A device being touted as the “world’s first crowdfunded tablet” from Finnish company Jolla has surpassed its $380,000 goal in just over two hours. And the campaign for the tablet on Indiegogo has already raised more than $1 million.
#JollaTablet has now raised over 1M USD in just 37 hours! We’re overwhelmed, thanks a million! #Jolla #PeoplePowered http://t.co/8BdZfketv8
— Jolla (@JollaHQ) November 20, 2014
More than 6,300 people funded the Jolla tablet campaign in just over a day. At this point, Jolla (pronounced YOLA) is offering a “special” discount on what would be the expected retail cost of the tablet, should it be available after the Indiegogo campaign expires on Dec. 9.
Here’s a closer look at the device in a demonstration video from the company:
Those who contribute $209 to the campaign to get the Jolla tablet to the market will be able to buy the device for that discount and be among the first to receive a tablet.
The tablet will run on the independent, Linux-based Sailfish operating system.
Jolla introduced Sailfish 1.0 when it launched its first smartphone earlier this year. With its new tablet, the developer will also be introducing a second version of the Sailfish operating system. The company says there are native Sailfish apps available on its own marketplace but the tablet will also run Android apps.
As part of the crowdfunded theme, Jolla also encourages anyone to contribute on new app designs and ideas for Sailfish. It hosts a community forum to gather these ideas.
The tablet features an Intel 64-bit 1.8GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM and is stocked with 32GB of ROM, with room for a microSD expansion card. The company says the 2048×1536 pixel resolution on the new tablet rivals the iPad Mini 3. But the device’s 7.85-inch display is slightly bigger.
There are no buttons on the front display. Instead, you can navigate back and through app menus using gesture controls.
There’s a 5MP rear camera and 2MP front-facing camera.
The one drawback to the Jolla tablet is that it’s currently only a WiFi tablet, so it’s mobility is slightly limited.
The timing of this campaign is interesting when you consider that Jolla, based in Finland, was founded by former Nokia engineers.
The team responsible for Jolla left Nokia when that company decided to focus on making devices that ran Windows mobile operating systems, according to a report from UK newspaper The Register.
Microsoft recently introduced its very first “Nokia” smartphones since it acquired Nokia’s devices line last year.
The Jolla tablet is set to be delivered to Indiegogo contributors in May 2015, according to the crowdfunding page.
Image: Jolla
Aira Bongco
It’s amazing how much money it raised considering that the tablet industry is really competitive. I guess the investors are gotten by the word ‘Linux’
I’m flabbergasted by the amount they raised in such a short amount of time. When there’s a need, there’s a need. Must also be a testament to how well they promoted the campaign.