back to article Jolla's Android-aping Sailfish OS smartphones to land in November

Finnish startup Jolla has revealed when the first batch of its Sailfish OS–based smartphones will be available to customers, along with new information about what software will be on offer when the devices ship. On Thursday, the company announced via Twitter that the handsets will go on sale in Finland first, thanks to Jolla's …

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  1. phil dude
    Thumb Up

    just in time...

    Well after finally tagging all of my music for my N8 (N9 in hibernation), I am looking forward to this beastie...

    If only because we can dream what V2 will look like!!

    And the other half, me thinks big battery and a confocal microscrope for starters...;-)

    P.

  2. whatsa

    Login?

    I did my account two days ago and no problems?

  3. James 51

    Colour me interested. Conract expires in six months, should be able to see what these handsets can do by then.

    1. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

      Won't matter...

      I can pretty much guarantee that you won't see Sailfish on a UK contract phone. The UK operators had no interest in the N9, Sailfish's spiritual predecessor, so it's highly unlikely they'll jump on something with an even lower profile.

      And that's the problem: the mobile phone market is controlled. People are free to choose their phones, but unequal pricing subsidies guide them to certain models, and some models are completely excluded from the choice.

      It's like a "free and fair" election in some crooked dictatorship: you get to vote, but the government chooses the candidates you can cast a vote for.

      Buy it SIM-free. It's expensive at first, but you'd be amazed how cheap a mobile service plan is when it doesn't have a "free" handset hanging off it.

      I wish them luck, though. It'd be great to see an Open Source OS make it onto a phone - might be a new lease of life for some older hardware. (Android defenders: please don't bother replying unless your reply includes a URL where I can pull the nightly Android builds from)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Won't matter...

        "The UK operators had no interest in the N9"

        The UK operators didn't have any N9s, as it mysteriously wasn't made available to them by Nokia in the core EU or NAmer countries, around the time Mr Elop was trying to push its new baby brother based on the same hardware, the first Lumia .....

        1. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

          Re: Won't matter...

          That was not what happened. Nokia offered N9 to all operators - many said they didn't want it, some took a punt (I saw it for sale in the Czech republic, for instance, and it was sold in Australia on contract), but this was not Nokia's decision.

          If you consider the project duration for a mobile device is about 18 months, the decision to take N9 or not would have been made BEFORE the famous Burning Platform memo, and before the decision to adopt Windows Phone. My feeling is that the main factor in Nokia moving to WindowsPhone was this failure to drum up interest in the MeeGo phone line.

          N9 was a good product, and ahead of the competition in usability, but I think the operators had just lost patience with Nokia by then: return rates for N8 were very high, as customers couldn't get to grips with software that just was not finished (I have an N8, and like it, but the software wasn't "good enough" until Symbian Belle in 2012). "N9" was supposed to have been out in late 2010 on the hardware that became the N950, but the software never materialised, so the launch was cancelled. Here's an ad for that phone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdSx_T3Em_g (note the branding is pre-2011; in 2011 Nokia changed their corporate branding to use their new "Pure" typeface, and also note that the phone is still advertised as "NSeries"- N8 was the last phone to be launched under this name).

          By the way, the Lumia 800 was not the same hardware, just the same form factor. N9 was a TI OMAP system-on-chip, where Lumia was a Qualcomm Snapdragon.

          1. phil dude
            Thumb Up

            Re: Won't matter...

            Thanks for info!

            I think I have had roughly the same experience re the N8 and N9. But Nokia do make very nice *hardware*...

            The N8 as a car phone (running Belle) is really very good. Battery life is excellent.

            This is a startup of Nokia refugees, we wish them well...

            P.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Won't matter...

              Nokia already have some of the best handsets on the market (and have the best cameras / microphones / maps / nav on any phone) - and the most secure, efficient and modern OS in Windows Phone - I can't see Jolla even remotely competing with that....I guess Jolla sort of competes with landfill Android?

      2. ted frater

        Re: Won't matter...

        Your second para last sentence, How true. Now ive found what suits me best, Waterproof to IP64, can be dropped from 1.5m onto concrete. 3060 mah battery. Doesnt look as if its off a building site.

        An Opticon H21. Perfect for my life style.Also laser scans the bar codes on the ear tags on my cattle.

        Came upon it just by chance.A write up ? or review? nowhere. OK a niche market, but why no publicity?

        As you said, the UK operators are in it for the fast buck. A so called smart phone wouldnt last a day.

        And, wouldnt have one if it was free. Widh Jolla well tho.

  4. PaulR79

    Yandex - no thanks

    As much as many will chastise Google I'd prefer them to a Russia counterpart..

