MeeGo Gets New Boss, Promises "Unique Appeal" In N950

MeeGo has found itself a new head, in the shape of ex-Qt lead Sebastian Nyström, replacing Alberto Torres who stepped down amid the Nokia-Microsoft partnership. Nyström will take responsibility for the first MeeGo phone, expected to be released later in 2011, and believed to be the Nokia N950. "We believe our upcoming device will have unique appeal to the style-conscious, connected enthusiast" the new chief told Nokia employees.

The comments follow Nokia CTO Rich Green's own teases about the N950, who told developers last month that "there's a lot of work that's gone into the technology, there's a lot of really interesting user interface and platform design work, some very elegant hardware." The exact nature of that hardware is currently unclear, though Nokia is believed to have axed the slide-out QWERTY keyboard of previously leaked prototypes in favor of a full-touchscreen candybar design instead.

Nyström will also take responsibility for "keeping Nokia on track to deliver necessary software updates following launch of the product" and "working with the Linux Foundation, Intel and the wider community to plan Nokia's future involvement in meego.com." Nokia has previously said that it considers MeeGo a development platform for "future disruption in [the] mobile ecosystem."