Everyone is all hot and bothered by this new [MeeGo Nokia N9](http://swipe.nokia.com/) (wait didn’t they declare this [OS dead already](http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/06/nokias-meego-based-n9-is-sleek-and-hot/) — wow that should help with 3rd party adoption). The phone is pretty looking, but it is comical to watch the videos they produced about the phone.
The videos themselves are very good, but how Nokia can pretend like what they created is anything new — well that I don’t get. They talk a lot about the “swipe” gesture — that’s great and all, but it’s not something new to cellphones. We have had the “swipe” since (guessing here) June of 2007.
As I mentioned above, this is likely the last MeeGo powered phone from Nokia for a while — so why in the world would a 3rd party developer create an app for this? They won’t — hard enough to get them to do it for Windows Phone 7. They list the Ovi store as the place to get apps, but those apps are created on a phone by phone basis and the N9 has yet to be listed.
Lastly they interface works in a way that a swipe from the left or right edge into the middle will put you into an app launcher or switcher — which is great, right up and until the point and iPhone/Android/WP7 user comes along and tries to “swipe” through their pictures only to find that it keeps kicking them to the homescreen. New concepts aren’t bad when they fix a broken system, but the current navigation on Android, iOS, and Windows Phone 7 isn’t broken — why break it?
[Charlie Sorrel](http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/06/nokias-meego-based-n9-is-sleek-and-hot/) says of the “swipe” that Nokia invented:
>This could be annoying or awesome, depending on implementation.
Given Nokia’s history, I am going with annoying.
Lastly, when Nokia claims “All it takes is a swipe” — is it just me or does it feel like they are “swiping” this entire concept from others with a much poorer implementation? Watch the videos and decide for yourself.