Some very interesting Jolla bytes!!
Sailfish OS has shed its Beta tag and now at commercial release level. Jolla has confirmed this in a press release and have also reiterated their strategy to target Andoid users who re-flash their devices. Sailfish will be ready to download for Android device owners during first half of the year, but Jolla is already launching a launcher app to Android PlayStore, which will let users feel the Sailfish gesture based navigation experience on their Android devices.
Jolla will release the downloadable Sailfish OS software in phases during the first half of 2014. First, the UI launcher application is released so users can start to experience the Sailfish user interface in their existing devices running Android OS. Later Android smartphone users can get the full Sailfish OS to their devices.
The latest release version termed “release 1.0” will hit Jolla devices as software upgrade in March and will bring many new features and improvements.
The fourth software update released in the beginning of March, raising the software to commercial readiness, will again include many important improvements and new features. These will include further improved performance, extended landscape support, lots of visual improvements, lots of new camera functionalities, enhancements to the Jolla store, new general settings, and many more.
Jolla is expanding to new markets soon. Russia, India and Hong Kong found mention in the press release as one of the next target markets. So, may be these markets have been prioritized.
Jolla is now rapidly entering into new markets, and is negotiating with partners in several countries, including Russia, India and Hong Kong where Jolla will open online sales in the near future. Negotiations in several European countries are well on the way for Jolla to soon open new channels in main European markets.
Jolla has done some important partnerships as well.
- With Rovio Ltd., Jolla launches a special The Other Half Angry Birds smart cover providing exclusive Angry Birds user experience (see separate press release)
- With F-Secure Corp., Jolla co-operates in mobile security and establishes trusted cloud services to its customers. All Jolla customers will enjoy gigabytes of free secure cloud storage integrated with their Jolla device experience (see separate press release)
- With Tieto Corporation, Jolla will offer integration services to OEMs and ODMs willing to start the use of Sailfish OS in their products
So, Jolla is expanding its reach to new markets and to millions of Android users. It will be interesting to see how well this innovative strategy works out!!
