More than a few N9 aficionados felt their hearts sink when important MeeGo team members left Nokia this week, putting the fate of the entire swipe-friendly platform in doubt. Recently-founded Jolla was clearly watching, as it confirmed just in the nick of time that it's planning to carry the torch further. The Finnish startup, which includes important members of the N9 team as well as veterans of the unofficial MeeGo community, not only plans to iterate on MeeGo but to build its very own smartphone with that foundation. Those attached to Nokia's interpretation of MeeGo will have to adapt to a few changes: Jolla's work is based on the related, partly HTML5-driven Mer Project and will have a "brand new UI" to go with the new hardware. It won't be a literal N10 as a result, but we'll find out just what direction Jolla is taking soon -- it's been working on the phone since late 2011 with plans to show its work later this year. As long as some of the N9's spirit carries forward, we have a hunch that a lot of fans won't mind the absence of a Nokia badge.

Continue reading Jolla promises MeeGo will live on, plans new smartphone to reward the faithful

Jolla promises MeeGo will live on, plans new smartphone to reward the faithful originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.