Jolla Sailfish OS Hands-On

jolla-sailfish-OS-marc-dhillon

At MWC 2013 , we were lucky to sit down with Marc Dillon, CEO of Jolla which is a mobile start-up based  in Finland. While Jolla might be new to mobile scene, most of the team previously worked with Nokia for several years before stepping out to start Jolla.If you were a fan of the Nokia N9 or any of the  Maemo or MeeGo devices , you will surely appreciate the approach Jolla’s Sailfish OS brings to the mobile arena.

Watch a nice 6 minute overview of the Sailfish OS presented by none other than the CEO Marc himself on a Nokia N950 developer device.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co_4Lp2qlDo

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Jolla Mobile shows off Sailfish UI, promises multitasking and effortless interaction

Jolla Mobile, the startup born from the ashes of the MeeGo team at Nokia showed off the UI for their brand new mobile OS today at the Slush conference. While there’s a lot more yet to be revealed, the OS itself is based on the open source Mer core. The interface is heavily inspired by the much praised Harmattan UI on the Nokia N9 and places a lot of emphasis on single handed usage.

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Jolla to unveil Sailfish OS at Slush conference in Helsinki

Jolla Mobile, the Finnish mobile startup, has announced that it will be showing off its MeeGo based smartphone operating system at the Slush startup conference in Helsinki. The conference is slated to take place from 21-22 November. The operating system has been codenamed Sailfish and details regarding the SDK for the OS will be rolled out around the same time.

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Jolla secures €200 million in financing, Sailfish OS to be available for licensing

The much talked about upcoming smartphone manufacturer, Jolla Mobile, comprising of ex-Nokia employees today announced that they have managed to secure 200 million Euros worth of funding. According to the company, “The 200M€ ecosystem financing will come in gradually from Jolla and as members join the alliance, which will include chipset vendors, OEM and ODM manufacturers, operators and retailers.”

 

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Jolla launched by ex-Nokians to carry on the MeeGo torch

Nokia’s stint with MeeGo might be over but the community is not going to let go of the promising OS. Ex-Nokians who were part of the development team have banded together to form Jolla which is Finnish for ‘rescue sail boat’ which is clearly a tongue in cheek reference to the burning ship memo by   Nokia’s Elop.

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White Nokia N9 now available in select regions

The elusive White Nokia N9 now seems to be available in select regions. The MeeGo powered handset is already one of the more difficult handsets to procure and the white unit is poised to become even harder to obtain !

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There’s A Special Spot In Hell For The Nokia N9

After a few hours with the N9 in my hands, I was even more convinced (as if that was possible) of why Nokia had to make the decision to go with Windows Phone as its main Operating System. Despite the sheer joy of discovering a new OS, using and abusing the swipe gestures, and marveling at the well thought-out package between Meego and the N9’s hardware, I have to say that Meego is simply not up to par with other OSes at this point, and the N9 also comes with some terrible decisions.

I am therefore fairly certain that despite deserving its own spot in heaven, the N9, even on PR1.1, should have a special spot in hell as well. Continue reading “There’s A Special Spot In Hell For The Nokia N9”

There’s A Special Spot In Heaven For The Nokia N9

For the past two days, I have had one of the most elite and exclusively available smartphones in my hands: the Nokia N9. Prior to trialling this unit, I was what you can call an N9-virgin: I knew it had something called Swipe, I knew there was a PR1.1 firmware that fixed a lot of bugs and added the possibility to share a picture to Twitter, and I knew everyone loved the design. That’s about it. I hadn’t seen any videos or read any extensive reviews because I wanted to avoid adding any other expectations about the N9. The device, and the OS, had already a lot of baggage and prejudice attached to them, what with Nokia’s decision to go with Windows Phone as its main platform, so I needed to leave a little bout of mystery around the N9 and give it the chance to surprise me.

In this post, and the following one that will come tomorrow, I will discuss the different aspects of the Nokia N9 and Meego that WOW’ed me then the ones that made me swear to the gods of mobile phones for the torture they were putting me through. These are, by no means, a full review of the N9, and I will try to stray away from all the tech talk that you can find in any other N9 posts. So let’s focus on the positive first.

