Jolla announces first phone
Via: @GeneralAntilles
Editor: Ryan Abel
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: "Original Jolla design with ample 4.5" Estrade [raised] display, dual core and 4G, 16GB storage + microSD, 8MP AF camera, user-replaceable battery, The Other Half, easy-to-use gesture based Sailfish OS, Android app compatible, 399€ - we target to ship by the end of 2013. 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.)