Sailfish OS 1.0 Announced, Will Begin Global Distribution Soon

Sailfish is a Linux-based mobile operating system developed by Jolla in cooperation with the Mer project and supported by Sailfish Alliance. Jolla announced its smart phone with Sailfish OS way back in May 2013. But competing with the likes of iOS and Android head to head proved to be a tough task. Which is why Jolla’s revised strategy is to work its way in to existing Android devices and this appears to be happening very soon? The company announced recently that Sailfish OS 1.0 version is ready and will begin global distribution soon.

New York: Sailfish OS has its own hardware and is also compatible with a few Android devices. It thus allows Android users to give the new OS a try without having to change handsets. Sailfish OS 1.0 is expected to be released in March and will be compatible with older devices such as those belonging to the Samsung Galaxy series, the Google Nexus lineup, and the Sony Xperia series. Although the company did not mention any devices specifically hopefully users will find those out at a later date.

Jolla will also be releasing a small look alike in the form of an Android launcher, giving Android users a visual taste of what Sailfish would look like on their phones before their committing to install the new operating system. In December 2013, Jolla’s CEO Tomi Pienimakki told a Finnish website that he had plans of making the Sailfish OS available to Android devices. He envisions Jolla as both a device and OS business. Sailfish OS is compatible with Android apps and according to Pienimakki it is ‘fairly easy’ to install Sailfish on to your Android device.

Sailfish OS will be distributed for free from March. However, features, services and advertising will be added to monetize it. Sailfish OS 1.0 version is fourth, software update, raising the software to commercial readiness. It will include improvements and new features. These will include further improved performance, extended landscape support, lots of visual improvements, lots of camera functionalities, enhancements to the Jolla store, new general settings and many more.

Jolla will start selling devices to users in Hong Kong, India and Russia. Making the announcement at Finland, Mark Dillon, Co-Founder and COO of Jolla said that they were not stopping here and they would continue to provide monthly software updates to Jolla devices and Sailfish OS.