The new Jolla Sailfish OS tablet pits against Apple and Samsung's flagship, also Nokia's latest fare in tablet tech.
The Jolla Sailfish OS tablet is the Finnish company's stake in a very saturated market. Jolla launches its Linux (based) tablet today, just a shy day after its competitor Nokia launched the N1.
There's cause for rivalry between Jolla and Nokia, since the former was founded by ex-Nokia employees in 2011. Jolla released its first smartphone last November.
The Jolla Sailfish tablet's marketing campaign is small-scale, yet feasible. Units start shipping out February next year, with preorders available through Jolla's Indiegogo campaign.
Initial preorder stock of 1,000 were immediately sold out, priced at $209 including shipping. Jolla plans to finance the roll out with crowd-funding, to raise $380,000 by December 9, with at least 2,000 units sold out.
That's a measly goal compared to Apple's or Samsung's, but it's significant enough for the small company.
The Sailfish OS is one of the tablet's main selling points, Linux-based and with a Start page that displays all active applications at once. The Jolla Sailfish OS tablet is also compatible with Android apps.
The Jolla Sailfish Tablet comes with 7.85-inch screen, with 2048 x 1536 resolution; Intel 1.8 GHz quad-core processor, 2GB RAM. Internal storage of 32GB is expandable (microSD), and the camera is serviceable at 5MP and 2MP (front and rear).
"We believe that there is demand for this, and even though there are more than 400 Android tablets in the world there are no open-source Sailfish tablets. So this is something different from everything else," Taru Aalto, Jolla's sales director (pcworld.com).
The project website emphasizes the streamlined, functional features of the Jolla Sailfish OS Tablet: "Jolla design is all about functionality, minimalism and style. The front of your tablet will be dedicated to viewing what's on screen, without any design distractions. Sailfish OS is all about logic, consistency and understanding intuitive movement. With your Jolla Tablet, you'll experience a completely different way of interacting with your device."
