I'm actually rather excited that there will be another alternative (there is Firefox OS and others as well).
It is clear that the smartphone market needs more options, otherwise there wouldn't be so much going on.
Ultimately, I agree with some of you around here who believe that a mobile phone should eventually be just a small computer, and you should be able to load up whichever OS you want relatively easily.
People talk about ecosystem, I like it when most of the things run on a browser - there aren't many excuses nowadays unless you want integration with hardware parts that aren't accessible from an ECMA script compatible API (read: JavaScript). I mean, seriously, I have 2 "apps" in my iPhone to do online check in, which connec to the internet and open their own browser. Seriously? Why? I can do the same thing with the N9, except faster.
All in all, I'm happy I won't have "just Android" to go for in a couple of years when my N9 dies of old age (or of too many falls I should say).
All the best to Jolla for being yet another alternative.
PS: I am, however, concerned about the hardware... my Nokia is still far superior than other devices I compare it with on a day to day basis, so hopefully that "stays" like Elop would put it.
Your vision looks very nice. But if you read the press releases by Jolla, there is nothing of your vision there. They are going to make a phone for the masses running a closed ecosystem.
And you need to look beyond just what Jolla is doing. For a project like Mer to be successful, they are going to need some corporate buy-in by someone at some point. If Jolla succeeds at what they are doing, it is going to benefit your desire for more open mobile OSs, because it benefits Mer.
That being said, how open or closed Jolla is going to be is still an open question. There are a lot of details that we just don't know right now. That being said, given the DNA of what Jolla is basing their work on, it is likely to be more open than any other mobile OS out there.
But, as long as we are talking about cell phones, the OSs are going to need to have the ability to be closed to a certain extent because that's what the carriers want. Doesn't mean we can't get around that limitation.
Can the trolling stop? No Lumia thing here as well please. Open another topic for that.
So far Jolla didn't make any official statements, just some words about that there will be open mode on their device. Let's wait and see, no point in speculating.
Getting back on track. When are they planning to publish their Mer based image, so one could start making something for it, using Mer SDK?
And you need to look beyond just what Jolla is doing. For a project like Mer to be successful, they are going to need some corporate buy-in by someone at some point. If Jolla succeeds at what they are doing, it is going to benefit your desire for more open mobile OSs, because it benefits Mer.
That being said, how open or closed Jolla is going to be is still an open question. There are a lot of details that we just don't know right now. That being said, given the DNA of what Jolla is basing their work on, it is likely to be more open than any other mobile OS out there.
But, as long as we are talking about cell phones, the OSs are going to need to have the ability to be closed to a certain extent because that's what the carriers want. Doesn't mean we can't get around that limitation.
This doesn't make sense to me. In what way, shape or form can this be more open than Android? Android kernels are open, this doesn't make Samsung's TouchViz open any more than it makes Nokias Swipe open. Still Android itself is open, much more so than Harmattan. When the ecosystem is closed, everything is closed from a user perspective. You use the device to access the ecosystem, that is the basic working principle of a smartphone.
That is the main problem. Jolla is no alternative. It is just yet another closed system. This means they are competing head to head with every other closed system, Android, iOS, WP, RIM.
This also means that I have to make a choice for ecosystem. Whatever, what I want is an alternative to the closed systems, an open system with real HW. What I don't want is "potential", I am fed up with "potential". So far Jolla has shown nothing of what I want, and a tiny bit of what I don't want (potential).
In that light, the 808 looks kind of cool. No potential, lots of HW, what you get is what you get. The SGS3 also looks kind of cool. And a pureview Lumia WP8 also seems cool.
Not all persons like your so called ecosystem! Period!
This doesn't make sense to me. In what way, shape or form can this be more open than Android? Android kernels are open, this doesn't make Samsung's TouchViz open any more than it makes Nokias Swipe open. Still Android itself is open, much more so than Harmattan. When the ecosystem is closed, everything is closed from a user perspective. You use the device to access the ecosystem, that is the basic working principle of a smartphone.
It depends on how you define "open". Does the community have a say in the direction of Android? No. Can the community contribute to core Android functionality? No. Can you roll your own distribution of Android? Very limited.
If you go with Android, you go with whatever direction Google decides to go with it. If you are not an employee of Google, you have no say in that process.
Whoever is backing this is putting a lot on the line with a pretty high probability of failure.
Of course. That's the very definition of a startup: a high probability of failure. I do have a level of confidence in Jolla, though, through their seemingly fairly competent ways of doing the launch so far, and through their announced staffing of a bunch of ex-Nokia/ex-MeeGo people. I know that Nokia/MeeGo had a lot of talented people. Of course, they weren't exclusively great, but I have hopes that it's the good ones, and not the bad. :}
or the emotional lock-up that RIM has with Blackberry OS.
RIM bought QNX in 2010 (along with TAT for Cascades, and various other companies), and are currently working full steam ahead on producing BB10 out of all of these bits, more or less from scratch, so I don't think you've quite done your homework.
Just because they aren't using e.g. Android doesn't mean they're "emotionally attached", it means they want to remain independent. And that may not be such a bad idea in many respects, looking at how jumping into someone else's ecosystem is working out today with e.g. HTC announcing profit warnings, and Nokia's market share taking a continued nosedive...
