There's a certain glamor to new mobile platforms that offer something different from established players, but nobody wants to spend hundreds on a new device just for a dabble. For those intrigued by the MeeGo-derived Sailfish OS specifically, Jolla hopes to lead you into temptation soon with a launcher for Android that mimics the Sailfish UI. Also during the first half of this year, Jolla plans to offer full firmware downloads for your handsets if you want to end it with Android altogether. The community around open-source Sailfish has successfully ported the OS to a number of devices, but we believe a formal and user-friendly method of distribution is what's being suggested here. We can picture the Jerry Springer episode already. The launcher was just a "friend," you see, until the firmware moved in and Android became but a homeless ROM. But... who's the father?
Showing posts with label new os. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new os. Show all posts
Friday, February 21, 2014
Posted by Arslan Ahmad on 4:52 AM
Jolla, the smartphone operating system developer founded by refugees from Nokia, has announced the release of 1.0 of its Sailfish operating system, which will be available worldwide in March.The release follows the sale of Jolla smartphones via Finnish mobile operator DNA, as well as direct to enthusiasts, in November last year. Those devices sported the beta version, which has been updated three times already - the fourth, in March, will represent the 1.0 version.Sailfish is based on Meego, a Linux-based operating system first developed within Nokia, but discarded in 2011 when CEO Stephen Elop chose to focus the company's smartphone resources on Microsoft Windows Phone.
"We're very excited to announce this. We've been working hard together with our user community to make the user experience of the Jolla smartphone and Sailfish OS effortless and distinct. We believe that Jolla now offers a truly viable option for all smartphone users.
"Naturally we are not stopping here, as we continue to provide monthly software updates to Jolla devices and Sailfish OS," said Marc Dillon, co-founder and chief operating office of Jolla.
Sailfish claims to be a "gesture-based mobile operating system" that supports both native Sailfish applications, as well as Android apps.
"Customers are now able to install their preferred Android app store, and choose from hundreds of thousands of available Android applications. In addition, the active and passionate Sailfish OS community has already developed major social media applications, such as Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, and Foursquare, natively to the Sailfish OS," said Dillon.
"Customers are now able to install their preferred Android app store, and choose from hundreds of thousands of available Android applications. In addition, the active and passionate Sailfish OS community has already developed major social media applications, such as Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, and Foursquare, natively to the Sailfish OS," said Dillon.
Jolla smartphones can be bought via the Jolla online shop for €399 and direct from Finnish operator DNA. The company expects to expand its sales channels this year, and is negotiating with partners in Russia, India and Hong Kong where Jolla will open online sales in the near future.Negotiations with retailers and operators in several European countries are also under way.
Posted by Arslan Ahmad on 3:25 AM
The operating system will run on some devices in the Nexus, Samsung Galaxy and Sony Xperia lines, and before that comes out a Sailfish launcher will be made available so users can get used to the UI. Jolla’s Sailfish OS isn’t Android – not even an Amazon-style fork – but it can run Android apps and manufacturers can put it on the same hardware they use for Android devices. So after a pretty small-scale start, what would be the smart way for the plucky Finnish mobile upstart to make sure as many people as possible play with its software?Yup. On Friday, Jolla announced the first complete version of Sailfish OS and said users themselves would later this year be able to install it on many Android devices – according to the post-Nokia outfit, this will include “major versions of popular Samsung Galaxy, Google Nexus, and Sony Xperia .” In the meantime, Jolla will soon put a Sailfish launcher into “common Android marketplaces”, so people can get their heads around the operating system’s gesture-based user interface.All this will take place during the first half of this year, Jolla said, noting that the full Sailfish OS should be “commercially ready for global distribution” after the beginning of March, when Sailfish OS receives its fourth significant update.The company also revealed partnerships with other big hitters from Finland: Rovio, for an Angry Birds-themed “The Other Half” smart cover, and security firm F-Secure, for free cloud storage. Jolla will also work with Finnish IT consultancy Tieto to offer integration services to manufacturers that want to make Sailfish OS phones.
According to Jolla COO and co-founder Marc Dillon:
“We’ve been working hard together with our user community to make the user experience of the Jolla smartphone and Sailfish OS effortless and distinct. We believe that Jolla now offers a truly viable option for all smartphone users. Naturally we are not stopping here, as we continue to provide monthly software updates to Jolla devices and Sailfish OS.”
Sailfish OS users will be able to install “their preferred Android app store”, Dillon added – I’m guessing the official Google Play Store isn’t an option, but Jolla has previously announced a partnership with Yandex to see the Russian web giant’s Android app store preinstalled on Jolla devices. Sailfish OS is open source, and the community has already made native apps for Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Foursquare.How likely is it that Android users will go Sailfish? Jolla is hopeful: chairman Antti Saarnio said in Friday’s statement that there are about a billion Android users out there. “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,” he noted.
“Just in a few months [since launch, presumably] we have shown how fast an open operating system can develop compared to closed ecosystems,” Saarnio continued. “It’s time for free choice instead of closed walled gardens.”
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