Former Nokia Team Unveils New Smartphone

Bangalore: In an attempt to show their success in technology, a group of former Nokia software developers unveiled their first Smartphone on Monday.

The new Jolla Smartphone as it is called, runs on the MeeGo-based Sailfish OS and is also compatible with Google’s Android applications. Sporting a 4.5 inch display, the phone features an 8 MP camera. Depending on the market, the phone is said to have 4G capabilities and would go on sale in the fourth quarter.

As per the reports, the Jolla phone is priced at $510 and the company has planned to focus on the Asian market looking at the rapid demand for Smartphones from the middle class.

Founded by Nokia’s former MeeGo software team, Jolla was shut down after Nokia decided to move to Microsoft’s Windows Phone software in 2011. With just $14.11 million and 70 employees in venture financing, Jolla has a number of boutique operating systems such as Ubuntu which constitute less than a one percent existence in the mobile phone market.

As Android and iOS together make 92 percent of all Smartphone shipments according to IDC, Jolla is facing a hard time to break into the Smartphone market. Even Windows Phone and BlackBerry OS stand far behind the top two operating systems reporting a 3 percent share each.

Antti Saarnio, the current chairman says that the start-up’s openness in letting users to download Android apps would differentiate it from others. According to him the dominance of Android and iOS would not be necessarily permanent as fresh ideas always bring a change in the market.

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