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: Yandex - no thanks

      Then install Amazon's app store or no doubt gapps will be ported soon by someone on XDA.

  5. TheFiddler

    Looking forward to this

    Feeling the need to replace my N9. Not through any real need, just for a newer shinier shiny. The thing stopping me so far is that both Ios and android have such clunky feeling UIs in comparison to the N9's and the multitasking is abysmal. Jolla should hopefully provide me with a device I can use without swearing at it when trying to use it.

    1. phil dude
      Linux

      Re: Looking forward to this

      1) My N9 battery needs an exhumation, so a replaceable battery makes a huge difference.

      Hence, still limping on my N8...

      2) I want to use Android without "buying in".

      I want my sandboxes in concrete....

      OK there's my 2 major reasons ;-)

      P.

      PS And the other-half....

  6. ForthIsNotDead

    Privacy

    How much of my personal data is it going to send off to NSA/GCHQ/Finland?

    That's what I want to know.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Privacy

      Your personal data is of zero interest to the security services. We checked.

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

  7. toughluck

    Somebody doesn't get the concept of preorders

    So the mobes will hit the retail channel in November and they will only then be sent out to those who preordered and should get to them before the end of the year?

    And to think they only paid €100 for the privilege...

    1. Eguro

      Re: Somebody doesn't get the concept of preorders

      You get them before they would become available in your country, not necessarily before it becomes available at all.

      It's like pre-screenings at a cinema.

      The film might have opened in the US, but your pre-screening is still taking place a week before the national opening.

      AFAIK there was a pre-order which was exclusive for Fins too, those pre-orders will hopefully ship before the phone is made available in the Finnish stores.

    2. gerryg
      Happy

      Re: Somebody doesn't get the concept of preorders

      ...but I did get a free T-shirt (it's ok, but I wouldn't want to go to any venue in which it enables bragging rights) and a price guarantee. And, apparently, I'll be getting a super-duper custom "other half" though there's no news about what that will be.

      Moreover (1) , it's not shipping any later than I expected

      Moreover (2), while I can't do anything about the network owner at least the phone itself will be under my total control (as others have opined already)

    3. gerryg
      Happy

      Re: Somebody doesn't get the concept of preorders

      I've just received my pre-order email. (I'm in the UK, btw)

  8. ScissorHands
    Linux

    Technically interesting, totally irrelevant

    The same ideas behind the N9 (which I own and love) but without the charm of the N9's interface, and it only took two years! Still no other "Other Halfs" available, especially the keyboard-half - the amount of developers that deliberately ignored the N9 in favour of their N900 because of the lack of keyboard was beyond the pale. Klunky Android has won, Windows is half-baked, BlackBerry is dead and Apple has lost the plot, it sucks to be discriminating in this mobile market.

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: Technically interesting, totally irrelevant

      Originally MeeGo was due to be put on the N8 and E7 (with a keyboard), but things dragged on too long and Symbian got put on them instead. Then Flop came along and launched his contractually obliged phone in the least important markets he could find. The N9 form factor went on to be used in a dozen different Lumias.

  9. Zola
    Go

    Interesting interview with Jolla Sailfish OS UI designer

    Jakko Roppola

    I've got my Jolla phone on pre-order as my N950 is in need of an upgrade, can't wait! :-)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Interesting interview with Jolla Sailfish OS UI designer

      Very obvious WP influence in the designs on that page. From the App store to the fonts.

      1. Zola

        Re: Interesting interview with Jolla Sailfish OS UI designer

        Very obvious WP influence in the designs on that page. From the App store to the fonts.

        The app store is from Yandex not Jolla, a third party Android app that has nothing to do with Sailfish UI design, nor should it given its purpose (installing Android apps, which also are unlikely to follow the Sailfish UI design guide too closely).

        As for the fonts, they're very similar to what MeeGo uses/used. But then you can say that about pretty much any relatively modern sans serif font. I would accept that Sailfish appears to be rather more "text heavy" in much the same way WP is.

  10. Aoyagi Aichou

    Yandex? Chinese investors?

    I was a fan of this project, but now I'm very skeptical... It seems to be very focused on Asian market. And it also seems to be suffering a sort of split personality of wanting to be both open, capable and advance and at the same time it seems to want to be accessible to masses...

    1. Zola

      Re: Yandex? Chinese investors?

      They've been very clear from the outset that for them, China is a major market - more so than North America and given the success of Xiaomi it makes an awful lot of sense. They signed up a major Chinese retailer early on so this really shouldn't come as a surprise. You also won't have to use Yandex, other app stores will be supported.

      As for the split personality, that's exactly what MeeGo/Maemo set out to achieve (and with a fair degree of success - it proved it could be done).

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