In the most current installment of the Slate of the Nation – Your Guide to Upcoming Slate Devices, I listed the MeeGo mobile OS as something worth keeping an eye on, but not necessarily something to go out of your way to acquire because of its early development state.

Well it seems MeeGo is getting a big boost on two fronts today and we may see MeeGo being used in a lot more places than you’d expect.

The GENIVI Alliance (the “IVI” portion I suspect standing for “in-vehicle infotainment”) announced today they will use MeeGo as the OS of choice for their in-car infotainment system. The Alliance, which consists of big automakers like BMW, GM, Mitsubishi, and Peugeot Citroen, didn’t say when or which car models will get this feature, but I suspect it will be at least 1 model year before we even see prototypes in place (MeeGo handsets haven’t even reached the market yet).

MeeGo Gaining Steam: In-Dash OS by Car Makers, and Intel Plants MeeGo R&D Group in China - Mobile 2
Original image from MyClassicCars.

Additionally, Intel today is announcing that it will be setting up an Atom and MeeGo research group in China to focus on mobile technology. According to the DigiTimes, sources say that the R&D group will work with “100 of the company’s embedded product partners to develop about 1,000 types of Atom-and-MeeGo combination-based applications”.

That’s a pretty specific number of partners and a specific target for prototypes.

Intel’s heavy investment in MeeGo is an interesting business maneuver to distance (or diversify) Atom processors from the cumbersome, yet capable, Windows 7.


Sources:
Nokia Blog, via Engadget.
Digitimes.