Finnish mobile phone start up Jolla has announced the newest version of the Sailfish OS and said it’s ready to start licensing to OEMs and other partners.
Jolla has also secured a partnership with Intel to make Sailfish OS 2.0 come out with support for the latest Atom x3 processor.
The new OS is also expected to come with a slew of new features, including expect improved Android application capabilities, new privacy and personalization features, new notifications and events view as well as integration for mobile commerce.
Jolla co-founder and COO Marc Dillon said the Sailfish OS is perfect for those who want to differentiate themselves from the Android and Apple’s iOS.
Dillon said Android is too dominant, and requires that all its partners invest heavily in the software's ecosystem. Hesaid what set Jolla apart from Google is the company’s focus on openness, privacy and security, and a high level of integration with regional partners.
“We are the only independent OS, and we are not dominated by one company’s strategy,” Dillon said at the launch during a media event at the Mobile World Congress.
“Android was designed to capture data from users and profit from it. We have said that we are not going to sell user data.”
Jolla is inviting OEMs, ODMs, leading internet and eCommernce players to join the Sailfish OS alliance.
The Finnish company has also announced ‘Sailfish Secure’, an open and secure mobile phone platform designed for government officials, corporations, and consumers.
The new mobile platform, developed in partnership with SSH Communications Security, is aimed to become “an European alternative for secure mobile communication to Android or other US based operating systems,” said Dillon.
The first product to launch with Sailfish OS 2.0 is the Jolla Tablet, which was successfully crowdfunded and is expected to hit the market in the second half of the year.
The Jolla Tablet will launch for $189 through IndieGoGo, while the final retail price is expected to be around $249.
Jolla was founded in 2012 by former Nokia engineers who had been developing Nokia's MeeGo operating system. The Finnish startup re-launched the platform as Sailfish OS, and launched its first smartphone in 2013, initially in its home market - in partnership with operator DNA - and direct from its web store. Jolla had launched the smartphone in Hong Kong last August through a partnership with 3 Hong Kong.
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