Intel, the jilted bride after the recent Nokia-Microsoft deal, says it's on the hunt for another partner for its MeeGo operating system.

The MeeGo OS was spawned out of a project merger between Nokia and Intel. It was abandoned by the Finland-based company for the potentially more lucrative shores of Microsoft's Windows Phone. Nokia was reportedly offered a fairly hefty sum to move in with Steve Ballmer.

According to Reuters, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said staying with Meego was the best strategy for Nokia but that CEO Stephen Elop had determined that his company could not afford to continue its relationship with Intel. I wouldn't have made the decision he made, I would probably have gone to Android if I were him, Ontellini said.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said on Wednesday that Google, too, tried to draw Nokia into a relationship, but that nothing came of the talks.

Despite Nokia's defection, Intel is staying the course with the Meego operating system. At this year's Mobile World Congress, the company displayed an early version of the software on an ExpoPc tablet.

Otellini also shared the concerns previously voiced by Elop over the mounting risk of an Android-iOs duopoly.

The carriers still want a third ecosystem and the carriers want an open ecosystem, and that's the thing that drives our motivation, he said.

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