Ari Jaaksi, VP of MeeGo Devices resigns

Well that’s something none of us expected. Given Nokia’s push for MeeGo as their singular high-end solution to compete with (read: crush) iOS and Android and the amount of buzz that has been generated both within and external to the company about this coming OS, it’s rather surprising that one of the most important men in charge of bringing these much-vaunted devices to the public is stepping down. This after 12 years at Nokia both on mobile browser development as well with Maemo/MeeGo and associated open source initiatives. I’m sure that the loss will be strongly felt within the company when he does indeed depart but we can rest assured that most of the work surrounding the upcoming MeeGo devices was probably finished in advance of the tendering of his resignation.

NB It takes around 12-24 months to create and productise any mobile device from concept to shipping.

Here’s to hoping that political and/or bureaucratic issues didn’t force Ari out and that he’s simply making use of the current period of transition in order to pursue new opportunities.

This news does make you wonder though, with 3 senior Finns leaving the company in relatively quick succession, does this signal a marked change in the type of thinking, management and communication that we can expect to see from the company in the future. Or is this a case of rats fleeing a sinking ship? Leave your opinions in the comments section

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Tags: Jaaski

Category: 3rd edition, 5th Edition, Android, aPPLE, Concept, Convergence, Linux, Maemo, MeeGo, Nokia, Nseries, OVI, Symbian