Jolla’s Marc Dillon takes over as CEO, Jussi Hurmola to focus on Sailfish

Jolla's Marc Dillon takes over as CEO, Jussi Hurmola to focus on Sailfish

Following big news from Jolla almost two weeks ago, it's reluctant to go quiet, instead taking to Twitter to announce that Jussi Hurmola is no longer its CEO. This isn't a story of scandal or corporate dissent, but merely a restructuring to allow Hurmola to focus on Sailfish, the MeeGo-based OS currently in development. It's no great surprise that Marc Dillon is stepping up to be the new big cheese -- he's another of the company's founders and was acting COO prior to the shuffle. Sailfish is due to be demoed for the first time in a little over a month, where we imagine Hurmola will be eager to flaunt its progress now that he's managed to palm off all that paperwork.

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Jolla's Marc Dillon takes over as CEO, Jussi Hurmola to focus on Sailfish originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jolla resuscitates MeeGo with ‘Sailfish’ OS, plans to show off new device this November

Jolla resuscitates MeeGo with 'Sailfish' OS, plans to show off new device this November

If competition breeds innovation, then there's plenty promise in this latest mobile development from Jolla. The Finnish company, comprised of former Nokia employees, is poised to enter yet another combatant to the wireless arena with a MeeGo-based OS, codenamed "Sailfish," as early as this November. According to The Wall Street Journal, an initial round of funding has raised €200 million to push the effort forward and the small start-up is investing €10 million of its own to bolster the platform's prospects. Having been recently abandoned by Elop and co. after the arrival of the N9, this iteration of the operating system will continue to be open source and should pave the way for OEM adoption, although certain aspects of the UI will be licensed. According to CEO Jussi Hurmola, the new hardware's expected to hit next month -- just in time for a glut of other smartphone bows. Until then, we'll reserve our judgment and hope for the best.

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Jolla resuscitates MeeGo with 'Sailfish' OS, plans to show off new device this November originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 11:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jolla signs deal to bring future MeeGo handsets to Chinese retailer D.Phone

DNP Jolla signs deal to bring MeeGo handsets to Chinese retailer DPhone

With only vague plans for two new Meego smartphones and a loose commitment from Nokia in its pocket, nervy startup Jolla went ahead and signed its first sales channel -- Chinese retailer D.Phone. The company made the announcement by Twitter, since it doesn't even have a website yet, calling itself a "rising smartphone product company," and saying that it will use D.Phone's 2,000 stores to sell the as-yet nonexistent handsets to Chinese consumers. It also confirmed that the first device would launch later this year featuring a fresh version of MeeGo, though the company didn't discuss dates or any new features that the new OS version might pack. For a mobile platform that was on death's door, it may have just been gifted a possible reprieve -- provided Jolla can build phones to match its ambitious plans.

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Jolla signs deal to bring future MeeGo handsets to Chinese retailer D.Phone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 11:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jolla promises MeeGo will live on, plans new smartphone to reward the faithful

Nokia N9 with Pleo

More than a few N9 aficionados felt their hearts sink when important MeeGo team members left Nokia this week, putting the fate of the entire swipe-friendly platform in doubt. Recently-founded Jolla was clearly watching, as it confirmed just in the nick of time that it's planning to carry the torch further. The Finnish startup, which includes important members of the N9 team as well as veterans of the unofficial MeeGo community, not only plans to iterate on MeeGo but to build its very own smartphone with that foundation. Those attached to Nokia's interpretation of MeeGo will have to adapt to a few changes: Jolla's work is based on the related, partly HTML5-driven Mer Project and will have a "brand new UI" to go with the new hardware. It won't be a literal N10 as a result, but we'll find out just what direction Jolla is taking soon -- it's been working on the phone since late 2011 with plans to show its work later this year. As long as some of the N9's spirit carries forward, we have a hunch that a lot of fans won't mind the absence of a Nokia badge.

Continue reading Jolla promises MeeGo will live on, plans new smartphone to reward the faithful

Jolla promises MeeGo will live on, plans new smartphone to reward the faithful originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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