Jolla Releases Sailfish OS And Tries To Scale up
Finnish smartphone and Sailfish OS developer Jolla today announced that its mobile operating system Sailfish OS has reached release 1.0 and is now ready for global distribution.
Jolla has also made available the Sailfish OS experience as downloadable software to devices running Android OS.
Sailfish OS is a gesture-based mobile operating system. Easy navigation and live multitasking are at the heart of the mobile OS. The OS also supports both native Sailfish OS applications as well as Android applications.
Currently Jolla smartphones are available for orders online at shop. jolla.com at the price of €399 (incl. VAT) to all European Union countries, Switzerland and Norway. In Finland Jolla smartphones can be purchased also through local operator DNA's shops, and sales is now expanding to all common retail channels.
After the limited availability sales start of Jolla smartphones with Sailfish OS beta, Jolla has released three software updates. The fourth update will be released at the beginning of March, after which the software will be commercially ready for global distribution. Jolla says the update will include "improved performance, extended landscape support, lots of visual improvements, lots of new camera functionalities, enhancements to the Jolla store, new general settings" and other fixes.
Jolla is tring to enter into new markets, and is negotiating with partners in several countries, including Russia, India and Hong Kong where Jolla will open online sales in the near future. Negotiations in several European countries are on the way for Jolla to soon open new channels in main European markets.
Sailfish OS has been developed to be compatible with commonly available Android hardware platforms. Now Jolla is introducing the Sailfish OS experience as downloadable software to devices running Android OS.
The Sailfish community has already ported Sailfish OS into some devices including major versions of the Samsung Galaxy, Google Nexus, and Sony Xperia. Also, porting for popular Chinese Xiaomi products is under work in community projects.
In addition, Jolla is releasing its own Sailfish user interface launcher as an Android application, which can be used to simulate the Sailfish OS experience on Android devices. The app will be available for download in the near future from Jolla.com and from common Android market places.
Jolla plans to release the downloadable Sailfish OS software in phases during the first half of 2014.
First, the UI launcher application will be released so users can start to experience the Sailfish user interface in their existing devices running Android OS. Later Android smart phone users can get the full Sailfish OS to their devices.
Jolla has also formed new partnerships with Rovio Ltd. , to launch a special "The Other Half Angry Birds" smart cover.
In another partnership with F-Secure Corp., Jolla co-operates in mobile security and establishes trusted cloud services. Jolla will offer its customers gigabytes of free secure cloud storage integrated with their Jolla device.
Jolla's move is similar to Ubuntu making the developer preview of its OS available for Nexus devices, although Jolla's will be a full commerical release.
"Last year in China alone, about 100 million devices were re-flashed after the purchase with a new operating system. This approach allows Sailfish OS to scale into volume fast without limitations. This is a scaling opportunity in a similar way as we have seen in the mobile gaming industry recently," Antti Saarnio, chairman of Jolla's board said.
Sailfish OS is a gesture-based mobile operating system. Easy navigation and live multitasking are at the heart of the mobile OS. The OS also supports both native Sailfish OS applications as well as Android applications.
Currently Jolla smartphones are available for orders online at shop. jolla.com at the price of €399 (incl. VAT) to all European Union countries, Switzerland and Norway. In Finland Jolla smartphones can be purchased also through local operator DNA's shops, and sales is now expanding to all common retail channels.
After the limited availability sales start of Jolla smartphones with Sailfish OS beta, Jolla has released three software updates. The fourth update will be released at the beginning of March, after which the software will be commercially ready for global distribution. Jolla says the update will include "improved performance, extended landscape support, lots of visual improvements, lots of new camera functionalities, enhancements to the Jolla store, new general settings" and other fixes.
Jolla is tring to enter into new markets, and is negotiating with partners in several countries, including Russia, India and Hong Kong where Jolla will open online sales in the near future. Negotiations in several European countries are on the way for Jolla to soon open new channels in main European markets.
Sailfish OS has been developed to be compatible with commonly available Android hardware platforms. Now Jolla is introducing the Sailfish OS experience as downloadable software to devices running Android OS.
The Sailfish community has already ported Sailfish OS into some devices including major versions of the Samsung Galaxy, Google Nexus, and Sony Xperia. Also, porting for popular Chinese Xiaomi products is under work in community projects.
In addition, Jolla is releasing its own Sailfish user interface launcher as an Android application, which can be used to simulate the Sailfish OS experience on Android devices. The app will be available for download in the near future from Jolla.com and from common Android market places.
Jolla plans to release the downloadable Sailfish OS software in phases during the first half of 2014.
First, the UI launcher application will be released so users can start to experience the Sailfish user interface in their existing devices running Android OS. Later Android smart phone users can get the full Sailfish OS to their devices.
Jolla has also formed new partnerships with Rovio Ltd. , to launch a special "The Other Half Angry Birds" smart cover.
In another partnership with F-Secure Corp., Jolla co-operates in mobile security and establishes trusted cloud services. Jolla will offer its customers gigabytes of free secure cloud storage integrated with their Jolla device.
Jolla's move is similar to Ubuntu making the developer preview of its OS available for Nexus devices, although Jolla's will be a full commerical release.
"Last year in China alone, about 100 million devices were re-flashed after the purchase with a new operating system. This approach allows Sailfish OS to scale into volume fast without limitations. This is a scaling opportunity in a similar way as we have seen in the mobile gaming industry recently," Antti Saarnio, chairman of Jolla's board said.
