Jolla to announce first device in May? Pre-Order for “special edition” variant

Jolla will announce its smartphone at beginning of May. Pre-order fees will work as funding and in exchange those who pre-order get to choose the looks of their phone. There are several levels of pre-order fees. At beginning of May we will get to know what first phone looks like and how it works.

We’ve been following Jolla rather closely here at the blog, both as they’re ex-Nokians and since they are building on the efforts of the N9. Thanks to a tip and translation by one of our readers Otto, we have exciting news.

Jolla is said to be announcing their first device next month. Antti Saarnio, Jolla Chairman has said their “phone will represent modern Scandinavian design”. What this exactly means, I have no idea, other than assuming its in reference to their partnership with a Scandinavian industrial design team, who worked alongside Nokia on many devices.

Jolla is reportedly going to begin pre-orders from mid-May, in order to start generating hype and provide eager fans with the opportunity to join a specific “club”. Apparently, the devices that get pre-ordered will come with “something unique”; “something special…that will not be available otherwise”.

“We want Jolla to be a movement. We want to involve fans already in early phases. Fans make sure that phone will be available and fans will be first ones to get their phones” said Saarnio.

We know Jolla doesn’t have a huge budget, hence this is most likely to be used as crowd-sourced funding as well as a marketing tactic. Either way, the prospect of having a limited edition device is awesome! It is reportedly going to be like many crowd-funded startups; certain tier “payments” provide certain benefits. Apparently the more you pay, the more unique the device you get. Especially for someone like me who wants a Jolla device anyway.

 Source

Cheers Otto for the tip! (& translation)

Category: Jolla, Maemo, MeeGo