Technology firms such as LG Electronics are moving toward adopting the Linux-based MeeGo operating

According to Reuters, LG Electronics has joined a working group with ZTE and China Mobile for developing a handset version of the software.

"It's opening opportunities for the others to come in. Discussions are taking place. You'll see things coming out this year, pretty soon," Valtteri Halla, a member of the technical steering group of MeeGo, told a developer conference on Friday. Halla, who worked for years on Nokia's Linux software and swapped to Intel following Nokia's announcement, said Nokia's dominant role in the project had held back other phone makers from adopting the technology.

"Nokia's change of strategy helps MeeGo's prospects, but greater traction is likely to come from tablets, netbooks and embedded devices rather than smartphones," said analyst Geoff Blaber from CCS Insight. "MeeGo has to develop a fantastic platform, a serious alternative to Microsoft and Google, before it can succeed," said John Strand, head of Danish consultancy Strand Consult. "The big question is whether there is space for a third player in that market," he said.