Jolla, first Sailfish OS-powered smartphone, set to launch on November 27

Jolla, a company formed by a group of former Nokia employees that refused to let go of MeeGo after the Finnish mobile manufacturer abandoned it, has announced the launch of the first smartphone based on the new Sailfish operating system, called Jolla. It will be launched on November 27 by Jolla in partnership with Finnish telecom operator DNA.

Jolla confirmed the news on Twitter and said, "The world's first #Jolla phone will be sold on Nov 27 in Helsinki by @DNA_fi." Jolla's website notes that the Jolla smartphone is priced at Euros 399 (approx. Rs 34,000).

On November 27, the company plans to handover 450 pre-booked Jolla phones and the rest would be available at DNA Kauppa outlets in early December, the statement said.

The company has already announced the specifications of the Jolla smartphone, which include a 4.5-inch Estrade (540x960 pixels) display; 1.4GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor; 1GB of RAM; 16GB inbuilt storage which is expandable via microSD card (no maximum capacity mentioned), and 2100mAh battery. The Jolla smartphone will sport an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera alongside an LED flash, while there is a 2-megapixel front-facing camera as well. It also features changeable smart covers.

"As the first Jolla phone is about to be launched, everything is ready to make the consumers involved. The launch does not mark the end to product development, it goes on in cooperation with the consumers," Jolla CEO Tomi Pienimaki said.

"Being a Finnish operator, it has been very important to DNA to be able to support a Finnish success story, one in which we see great potential. People have been eagerly awaiting Jolla phones and their long wait will finally be rewarded in Helsinki on the 27th," DNA's Business Director Cedric Kamtsan said in a statement.

Earlier, Jolla had announced that its Sailfish smartphone operating system was compatible with Android's application and hardware compatibility.

The Sailfish operating system has been developed by a few former employees of Nokia, who had worked on the MeeGo operating system that was being developed in partnership with computer chip giant Intel.

Since May 2013, the first batch of Jolla phones were completely pre-booked by consumers from Finland as well as from many other countries in Europe and Asia.

(With inputs from PTI)