Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Jolla, unveiled. Is this the Red Bull of the smartphone biz? Did one of the world's most boring industries just get an energy boost?

JOLLA HOMEPAGE >>

SLASHGEAR STORY >>

I used the analogy of the soft drink market several times now when describing the duopoly that has formed in mobile platforms. There's Coke, Pepsi, and some hopeful cola competitors. There's Android, iOS, and some hopeful platform competitors.

And then there are the Red Bulls. The companies that hit an industry from the side with something different, something fresh, and something unexpected. Today we get a first look at the Sailfish OS from Jolla.

Jolla is in essence the grandchild of the Maemo OS, which was one of my favorite mobile platforms ever. (I was lucky enough to be a test user for the Maemo-based Nokia 770 tablet which was released back in 2005. The touch monoblock device provided real browsing and a smooth overall user experience.) In addition to the platform unveiling, Jolla has also announced a partnership with ST-Ericsson for optimized mobile chipset solutions for the Sailfish OS, a support in the Finnish operator DNA, and the fact that Sailfish will support Android apps.

More info from Jolla is hitting the market as of this writing. But for now, I like the little bit we see here. A UI filled with nice big clear words rather than vague icons. A UI that cuts to the chase and could be one some operators embrace.

So, is Jolla Bull? Red Bull?


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