A Podcast Five Years in the Making… | #PNWeekly 260

One episode a week, every week. We've been talking mobile technology for five years now. It's about time we bring back the people who started it all.

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Jolla plays around with the idea of a Sailfish Watch

Jolla believes it is destined for more than slabs.

The company continues to toy around with its code in order to see where it can deliver its Sailfish operating system to next. While the Finnish startup might not be making its own smartwatches anytime soon, an eager OEM might follow along instead.

Developers took some code and inspiration from the open-source AsteroidOS for smartwatches to craft wearable software that is compatible with Android smartphones. The Sailfish drag-menu UI is still apparent and used here, though its tied together with a Tizen-esque horizontal carousel for events, widgets and notifications. The rest of the layout is accessed through a series of taps and swipes.

This implementation is only being exhibited as a “case study,” so we shouldn’t expect consumer products to sprout up with this software anytime soon.

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Jolla’s Sailfish OS certified by Russian government, looks for wide distribution

Finnish-based Jolla failed to proliferate its consumer-side products with the help of its fans, but it still believes that its Sailfish OS serves as an important business-focused alternative to this world of AndroiOS. It might prove important to Russia’s mobile software environment in the next decade.

Regulators controlling the Unified Register of Russian Software for Computer and Databases have certified Sailfish as the only mobile OS to be used for official and corporate purposes. The government has been looking to alternatives to the US-made Android and iOS platforms which currently make up 95 percent of the software pie in the subcontinent. It hopes to draw that proportion down to 50 percent by 2025.

Samsung-backed Tizen OS was also considered for approval as an official mobile OS.

Sailfish was licensed out to a Russian startup called Open Mobile Platform earlier this year. The software is being customized for commercial products in development. OMP is a shareholder in Jolla.

The startup’s CEO, Pavel Eyges, said in a statement to TechCrunch:

We believe that open source based and independent Sailfish OS is the mobile OS platform of the future. It has great potential in Russia and elsewhere. Sailfish OS RUS is based on principles of participation and partnership, and we are actively recruiting partners and developer community members to take the initiative to new heights in Russia.

Jolla controls the core code, some portions of which are open source — Android apps can be made to work on Sailfish. It is also working with governments in Baltic region countries as well as in China and South Africa on potential integration. Customization and further layering will mostly be left to the clients to develop.

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Sailfish OS powers Intex Aqua Fish budget phone in India

The Finnish startup that couldn’t launch its tablet out to its backers is still pushing its software mission out to partners wherever it can get them.In this case, it’s India’s Intex and the debut of its first Sailfish OS 2.0 phone, the Aqua Fish.For the budget conscious, it may be a worthy phone — a ...

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First batch of Turing Phones shipping July 12

Those who have stuck with Turing for the long run have been waiting on final shipping dates. Forget the fact that the company switched out a secured version of Android for Sailfish OS or even the fact this Turing Phone has “liquid metal” or whatever, you’ve waited nearly a year for this device with good money sunk into it, you’re going to get it.Well, you probably got an email from ...

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Jolla doesn’t give up, unveils Sailfish Community Device Program and Jolla C phone

Five years after its corporate inception, nearly three years after the release of the first Sailfish OS-running phone, and only a few months after giving up completely on its long-struggling rookie tablet effort, Jolla is back at it with fresh hardware.But the Nokia veterans that established this little Finland-based company in 2011 in a utopian wish to threaten the market’s Apple – Google software ...

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Jolla closes third round of funding, ready to boost software vending

Finnish start-up Jolla announced that it was able to secure $12 million in its third funding round. It was dispersed an undisclosed portion of the money when the round closed in December, but received the rest only now.It could’ve used the money in November. But the company wasn’t able to close the funding round in time and thus, failed to fully ...

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What the hell is the Turing Phone doing? Drops Android for Sailfish OS

Going back to last summer, we’ve been approaching the Turing Phone with a healthy degree of skepticism. Right from the get-go, the handset was promising an awful lot, from “uncrackable” security to some very high-end hardware materials. If it actually came to pass, the phone might be pretty impressive, but would it ever ship? Well, our fears appeared to be allayed when we finally saw the manufacturer ...

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After cascade of troubles, Jolla may struggle to make due with Indiegogo backers

Staff at Jolla will continue to live lean for at least the next year. And that’s only if the company’s financial problems don’t swallow them whole first.The Finnish startup that sought to deliver a tablet with a fresh approach to mobile software has announced that it is “aiming for closure” in a blog post from co-founder Antti ...

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Jolla shares word of financial trouble as it lets go half its workforce

With the really big companies in the smartphone market as dominant as they are, things are hard for the smaller players. And for as true as that is for even significant names like HTC and Motorola, it can be positively overwhelming for nascent upstarts. Jolla sure took on a big challenge when it attempted to introduce not just its alternative Sailfish OS, but also its own hardware that would run the platform. And while so far the company has managed to keep its head above water, public struggles like its delay in ...

Continue reading »

The post Jolla shares word of financial trouble as it lets go half its workforce appeared first on Pocketnow.

Jolla shares word of financial trouble as it lets go half its workforce

With the really big companies in the smartphone market as dominant as they are, things are hard for the smaller players. And for as true as that is for even significant names like HTC and Motorola, it can be positively overwhelming for nascent upstarts. Jolla sure took on a big challenge when it attempted to introduce not just its alternative Sailfish OS, but also its own hardware that would run the platform. And while so far the company has managed to keep its head above water, public struggles like its delay in ...

Continue reading »

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