The first Jolla

Finnish start up Jolla Mobile has unveiled its first device, due for commercial launch later this year. The touch screen slab doesn’t appear to have a name but its creators make much of the smart cases, dubbed the Other Half, which will affect the phones UI when attached, presumably via NFC.

According to the marketing site, “colours, fonts, tones, profiles, functionalities – all will adapt just as you wish by simply uniting the halves. Automatically launch and modify an application linked to the other half. Link your favourite music or brand into your Jolla.”

The suggestion here is that users will be expected to have several different cases, which would drive accessory sales. “Attach the other half and your Jolla becomes alive and unique…Magically the software changes to match your selected colour and design.”

The software is based on the Sailfish OS, a Linux mobile operating system derived from the abandoned MeeGo project.

Jolla was set up by a group of ex-Nokia executives aiming to design, develop and sell MeeGo-based smartphones. MeeGo is a free, Linux-based mobile operating system project that was first announced at Mobile World Congress 2010 by Intel and Nokia, but abandoned in 2011.

In a show of support for domestic innovation, Finland’s third largest operator DNA has said that it will distribute handsets using the OS upon its commercial launch.

Jolla revives Meego with Sailfish OS

Finnish start up Jolla Mobile has unveiled its Sailfish OS; a Linux mobile operating system based on the the abandoned MeeGo project. In a show of support for domestic innovation, Finland’s third largest operator DNA has said that it will distribute handsets using the OS upon its commercial launch.

In addition, handset manufacturers will be able to licence and use the OS in a similar way that they currently do with platforms such as Android and Windows Phone.

Jolla was set up by a group of ex-Nokia executives aiming to design, develop and sell MeeGo-based smartphones. MeeGo is a free, Linux-based mobile operating system project that was first announced at Mobile World Congress 2010 by Intel and Nokia, but abandoned in 2011.

Jolla executives raised €200m ($258m) in capital to get the project off the ground. The entire Jolla development team unveiled the OS on stage at the Slush 2012 event in Helsinki this week.

Nokia has shut down two regional sales offices in China

Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia will shut down two of its four regional sales offices in China as part of its restructuring plans. The news comes in the same week that the firm has slashed the price of its flagship Lumia handset, with both developments setting the tone for the company’s 2Q12 earnings announcement, due on Thursday.

Nokia will shut its offices in Chengdu and Shanghai, and consolidate operations in Beijing and Guangzhou, according to Bloomberg. The move will see the Finnish firm cut a number of jobs in China, but it did not specify how many. Nokia has already pledged to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2013 as part of its restructuring process.

The Chinese development comes as Jolla – a start-up firm aiming to design, develop and sell MeeGo based smartphones set up by a group of former Nokia executives – won its first sales deal in China. Jolla’s handsets will be sold in the country through Chinese retail chain D.Phone.

MeeGo is a free, Linux-based mobile operating system project that was first announced at Mobile World Congress 2010 by Nokia and Intel. Nokia launched its first and last Meego handset (the N9) in September that year. Jolla aims to pick up where Nokia and Intel left off, and is staffed by ex-executives from Nokia’s MeeGo N9 organisation, together with some of the developers from the MeeGo open source community, who had worked on the platform.

Meanwhile, Nokia has also slashed the price of its flagship smartphone, the Lumia 900, in the US. Nokia sells the handset exclusively through AT&T, which is ranging the phone from $99 to $49 on a two-year contract, although the price plans on offer remain unchanged.

Nokia said in a statement that the price reduction is normal for a product in this stage of its lifecycle. However, the company’s share price dropped three per cent on the Helsinki Stock Exchange on Monday morning, following the announcement.

Nokia has already said that it expects to incur restructuring charges of €1bn for the Devices & Services unit and has also warned that continued competitive difficulties would mean a worse than forecast performance for the unit. Nokia had previously forecast an operating margin of negative three per cent.

The short-lived Nokia N9

A group of ex-Nokia executives has set up a start-up firm aiming to design, develop and sell MeeGo-based smartphones.

MeeGo is a free, Linux-based mobile operating system project that was first announced at Mobile World Congress 2010 by Intel and Nokia. It was designed to go toe to toe with Android and iOS in the top end smartphone space.

However, development of the platform moved too slowly for Nokia and when the firm offloaded Symbian to Accenture and partnered with Microsoft on Windows Phone, Meego’s days were numbered. In September 2011, Intel announced that it would cease development of the platform and instead focus on Tizen, a similar open source mobile operating system, with Samsung.

Nokia launched its first and last Meego handset in that September, the Nokia N9 but now FInnish startup Jolla Ltd aims to pick up where Nokia and Intel left off.

The Jolla team comprises ex-executives from Nokia’s MeeGo N9 organisation, together with some of the developers from the MeeGo open source community that had worked on the platform.

“Nokia created something wonderful – the world’s best smartphone product. It deserves to be continued, and we will do that together with all the bright and gifted people contributing to the MeeGo success story,” the start-up wrote in a statement on its LinkedIn page.