As far as the tech world is concerned, if you feel how I feel, it’s getting a little hard to breathe. What I mean is simply that almost every other day, there is bound to be someone, somewhere with something different to showcase to the tech world. Don’t get me wrong here, I ain’t a Luddite but it seems that nothing is truly fresh as most of what is being reported has got something to do with either: Android, iOS or Windows. Nothing wrong with that too, those are great platforms and each has its fair share of strengths and weaknesses BUT if your inner hipster is bursting out (not implying anything here), you might want a different OS to work with too – just because. Well, it seems that Jolla (pronounced ‘yolla’) has the answer.
Jolla, which means dinghy (a small agile boat) in Finnish was founded in 2011 and has recently introduced the world’s first crowd-sourced tablet running on iOS Android Windows none other than the Linux-based Sailfish OS. Now THAT’S different!
We digress a little here: A little about the Sailfish OS before we dive into the tablet. The OS leverages on the idea of human gestures for control with no cumbersome buttons or menus to submerge one’s self into – just straight forward swiping from the left to right and from the top to bottom unleashes all the features that are commonly found on either one of three platforms mentioned above. For a first-hand experience on how the Sailfish OS feels like on your (Android) device, simply head over to the Google Play Store and search for Angry Birds Stella Launcher, install and have some fun!
Getting back on track: Ah yes, the Jolla tablet! It is beautifully designed at 8.3mm-thin and weighing 384g. It is adorned with a 7.85” IPS display with a resolution of 2048 x 1536 and a pixel density of 330 ppi. The tablet is powered by a 1.8GHz Quad-core/Intel CPU equipped with 2GB RAM. Memory capacity is capped at an 32GB of internal memory and a Micro-SD card slot for expansion up to an additional 32GB. The Jolla Tablet also sports a 5MP rear camera powerful enough to capture videos in 1080p at 60fps which is rather standard for today and also a 2MP front-facing camera. As for battery-wise, it comes with a non-removable 4,300 mAh Li-Ion battery.
If you’ve read this far, you might be asking, “So, what’s so special about this tablet? The hardware is just as standard as any othertablet out in the market.” Well, the POS is rather the software experience itself – the Sailfish OS. If you have already downloaded the launcher above, you’d understand what I’m talking about but for the sake of those who just want a quick-read, in a nutshell, the Sailfish OS 2.0 on the Jallo tablet is an independent and open source software where users would virtually have full control over the said platform and where privacy (reads true privacy) is Jallo’s primary concern. There are no backdoors to the OS and no monitoring of activities from third-parties which means, no sharing/selling of data with nobody!
The OS is also architectured in such a manner where multi-tasking between apps is seamless as your multi-tasking screen issomewhat the Home Screen. On top of running native Sailfish OS apps, it also possible to execute Android (only) apps on this platform as well – making the switch (if you are an Android user) to the Sailfish OS a whole lot more seamless.
As of the posting of this article, there is approximately 19 days left before the funding at Indiegogo goes official but there is stillONE MORE PERK with 360+ spots left to be claimed, namely, receiving the Jolla tablet at a special discounted price of $209(excluding shipping fees) instead of the approximated retail price of $249. Estimated delivery would be in May 2015 and the Jollatablet comes in only one color – the never fading Black.
Source(s): Jolla, Indiegogo, Pocketnow
