this is an exciting news and a frustrating one at the same time. exciting because the Finnish startup Jolla (pronounced as ‘yo la’) has announced its first smartphone which will be running on an in-house concocted operating system dubbed as Sailfish OS (new brand, new smartphone and a spanking fresh OS. what’s not to like?). frustrating because the company’s call for masses to join “the movement” is accompanied by vague information. heck, we can’t even figure out what the phone will be called, but according to Engadget, it will be simply called the “Jolla.” as far as aesthetic goes, we have to admit, this handset had us at ‘hello’, but as far as specs are concerned, we have little info to digest (more like an appetizer at this stage). anyhow, the Jolla smartphone will be a 4G LTE handset featuring a 4.5″ ‘Estrade’ display of HD quality, dual-core processor, a 16GB onboard storage, microSD expansion slot, a 8.0MP Autofocus camera, removable battery, and its ‘gesture based’ Sailfish OS will be Android app compliant (note the lack of hard buttons on the front).
additionally, there is this ‘Other Half’ thingy, which is essentially a back cover that comes in a variety of hues. but it seems that the back cover is more than just a cover. attached the ‘Other Half’ to the chassis and the Sailfish will ‘magically’ adapt to match the cover’s color and design. apparently, it does more than color change – the fonts, tones, profiles as well as functionalities will also adapt accordingly. to be honest, at this point, this feature didn’t quite make any sense to us. we need to see more to get a feel how it really works out and if there are any ‘real life applications’ to it. the Jolla smartphone will cost €399 (about US$513) when it starts shipping end of this year. if you want, you can secure one by pre-ordering it today. scroll down for a few more rendered looks and a short video message from Marc Dillion, Jolla’s co-founder, appealing the world to join “the movement.”
Jolla via NDTV Gadgets