I haz Mango on the N9! And a lot of candy next to it 🙂

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Nokia N9 v1.1 Software Update rolling out now

While some users have already got the much awaited PR 1.1 software update for the Nokia N9 which is only MeeGo device from Nokia , others can expect it to get it soon through an OTA update. Nokia announced on it’s official blog earlier today that the software update for the device is being rolled out.  Continue reading “Nokia N9 v1.1 Software Update rolling out now”

Nokia World 2011 Live Blog starts later today

nokia world 2011 blog

The FoneArena crew just landed in London yesterday for the biggest Nokia event of the year  – Nokia World 2011. We except the Finnish handset maker to handset it’s first devices running on the Microsoft Windows 7 Operating system. All eyes are on Nokia at this point of time as these devices are going to be crucial to Nokia’s smartphone portfolio which is currently facing stiff competition from the iPhone and Android phones. Can the Microsoft partnership to bring Windows Phone devices work out for Nokia ? Find out in the FoneArena Live Blog of Nokia World 2011 later today. The keynote by Nokia CEO Stephen Elop starts at 9AM London Time which is roughly about 1:30 PM India Time.Do bookmark the link below to get all the latest updates Continue reading “Nokia World 2011 Live Blog starts later today”

Nokia N9 is Sexy – Photo Gallery

We hope you have seen Michael’s (@MichaelxHell)Swipetastic review of the Nokia N9. Now, we let the Nokia N9 do the talking through this photo gallery of the device. Continue reading “Nokia N9 is Sexy – Photo Gallery”

Nokia N9 Review – a Swipetastic Device from Finland

It’s been a week since I picked up my (test-) Nokia N9 from the kind of folks of Grayling, an agency for Nokia Austria in Vienna. Of course, I was not too anxious to get it in my hands as soon as possible, i just wanted to save them some money for the delivery 😉 In this week I have tried and tested almost everything possible, and to give you a first conclusion of what i think: I love the N9. This is no fanboy rubbish or something like that, I simply speak as an honest, independent blogger, who has tried Android, Windows Phone, Symbian and even iOS. The N9 does not have the most powerful processor, it does not have the most Megapixels and thank god not the biggest display. It’s a smartphone with solid hardware, and the one thing Nokia needs so desperately: a decent OS. Yes, I know the whole story around Meego’s end before it really started, however, this is not subject of this review. For now, let’s have a look at what the N9 has to offer and what you can expect from it!

Nokia N9 front

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The Road To Nokia World 2011 Part 2: Why Symbian And Meego Still Matter

Nokia World 2011 is scheduled for next week in London and it is undoubtedly the most hyped and the most important event in recent Nokia history. Throughout this week, FoneArena will take a look at expectations, realities and myths related to this particular year, in preparation for the big reveals that will come on October 26th and 27th. Join us in this journey, comment, share your thoughts, and feel with us the excitement as the big days approach!


If you happened to read some of the Nokia N9 reviews blossoming online as of late, you might have noticed that there is a general consensus from those who weren’t historically known for being gentle with the Finnish manufacturer, that the N9 is a wonderful marvel but that they wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Well, at least the opinion is not 100% negative anymore, which is always a step forward from pure hatred, huh? And although I have yet to get my hands on an N9, this has been my own opinion for quite a while. Continue reading “The Road To Nokia World 2011 Part 2: Why Symbian And Meego Still Matter”

The Road To Nokia World 2011 Part 1: The Need For A Clear Future

Nokia World 2011 is scheduled for next week in London and it is undoubtedly the most hyped and the most important event in recent Nokia history. Throughout this week, FoneArena will take a look at expectations, realities and myths related to this particular year, in preparation for the big reveals that will come on October 26th and 27th. Join us in this journey, comment, share your thoughts, and feel with us the excitement as the big days approach!


One clear truth that everyone knows, regarding Nokia World 2011, is that it might be the event that makes or breaks Nokia’s future. I say “might” because there are many stories of companies sunk thousands times deeper and gone way beyond salvaging that still managed to reinvent and re-institute themselves. However nowadays, the world, especially the tech world, is less forgiving with each passing day. Hence I say “it might”, understanding the possibility of miracles, yet hoping it won’t come down to that. Continue reading “The Road To Nokia World 2011 Part 1: The Need For A Clear Future”