Nokia's CTO, Rich Green, allegedly leaving Nokia over MeeGo and Elop's strategy

BBC News, amongst many others, carried the news that Nokia's Chief Technology Officer, Rich Green, is no longer working at Nokia: An official Nokia statement said he had left to resolve a "personal matter" and gave no date for his return. However, a Finnish newspaper quoted sources inside Nokia saying he had left because of differences over strategy and would not return. Mr Green was known to champion the MeeGo mobile operating system which Nokia recently sidelined. If, as seems likely, it is a disagreement over strategy, it is unclear what - if anything - triggered Green's decision now. Recent statements from Stephen Elop, including those we covered last week, pour even more cold water over MeeGo; a move which does not seem sensible when about to launch a MeeGo-compatible device. This has led some to conclude the Harmattan programme - even at this very late stage in its development, and about to launch - may be cancelled.

Such an outcome would be very unfortunate, both for us in the community and those in Nokia who've been working so hard on it for so longer. However, in your editor's experience, it's not unheard of. Acorn's next-generation ARM-based desktop, Phoebe, was cancelled weeks before launch in a strategic shift of the company after a change in the board. After Acorn & RISC OS, Psion & EPOC and Nokia & Maemo, companies should strongly resist having your editor as a champion.