the understanding of the Linux platform. Its web properties, including Linux.com, reach approximately two million people per month. The organization also provides extensive Linux training opportunities that feature the Linux kernel community's leading experts as instructors. Follow The Linux Foundation on Twitter.

Trademarks: The Linux Foundation, Linux Standard Base, MeeGo and Yocto Project are trademarks of The Linux Foundation. Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. Moblin is a trademark of Intel.