So “the other half” has been revealed. And, after speculation from fans that went a little over the top, it was perhaps somewhat deflating to know that this “other half” Jolla is referring to is…you. Ahead of its Jolla Love Day launch event in Helsinki, Jolla has revamped its website and finally showed the world its first-ever Sailfish smartphone. Simply called the Jolla, the company expects to ship the device by the end of this year.
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At the heart of Jolla is what it is calling a movement. The device is being unveiled many months ahead of its expected shipment date to allow for a co-creation campaign, aimed at further collaboration with the community. After all, the Sailfish operating system running on the Jolla is derived from the Mer and Nemo community projects.
Interestingly, it appears that the main visual feature of the Jolla is the interchangeable back covers that changes the fonts, colours, tones, profiles and even the functionality of the device – presumably using an NFC chip embedded on the “other half”. Compared to the wildly speculated detachable QWERTY keyboard, it is quite a bummer.
Visually, the Jolla is reminiscent of the Nokia N9, its spiritual forefather. However, the Jolla features two distinct layers that symbolize the two halves of the Jolla movement. The materials used for the Jolla, however, are not yet disclosed.
Specs wise, the Jolla is powered by a dual-core processor, a 4.5-inch “Estrade” display, 8MP autofocus rear camera, 16GB expandable storage, a user-replaceable battery, and also 4G LTE connectivity (varies by market). If the specs sheet above seems inadequate, there are two reasons behind it: firstly, the Sailfish operating system does not require plenty of processing power to run efficiently; second, the Jolla is still in pre-order phase, hence the specification may be changed later on.
Crucially, Sailfish supports Android apps and will run them natively. Availability, as mentioned previously, will be via Jolla’s own app store. However, the question of which apps will be supported remains unanswered as yet.
Jolla has also officially opened its pre-order campaign, offering three distinct pre-order packages at three prices. The first, limited to only several European countries, consists of the Jolla, the Other Half, a limited edition Jolla t-shirt, a €100 (roughly RM390) voucher that can be redeemed to lower the purchase price when it ships later this year and a priority number that ensures they are the first owners of the Jolla. The other two packages is available for all to order globally, but is not as lucrative as the first.
The Jolla will retail at €399 (roughly RM1560) and the company expects to ship the device by the end of this year – in line with its initial Christmas/Chinese New Year timeframe.
We can expect a lot more information to be revealed about the Jolla at the launch event later tonight at 12.30am at this link. For more information about Jolla and its new smartphone, head on to its official website at jolla.com.
