Jolla Introduces The World’s First Crowdfunded Tablet

Finnish manufacturer Jolla has announced plans for a tablet funded entirely by online donations as it looks to follow up on the success of its smartphone device.

The 7.9in Jolla Tablet, powered by the company’s open-source Sailfish 2.0 OS, will look to take on the likes of the iPad Mini and Samsung Galaxy Tab by appealing to consumers wary of having their personal data accessed and sold on to third parties.

The tablet is being funded via donations on Indiegogo, and saw its targeted $380,000 investment achieved in just over two hours.

Sailing on

The Jolla Tablet runs on a 1.8 GHz Quad Core Intel processor and 2GB RAM and also comes with 32GB memory and a 5MP camera. Like its smartphone predecessor, the Sailfish 2.0 operating system will be compatible with Android, meaning users can install and run their favourite apps on their Jolla tablet alongside specially designed native Sailfish apps.

Sailfish also supports gesture control, meaning users can interact with their device without touching the screen, and includes a multitasking view that shows which apps are currently running on the device, as well as allowing users to control active content and easily switch their apps.

“After successfully entering the mobile phone market a year ago with our unique Jolla smartphone, we are now proud to introduce our next major project, the Jolla Tablet,” said Marc Dillon, co-founder and COO of Jolla.

“Jolla’s independent open Sailfish OS with its cutting edge user experience works perfectly on bigger screen sizes, and we are super excited to bring the world’s best multitasking experience to the tablet size. For the Jolla Tablet we are partnering with Intel, to secure the best device performance, and reliability.”

The Jolla Tablet should be set for release in the second quarter of next year for $249, although the first thousand donators to the Indiegogo campaign will be able to purchase the device for $189.

Jolla first hit the headlines last year with the release of its eponymous smartphone. The company was formed by a number of Nokia alumni after the Lumia manufacturer abandoned the open source MeeGo platform in favour of Windows Phone.

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