Nokia has reportedly scrapped the 'Meltemi' software project which was originally set to compete with low-end Google Android phones.

Nokia was hoping the Linux-based software platform, code-named Meltemi, would replace its Series 40 software but has killed the project as part of its massive cost-cutting drive, Reuters reported today citing "preople with direct knowledge with the matter."

Nokia's Series 40 platform are in around 2 billion cellphones. However, it lacks the smartphone-like experience Meltemi could have offered.

Last year Nokia tried to shift its programming efforts toward creating "Meltemi" - the Greek word for summer winds that blow across the Aegean Sea - software for its low-end phones.

In 2003, Nokia started work in 2003 on its own high-end operating system, called Maemo, but the effort faced setbacks inside Nokia due to management changes and shifts in strategy. In 2010, Nokia said it would combine Maemo with software from Intel to create a next-generation operating system called MeeGo. But in 2011, Nokia decided to make smartphones using Microsoft's software, ending Nokia's Intel partnership.

Nokia last year dumped its own smartphone software platforms in favor of Microsoft's Windows Phone, which has so far had a limited impact, in part due to the high prices of phones using it.