Jolla handset now shipping to the UK

A handset launched by a group of ex-Nokia employees is now shipping to the UK. If you pre-ordered Jolla -- which uses the Sailfish OS, which started life as MeeGo -- then your device should be winging its way to you now, TechCrunch reports.

If you didn't pre-order, then it's less clear-cut when you'll be able to pick one up. Jolla will sell it directly for €399, which works out at £331, but there's no word on when it'll go on sale. I've asked Jolla, and will update this story if I hear back.

Jolla went on sale in its native Finland earlier this week. Specs-wise, it's pretty unremarkable. It has a 4.5-inch screen with a less than stellar 540x960-pixel resolution, and a dual-core 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor. On imaging duties are an 8-megapixel camera and a 2-megapixel front-facer. It comes with 16GB storage and 1GB of RAM. But it's really all about the operating system.

Nokia only released one phone running MeeGo, the N9. But Jolla's founders believed in the OS so much, they've spent two years developing a handset and bringing it to market. Though it's a different proposition altogether from Google and Apple's offerings, the Sailfish OS runs most Android apps. It has more in common with BB10 than anything, how you pull in apps lurking off-screen and use gestures to see more content.

Its hardware is also a little different. Jolla calls the back plate 'The Other Half' and it's removable, so you can swap in different ones. Not only will this give you different colour options, you'll also be able to add in other functions like a keyboard or even an e-ink screen. A bit like the Phonebloks modular mobile concept Motorola is partnering with.

Nokia's phone division will become part of Microsoft early next year, which leaves space for a major Finnish phone firm. Could Jolla be it? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.