#JollaLoveDay: Quick Hands-On + Colours
After our Q&A session, we had a great chance to see the new handset in action and get a first chance to see a demo with the new device.
The first thing that struck me is that Sailfish OS is looking more polished than ever before and coming from the N9, it was literally love at first sight!
I have made a few videos on the OS in action but will need to edit those down a bit when I get back, so in the meantime, here is a very quick aesthetic comparison between my N9 and the new Jolla prototype:
Thanks to Jolla’s product designer, Martin, for allowing me to film this and discuss the handset with such genuine passion. :-)
We also got a rare chance to see the range of colours that may be available for the preorder and there are some very tasty propositions here indeed.
The finish is lovely (like a cross between matte and satin) and the ‘Jolla’ stamp on the reverse and signature on the top side make for a premium feeling handset.
Like I said we will be uploading more detailed videos showing Sailfish in action over the coming days – the OS really is the cherry on the icing and I’m seriously loving the new look icons which work so well with the aesthetics of the design. :-)
Let me know what you think and last chance for some questions – please comment below.
Sail On….
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I have one question: Are Android Apps (like Whats App) also allowed to send push notifications or are they visible in the notification center in general? If yes, I am definitely going to buy it
awesome..!! the colours, the os, the design purely innovative smartphone :) <3
To me, the OS is not just the cherry on the icing, but it’s basically THE greatest part of the whole cake!
Are these covers and main unit made of the same polycarbonate plastic as N9? And does it have Gorilla glass?
I have a question: will there be a physical landscape qwerty keyboard “other half” available for the phone? If so, will Jolla provide this “other half” on launch?
Another thing i’m wondering is if there is a landscape mode in the OS at all? In every video I watched, the OS was presented in portrait mode.
What other half? The Sailfish OS is the one half and the handset is the other half. There is no third half in form of qwerty as far as i know.
Of course there is a landscape mode. How else would you be able to watch Netflix etc.
By “other half” I mean the back of the phone which gives it the color. This is what Jolla means with the other half (as well). This is the feature that distinguishes the phone from other phones as to the hardware.
I wouldn’t be so sure the OS has a landscape mode. Maybe some applications (like a netflix video player or any video player at all) will support landscape mode, but I mean the OS itself. I want to know to what extent the landscape mode will be supported. Since I haven’t seen any proof of a landscape mode, contrary to you I’m not assuming there is a landscape mode.
These are two questions I’ve been asking on Twitter since days, without any answer so far. However I tried again today on IRC, and I was told by a Jolla employee that there will be lanscape mode where relevant. That doesn’t mean anything because it could be only for video players, but it lets some space for hope, especially because I argued it would be quite welcome for email/sms/web browsing applications. My question behind this was of course OS compatibility with a putative hardware slide-out keyboard.
As for the hardware keyboard question, of course this is the question we all would like to be answered. It appears it is doable since the back covers may not only connect to the phone by Bluetooth or NFC (Marc Dillon suggested additional flash leds for camera, and a flash would sync accurately enough with bluetooth connection). See also the comment from the blog writter in the previous blog ticket.
I do think touch-only was the best way to succeed with a flagship, as it will hit a broader range of users and the UI is all about touch and gestures. But what would be even better (better than “best”, yes) is a modular device with a HWKB if there is only demand for it. If it is technically feasible, then let’s try to show Jolla we are not only a few hundreds of people who would purchase it day-one, but I don’t really know how. Twitter? Seriously, Twitter is not representative of customers, neither was the poll on this blog about the ideal Jolla device some months ago (still, there were many votes for a hardware keyboard already). Enough interactive thumbnails and Ambiance features, let’s talk about the limits of the possible other halves.
Make it a true modular device that will support hardware add-ons, and profit Jolla. There is demand, but demand also needs offer. Currently the only offer they share is back covers with (nice) colors and memory chips or NFC chips. We need to know what is possible. We are grown enough to understand that if a keyboard is technically possible, it still needs to be economically (enough demand) possible to become true. We won’t complain. Just let us know what you have in mind with that modular conception. If it is true modular design, if imagination and economics are trully the only limits, then tell us, and make the modular design the selling points. That is what would be awsome, that is what would gather pre-orderers, that would be what makes you really unlike, and that would what would make the Jolla phone unbeatable for whatever the price and CPU even if Samsung is going to offer higher-end chips in its Android flagship.
