Jolla's MeeGo Phone Will Run Android Apps

Jolla, the Helsinki-based startup hoping to make use of Nokia's abandoned MeeGo platform, has revealed additional details surrounding the phone it hopes to launch later in the year. Arctic Startup quotes publication 3T in detailing Jolla's plans, with the company's CEO, Jussi Hurmola, saying that the new OS will run HTML5 apps in addition to Qt apps. Not only that, but it looks like Jolla will employ one of RIM's tactics for the BlackBerry PlayBook, hoping to run Android apps in addition to its own native offerings.

The company plans to do so via an application compatibility layer. That will allow apps to run without any issues on MeeGo, with OpenMobile, the company behind the ACL, saying that there's no performance loss. Apps should also behave correctly as the software makes use of the Android runtime environment and Dalvik virtual machine, allowing for full compatibility.

Jolla also revealed that its first smartphone will come with a screen size of 3.5-inches, an interesting move given the shift in the market towards larger screens on smartphones. Even the upcoming iPhone is rumored to have a larger screen size, coming in at 4-inches compared to the 3.5-inch size used on previous iPhones. Bigger isn't always better, however, and plenty of consumers are happy with the 3.5-inch form factor: Jolla could be looking to take advantage of that, and there's nothing stopping the company releasing multiple devices with different sizes.

Jolla is comprised of ex-Nokia employees looking to leverage the MeeGo operating system, with the company formed at the beginning of July. Nokia only managed to get one MeeGo phone out of the door, the Nokia N9, before switching over to Windows Phone for the Lumia 800 and 900. Jolla has faith in the MeeGo operating system, believing that development "deserves to be continued". How much success the company will have in an already crowded market remains to be seen.

UPDATE: Arctic Startup mistranslated the original article, noting that Jolla's first smartphone will in fact have a screen larger than 3.5-inches. An exact size wasn't given, however.

[via fonearena]