Jolla folks escape burning platform, revealing new MeeGo smartphone this year

I reviewed the Nokia N9 MeeGo smartphone last year and then while I was at Nokia World I purchased my own because I saw evidence of active software support. N9 owners just received the PR 1.3 update last week, but even we likely won't see much more support in the future as MeeGo was dropped by Nokia. Great news for MeeGo fans came yesterday when it was reported by The Verge that ex-Nokia employees are going to build MeeGo-based smartphones. The new company is called Jolla (Finnish for dinghy which might just be a reference to escaping the burning platform) and is led by Chief Operating Officer Marc Dillon, who was the principal engineer for MeeGo.

Unfortunately, since Jolla is not affiliated with Nokia we won't see development for the N9 or N950 from them, but maybe some savvy developers will be able to help us out moving forward. I really enjoy using my N9 and MeeGo, but there are some key applications missing that I have on Android and I keep having to go back to Android. I see you can actually hack Ice Cream Sandwich on the N9 and given that the hardware is slick I may just have to do that soon.

The Jolla team is making aggressive statements regarding their MeeGo development. CEO Jussi Hurmola stated that they will be revealing a MeeGo-based smartphone later this year. They have been working on this project and the OS since the end of 2011 so for those of you who are looking for an alternative mobile operating system this is one to keep an eye on.

Related ZDNet coverage

• Finnish startup breathes new life into MeeGo
• Here's the Nokia N9 MeeGo phone and you can't have it (review)
• Nokia N9 MeeGo phone; tips, tricks, and FAQs
• Nokia N9 PR 1.1 update rolling out with Swype keyboard
• Nokia N9 1.2 update makes MeeGo even better (screenshot gallery)