Is the Jolla phone really modular? Then show we some concepts so that we can show our interest and preorder, even if it’s not designed and produced yet. Just some concepts and additional pre-order buttons. You’ll know what is the demand. No fancy Twitter comments please.
And by the way, add concepts for extended battery cover, stylus in the hardware keyboard (if any), mSata connectors, or who knows what else could be crazy. What is absolutely nuts and unfeasible because the demande is too low will be defined later. We really want to contribute based on the 3D model files you are going to share, but show us some concepts to demonstrate what would be possible apart from colors and auto-adjusted themes and fonts. No promices, concepts.
I meant a flash wouldn’t sync accurately enough with Bluetooth of course, not the opposite, which suggest there may be a hardware interface to connect the two halves, and then opens the way to hardware extensions as Marc Dillon suggested in a video today.
But for some reason, hardware keyboard seemed to be the forbidden word even if everybody has it in mind, even Jolla employees must know we all have this in mind. I guess they won’t pronounce it before there is no certainty demand would be high enough, but unfortunately demand on such hardware has to answer to an offer to be really representative. I hope they will consider proposing some concept options and admit we would understand concept options are not promises.
Wow. Well. Sorry for the many typos. It’s 4.00 AM here. :[
Haha, no problem mate. I know what it feels like since I have been awake for more than 38 hours, searching for new Jolla facts.
I like your view on the matter.
P.S. I forgot to mention the very important D-pad on the keyboard in my question, so I put it in this comment.
Wait wait. Is that the actual resale package and all the different back covers are included?
Impressive, but i’d really like the usb connector on the other end for the car use. Although if the os can rotate everything upside down what I expect it to do the no problem. :) Keep up the brilliant job!
Can I use the phone as a “WI-FI” hotspot, it´s a “musthave” for me?
is there a physical button for camera at all? and i also would like to know more about camera and see maby some demo about it.
And, whatabout the language, will there be a phone in swedish language??
You guys ask to much questions! ;-) Nobody know the excat specs in the moment (only jolla).
The phone is anounced today. It’s to early to aks about how good the camera is and if it would have WIFI-Hotspot.
I think the phone will be defenetive better than Nokia N9. The Hardware, the Software and the Support. Now we can all say: “Fuck off Nokia, fuck off Elop, fuck off M$”
I hope they put a clear balck display like AMOLED in the final version of the Phone. But it’s a nice follow-up for the N9
balck = black
I write this because I love it to see the N9 screen in the sunlight and in the dark.
My next phone will be for sure a Sailfish Phone because MeeGo is awesome and
this will only be better.
Well, no hardware keyboard means I don’t care about this at all.
Eish people of the keyboard dont forget this is a starup company and Touchscreen is a purely business decision since its the order of the day in mobilephones. Im sure Jolla will be releasing a qwerty keyboard device once they find their feet. Sail on… and let the “Big Boys” envy-watch the Young Gunz Trailblaze the industry.
Looks to me like Jolla/Sailfish are the only ones that have a vision for the future that does not require the users to be locked into proprietary or restrictive operating systems. Once it has been fully open sourced then it will take off:)
Richard
Did you have a chance to note the “dimensions” of the phone?
I can’t realize how big it is in comparison to the N9…
Thanks for those details anyway!
Yes, but I would prefer some numbers as I can not realize exactly seeing the video….
one thing i have noticed on all blogs and on jolla sites also that they are not showing the back. i mean they are not showing whats behind when you remove the back cover. and where is the sim slot? microsd slow? is it behind battery? or whr is it? has anyone who attended that party tried to remove the back cover and see wht is in the phone ….
hey jolla with pre-order
what difference beetween “Jolla limited edition + Other Half” and “Jolla”
what is “exclusive Other Half”??
only 16 Gb on HDD against 64Gb on N9!!! Why not 32Gb??
and battery range??? i hope more than 1450mAh of the N9
It’s got support for sd card so better than N9 ;-)
You need absolutely genuine leather or suede other half for the phone. This makes a real difference!
I own a fully working N9. Wonderful stylish and hardware, that fits my demands. Im impressed by open Android mods and someone is asking for landscape mode and wifi hotspot? I really need an update for Meego and some more useful apps, I’d pay for that. Full respect to the boys and girls trying to place a new project. But I need a reliable ecosphere, with or without coloured cases.
daniel