Jolla

Jolla, the Finnish developer of Android-based Sailfish OS, has roped in Indian smartphone vendor Intex Technologies as the first licensee for its mobile operating system, it announces today at the ongoing Mobile World Congress event in Shanghai.

As part of the collaboration, the two companies plan to build an ecosystem for Sailfish OS in India. Intex, the second largest Indian smartphone vendor, announces that it will be launching the phone later this year at a price point near Rs 10,000 ($150).

Jolla's Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, initiated to help it bring its first tablet to market, is already a success with 12 more days to go until the deadline. The Finnish company has raised nearly $1.3 million so far, which is close to $1 million over the $385,000 goal. You may think that Jolla is resting on its laurels now, but you'd be wrong.

Jolla wants to keep the campaign's momentum going, as it just introduced three Stretch goals. The idea is simple -- the more money the company raises the more features Tablet gets. That is a nice incentive to back the campaign. Luckily for those who have already done so, at this point, hitting the first Stretch goal looks like a done deal.

Crowdfunding a mobile device is a tricky thing to get right. Just ask Ubuntu maker Canonical. To make its Edge smartphone happen, it turned to Indiegogo to get $32 million, of which it only managed to raise (a record) $12.8 million. Its failure can be linked to the sky-high goal, a mistake from which Finnish mobile device vendor Jolla appears to have learned from.

Jolla is also turning to crowdfunding, for its first tablet called Tablet, but the goal it set, of just $380,000, is much, much, much more easier to reach. In fact, at the time of writing this article, Jolla has raised more than $490,000 (a figure that is quickly rising), with 21 days left until the crowdfunding campaign ends, on December 9.

Finnish firm Jolla looks set to release its second smartphone after teasing the release of "something BIG" on its website.

The company, which launched its first foray into the mobile handset market last year, revealed a countdown to a mystery announcement at 11:00 GMT on 19 November.

New players in the smartphone market are finding it increasingly difficult to get the mobile operator support they need to expand their reach into new territories as Android and iOS form a duopoly responsible for more than 90 percent share of the market. Even Windows Phone, an established competitor, is struggling as it goes against the tide.

Jolla, being a new player, is no exception. The Finnish company says it is now ready to ship its smartphones across the globe, as it officially announced Sailfish OS 1.0, but the mobile operator support and international availability are not what you may call stellar at this point.