Online social media and technology news site Mashable.com reports that the new Linux based operating system (OS) Tizen, an open source effort led by Samsung and Intel (News – Alert) and hosted by the Linux Foundation, may soon replace MeeGo. As per the report, Tizen will be tailored to support multiple devices, such as smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, netbooks and in-vehicle infotainment systems.

According to Mashable.com reporter Stan Schroeder, it will be based on HTML5 and other upcoming web standards, which is one of the key factors for replacing MeeGo.

“This new project is first and foremost open source, and based on Linux. So it begs the question: why not just evolve MeeGo? We believe the future belongs to HTML5-based applications. … Shifting to HTML5 doesn’t just mean slapping a web runtime on an existing Linux, even one aimed at mobile, as MeeGo has been,” Imad Sousou, director of Intel Open Source (News – Alert) Technology Center, told Schroeder.

While Sousou promises to help users and developers transition from MeeGo to Tizen as easily as possible, but the somewhat unexpected switch will surely leave a sore taste in developers’ mouths, wrote Schroeder.

As per the report, MeeGo‘s history was uncertain and rocky from the start.  It was created by merging Nokia’s (News – Alert) Maemo and Intel’s Moblin OS. Bu, but soon after its inception, Nokia left for green pastures and fully embraced Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 OS.

However, the Mashable.com report indicates that Nokia’s MeeGo based N9 recently started shipping to some European countries (but not Germany, UK and the U.S.) as a one-time affair. Thus, suggesting that leading cell phone maker’s vision of the future was blurry.

Nevertheless, the Mashable.com report said that the first release of the Tizen OS and its SDK are expected in the first half of 2012. More details about the platform, such as code and developer documentation, are expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.