Finnish mobile maker Jolla has opened up additional pre-orders for its forthcoming Sailfish tablet. It said today that a “limited” batch of additional slates is now available to pre-order via its online shop — costing €267 for the 32GB version, or €299 for the 64GB model. (Prices vary by country, depending on VAT.)
The company kicked off an Indiegogo campaign to raise money to build and ship the tablet last November, going on to pull in more than $2.5 million from more than 21,500 backers. Those contributors are still waiting to get their tablets but Jolla said today that shipments for early backers will begin in a “few weeks”.
While anyone ordering a slate now, in the latest pre-order batch, can expect to get deliveries to start “by the end of October”. The tablet is available to buyers in all E.U. countries, plus Norway, Switzerland, the U.S., Canada, Australia, India, Hong Kong and Russia.
The slate runs v2.0 of Jolla’s Sailfish OS, which is compatible with Android apps — expanding the app offerings beyond native Sailfish apps (helping to bridge the app gap for a non-Android, iPad rival). Specs wise, there’s a 1.8 GHz Quad Core Intel Baytrail processor, 2GB RAM, a 7.85 inch display (2048×1536, 330 ppi), and two cameras: 5MP on the rear, and a front facing 2MP lens. And while Jolla touts Sailfish’s core open source credentials, its Sailfish UI remains closed source for now.
Whether it’s a great sign that Jolla is expanding pre-sales before shipping any tablets remains to be seen. There are no full reviews out there for potential buyers to judge whether they want to part with their cash for the hardware. Although TechCrunch saw a promising demo of the device earlier this year — albeit the software was not the final build at that point.
Since kicking off the tablet crowdfunder last year, Jolla has revised its business strategy —splitting into two in order to fully focus its current resources on its Sailfish OS licensing business. The second Jolla company, which will focus on making hardware, has yet to be incorporated or named.
