14 DAY TRIAL // MeeGo is quickly becoming the standard Linux distribution for embedded or specialized systems of all sorts. There’s a version available for mobile phones, one for netbooks and now one for cars as well. MeeGo for In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) 1.0 has now been released. It’s an early build, despite the 1.0 moniker, and comes with limited hardware support and just a few, mostly proof-of-concept applications. But it’s a solid first release and with industry support behind it, MeeGo may very well become the IVI operating system of choice.
“We are pleased to present this 1.0 release of MeeGo for IVI. As part of this release, we are including a sample IVI Home Screen and taskbar, using the included Qt framework, and designed with Automotive Center Console HMI requirements in mind. We have also included some automotive specific middleware components and a few sample applications, including sample navigation program (Navit) and a sample dialer application (BT-HFP Dialer) which uses Bluetooth and a paired phone,” the official announcement read.
Highlights of MeeGo for IVI 1.0:
· Linux kernel 2.6.33; · Qt 4.6; · DeviceKit and udev - for hardware support; · Launching and managing applications through a home screen and a taskbar; · Navit - a sample navigation applet; · BT-HFP Dialer - sample Bluetooth dialer application; · Network connections manager UI; · Mozilla Fennec - QT-based web browser; · Open-source packages from various automotive projects with support for: audio management, resource management, persistent storage management, CE device management, and system health management.
A merger of Inte’s Moblin platform and Nokia’s Maemo, the fact that MeeGo for IVI 1.0 only works on Intel hardware should come as little surprise. In fact, not even all Intel graphic adaptors are supported. What’s more, the apps that are bundled with the first release could probably do with a bit of polish. But the Linux Foundation, which supervises the project, said that MeeGo had been selected by the GENIVI Alliance, which includes car manufacturers like BMW, GM and Peugeot-Citroen, as the next reference release for IVI, so the future looks bright.
MeeGo for IVI 1.0 is available for download here on Softpedia.