MWKN Weekly News: 27 May 2013


Jolla announces first phone

Last week, Jolla revealed their first phone, the Jolla phone, to be released around the end of this year. The announcement focused on product concepts and ideas rather than hard specifications, but the general specifications have been outlined on the pre-order page: The vague specifications could be explained in a number of ways, but, most likely, they simply haven't nailed down an exact set.

Jolla is trying to market the device around interesting software and hardware concepts and fresh ideas rather than engaging with the Android spec war (which is rooted both in the limited differentiation between Android handsets and Android's bloat). Many have reacted negatively to the lack of detailed specifications, but, since Jolla is not Android, they will not reveal much about how a devices feels or about relative performance. Given the smoothness with which early demos of the Sailfish OS ran on the N950 and the quality of the recent demos with the Jolla device, Sailfish seems capable of running well on relatively old hardware, which means middling specs should not be a major concern for potential buyers.

At center stage in Jolla's announcement was their Other Half concept. Demonstrations so far, have been limited to be a series of colored battery covers that somehow convey information about their color scheme (NFC?) to the device so the theme colors for Ambience can be set based on the cover color. However, Jolla also alluded to some form of accessory connectivity that could permit things like keyboards, extra storage, or extra battery capacity. No details have been release about how data might be exchanged between the phone and the Other Half (USB is a possibility, but lots of overhead) so far. With 3D printing and the open source software platform, the possibilities are rather compelling.

(The first link is to the #JollaLoveDay announcement stream video, the second to the Jolla launch video, and the third to the Jolla phone press photos.)


Jolla opens pre-orders for Jolla phone

With the announcement of the Jolla phone, Jolla also opened pre-orders for the device. Pre-orders are available in three tiers: All tiers are for reserving a pre-order slot for the Joll phone; the €40 and €100 top two tiers feature a limited edition phone and Jolla t-shirt; and the €100 top tier features a limited edition Other Half (battery cover) and a €100 voucher to the purchase of the phone. The €100 offers the best value for those wishing to get a t-shirt, but the list of countries which they currently plan on releasing the new phone in is limited, and only people with mailing addresses in those countries can currently order the highest €100 pre-order tier. However, the company plans on using pre-orders to judge demand in other localities, so if you wish to see the Jolla phone released in your country you can order the €40 or €0 tier to help show demand.



In this edition...

1. Front Page
   • Jolla announces first phone
   • Jolla opens pre-orders for Jolla phone
2. Community
   • talk.maemo.org reorginaziation moves Jolla/Sailfish into a primary subforum
   • MeeGo OBS shutting down around May 29th
   • Questions about Hildon Foundation Board election timeline
   • ...and 3 more
3. Devices
   • Jolla phone hands-on with Chief Designer Martin Schüle
   • Sfiet Konstantin gives his take on #JollaLoveDay, Sailfish OS, and the Jolla phone
   • Jolla Other Half discussion thread on Talk