Reports have surfaced about a new Linux-based mobile platform that Nokia is developing for feature phones. The platform, called Meltemi, will run on low-cost devices aimed largely at developing markets—regions where Nokia has historically been strong.

The new operating system might help Nokia remain competitive at the low end as Android starts to scale down and become a serious contender in the high-volume feature phone space. Although Android isn't quite there yet, its proven versatility and appeal to mobile carriers suggest that it will eventually be adapted to run on even cheaper hardware.

Nokia's platform strategy has gone through a dramatic upheaval over the past year. Before present CEO Stephen Elop took the reins, Nokia intended to use the Linux-based MeeGo operating system on high-end devices, Symbian on mid-range handsets, and S40 on feature phones. The Qt software development toolkit, which Nokia obtained in its 2008 acquisition of Trolltech, was going to enable a unified third-party software ecosystem spanning all of the company's platforms.

Due to the changes over the past year, Nokia's platform strategy looks very different today—and much less coherent. Elop abandoned MeeGo in favor of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 and vowed to phase out Symbian within a matter of years. Although the message from the top was that Nokia's future is Windows, various Nokia executives have issued contradictory statements which suggest that Symbian is not going away.

The new Meltemi operating system is another unexpected twist. It's not entirely clear yet how it will fit into Nokia's product lineup, but a BGR report indicates that it will likely replace Nokia's aging S40 operating system. Only a few months ago, Nokia was touting S40 as the platform with which it would connect the "next billion" mobile device users. The news about Meltemi raises questions about whether Nokia's big plans for S40 still have a future.

A Linux-based feature phone platform would have nicely complemented MeeGo, but it looks like a less relevant move for Nokia now that the company has gambled its future on the success of Windows Phone 7. Nokia probably started developing Meltemi before the Windows switch.

Microsoft plans to bring the Windows Phone experience to budget handsets for developing markets next year with its Tango effort, but it's not clear if that will be aimed at quite the same audience as Meltemi. It's worth noting that Nokia currently uses S40 across a wide range of very different products, including low-end devices that consist mostly of a numerical keypad, and mid-range touchscreen devices with specs that are comparable to modest smartphones. Being able to adopt Windows Phone across everything from high-end devices to feature phones would give Nokia a valuable opportunity to consolidate its developer base and reduce internal fragmentation, but Tango might not be ready to scale all the way down to the bottom rung of S40-class devices.

BGR speculates that the higher licensing costs and hardware requirements of Microsoft's software and other factors could simply be pricing Windows Phone out of reach in some S40 strongholds. By comparison, Android's low licensing costs and greater flexibility will give it an advantage in those regions when the platform is eventually scaled down to run on feature phones. Nokia might be building Meltemi as a stop-gap to stay competitive against Android in developing markets while Microsoft works on a Windows Phone solution that is compelling on extremely low-cost hardware.

Listing image by Photograph by Brittany Randolph