Nokia Corp. has scrapped development of Meltemi, a Linux-based operating system for low-cost mobile phones, according to a media report. Earlier this month project leader of Meltemi announce plans to leave Nokia on June 30, 2012, hence, the information is not really surprising, especially in the light of the fact that Nokia is cutting costs seriously these days..

The operating system designed specifically for low-cost devices that currently used Series 40 platform from Nokia and code code-named Meltemi was a Linux-based OS that was led by Mary McDowell, the handset maker's executive vice president in charge of mobile phones. Ms. McDowell announced step down from the company earlier this month and apparently this will cause closure of the whole project.

No details about the project have ever been revealed, but Linux origins of Meltemi point to support of third-party applications. Reuters news-agency also quotes a person with knowledge of Nokia's roadmap who reportedly said that Meltemi-based devices should have been available by now.

While the market of smartphones is growing rapidly, the lion's part of the market is controlled by simplistic smartphones. But entry-level mobile phones - so-called feature-phones - will need to support things like 3.5G, 4G, 4.5G, Wi-Fi, touch-screens, different form-factors, third-party applications and so on. But those phones will still have to cost $30 - $40 on average, which means that it is impossible to sell Windows Phone-based devices onto those markets.

With S40 becoming obsolete in the foreseeable future and without Meltemi, Nokia's feature-phone strategy becomes increasingly uncertain. The only possible platform that Nokia could use for feature-rich mobile phones is now Smarterphone that the firm acquired this year.

Tags: Nokia, Meltemi, MeeGo, Smarterphone, Symbian, Windows Phone