Jolla released press release today about new mobile alliance that will be formed around MeeGo-based operating system, code named Sailfish. This alliance will license Sailfish to other manufacturers and services starting by spring 2013.
Antti Saarnio, Jolla’s chairman of the board also reveals that the OS will be ready for all kind of mobile players, including handset, tablet, chipset manufacturers.
Some serious cash is also pumped to the system as 200 million euros will be invested by Jolla and it’s partners to the alliance, though Jolla is not yet ready to announce what companies are part of the alliance. Jolla also confirms it has gathered enough capital to form the alliance and also to develop the product so far that it’s ready to be licensed to others.
How about Jolla’s own device? How will Jolla’s phone differ from manufacturers who will license the OS?
Differentiation is based on the user interface, design and marketing. – Jolla’s chairman of the board, Antti Saarnio
It should be noted that Sailfish is the code name of the OS that will be controlled by this alliance. It will be made as close to the OS used on Jolla’s phone, but they are not entirely the same.
Below the official press release.
Jolla Ltd. establishes a mobile ecosystem alliance based on MeeGo OS
Jolla Ltd., a new smartphone technology company, is setting up a new ecosystem by forming an alliance in Hong Kong together with the leading players in the industry. The new fully productised mobile operating system, based on MeeGo and codenamed “Sailfish”, will be ready for licensing by other device manufacturers, design houses and service companies in spring 2013. Sailfish builds on and contributes to existing open source projects such as the Qt Project and Mer Core, and due to those roots the new OS will be open to community involvement and participation.
The alliance partners will be investing an estimated 200 million euros to ensure the success and rapid expansion of the new ecosystem. 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.
Jussi Hurmola, CEO Jolla Ltd.: “China is a game changer in the technology industry. The next big mobile change will come from China and Jolla wants to be enabling it. There are massive resources and competence to transport the whole industry.”
The Sailfish alliance data centre will be hosted in Cyberport Hong Kong, one of the best connected sites in the world, with Internet backbones going to China, Europe and the US. The data centre is being established to host Sailfish’s infrastructure, data, productisation facilities and collaboration services. In addition, some of the upcoming ecosystem’s cloud services will be provided from there. The OS and UX are highly scalable and will support smartphones, tablets, televisions, automotive and other device classes.
Mark Clift, COO of Cyberport Hong Kong: “We’ve been following Jolla’s development closely and are now delighted to see Jolla select Cyberport as the primary location to host the new mobile OS.”
The MeeGo based community is extending in Asia and China. Jolla Ltd., headquartered in Helsinki, is establishing new R&D operations in Hong Kong and China mainland in order to lead the alliance development and ecosystem. Jolla strongly believes and understands that the community is the heart of the distribution, technology and ideas, and is committed to supporting community involvement and participation within Sailfish.
Sincerely,
Jolla Ltd.
Source:
jollatides.com
talouselama.fi
