Jolla to demo MeeGo-based Sailfish OS at Slush Conference next month

Open-source OS codenamed Sailfish to embark from Finland

Jolla's MeeGo-based OS is official saying "me too" in the crowded world of mobile operating systems.

The Finnish smartphone start-up was rumored to introduce its new OS, codenamed Sailfish, as reported by TechRadar yesterday. Now the company is saying when and where.

The Slush start-up conference in Helsinki, Finland will be the venue for the first Sailfish demo. With the event running Nov. 21- 22 - the unveiling is expected to take place on one of those two days.

Jolla is made up of ex-Nokia employees who worked on the Nokia N9 - the only smartphone to run MeeGo despite Nokia's prior commitment to iOS and Android rival.

The new company is promising to continue with a highly scalable, open source version of the OS and UX for smartphones, tablets, TVs, and vehicles.

MeeGo-based Sailfish goes to China

Jolla expects to license its Sailfish operating system to other device manufacturers, design houses and service companies in spring 2013.

One advantage that Jolla has already is a partnership in China with phone retailer D.Phone Group.

"China is a game changer in the technology industry," said Jolla CEO Jussi Hurmola in a press release. "The next big mobile change will come from China and Jolla wants to be enabling it. There are massive resources and competence to transport the whole industry."

Plenty of Sailfish competitors in the sea

Sailfish remains an unproven OS, despite the commitment in China and Jolla's game plan to keep the mobile OS open to community participation.

Google's Android and Apple's iOS are making tremendous gains throughout China, and BlackBerry 10 is set to launch in 2013, around the same time as Sailfish.

What's more, Firefox OS is also throwing its hat in the ring, targeting "budget phones." Samsung could easily do the same with Bada, and Chinese phone manufacturer Huawei is working on a fail-safe OS just in case.

Still, it will be interesting to see what new features this open-source mobile OS has to offer next month, especially knowing that it will continue MeeGo's unique community involvement initiative.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/jolla-to-demo-meego-based-sailfish-os-at-slush-conference-next-month-1102082

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Let’s go MeeGo: open-source OS is on track for its comeback

Jolla, the company resurrecting the MeeGo mobile OS, has announced $260 million in funding and plans to reveal its first phone soon.

In July, ambitious Finnish startup Jolla announced it had adopted the abandoned — by Nokia, at least — operating system MeeGo, and would be designing and developing new smartphones based around it.

Jolla’s seriousness was proven by the members of its team, the majority of whom worked on MeeGo with Nokia, and therefore were both personally and professionally attached to the project from the start. MeeGo has plenty of fans around the world too, thanks primarily to the Nokia N9, the one and so-far only MeeGo smartphone to be released.

That could all change very soon though, as Jolla has announced that it has raised 200 million euros/$260 million in funding, and that its first smartphone is almost ready for its public debut.

Details on the funding are sketchy, with Jolla saying only that it has formed an alliance with “leading players in the industry,” and that a data center to host the OS’s cloud services and infrastructure will be setup through Cyberport in Hong Kong. This is an important point, as Jolla plans to aggressively target the Asian and Chinese market, calling China a “game changer in the technology industry,” adding how it wants to create the “third smartphone ecosystem in China,” after Android and iOS.

Jolla’s MeeGo OS has a codename too, Sailfish, and it will make its first appearance very soon. Jussi Hurmola, Jolla’s CEO, called the OS “more open than Google Android regarding apps and service development,” and said in a tweet that now the ecosystem support system is in place, the company “is very close to announce the date for the device launch.” Speaking to Lightreading.com, Hurmola said that the launch dates for the hardware would be decided later this week.

International availability promised

International fans of MeeGo shouldn’t despair at this apparent focus on Asia, as a tweet from Jolla’s official Twitter account stated that Sailfish is “definitely not for China only.”

As for the first phone, if Jolla listens to those who voted in its poll to find out the preferred form factor for the debut device, it’ll be a touchscreen QWERTY slider. Of the just over 3,000 people who voted, 47-percent chose it, despite — or perhaps because of — the design having fallen from mainstream grace over the past few years. The phone announced is almost certainly going to be a pre-release device though, as Sailboat isn’t going to be available for licensing until early 2013.

Speculating on whether Jolla has a meaningful future ahead of it is almost impossible at this stage, particularly without a look at the Sailboat OS and the phone on which it will first appear. Concentrating on rapidly developing markets — in this case China — is a solid tactic, and something which other companies looking to re-invent themselves are also doing.

Competition is fierce though, with ZTE already adopting Mozilla’s Firefox OS, and the Alibaba Group pledging to invest $200 million per month into its Aliyun mobile OS. Jolla has certainly got some hard work ahead if it wants that coveted third position in the market.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/meego-on-track-for-its-comeback-with-jolla/

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Jolla rumored to introduce 'Sailfish' OS, new device in November

Jolla's MeeGo revival could take place this November

Earlier this year, a small collective of former Nokia employees created a company called Jolla and set out to revive the one-and-done MeeGo operating system, which company founders said would help create "the world's best smartphone product."

MeeGo was originally developed collaboratively by Intel, Nokia, and Samsung as a competitor for Apple's iOS and Google's Android.

Back in 2011, Nokia claimed it would support MeeGo for years, though after the sole device to use the OS, the Nokia N9, arrived, the company abandoned MeeGo.

All was not lost for MeeGo, however, because in July of this year, Jolla revealed it would revive the forgotten OS in an effort to continue the work that could contribute to system's success.

"It deserves to be continued, and we will do that together with all the bright and gifted people contributing to the MeeGo success story," Jolla said at the time.

Now, it looks like the company is making good on its promise.

Codename: Sailfish

It's only been a few months, but Jolla may be very close to unveiling its first solo crack at a MeeGo-based OS and device this November.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Jolla has raised €200 million (US$258, AU$252.8, US£160) during initial funding rounds.

Little is known about any device at the moment, but Jolla's new OS comes under the codename Sailfish, and will reportedly continue as an open source platform, a la Tizen.

With reports that several Windows Phone 8 devices are launching in November, including Nokia's own Lumia 920, Jolla may find itself facing some stiff competition on store shelves, especially if it really is introducing an entirely (almost) new OS on the market.

And that's without even considering the continual powerhouse sales of Samsung's Galaxy S3 or Apple's iPhone 5.

Until Jolla actually has something concrete to show off though, we'll reserve further judgment, and hope that the enthusiasm of the development team is enough to make a difference.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/jolla-rumored-to-introduce-sailfish-os-new-device-in-november-1101730

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