Jolla look to crowdsource their new tablet

Crowdsource funding is becoming more and more popular for startups: they put the idea “out there” and if their idea for a product or service appeals to you, you offer them some funds to get it off the ground. Anything from a bit of change, and in return they offer you some warm fuzzies, through to a significant sum of money which gets you an early run of their product or other potential rewards.

Jolla, who are born of the demise of Nokia, are the latest company reaching out to the crowd to help fund their new project and it’s worked. Aiming at a lofty goal of US$380,000, they’ve already achieved over three times this amount to fund their Jolla Tablet currently running at US$1.172 Million.

Running on Sailfish OS but capable of running Android Apps, the Jolla tablet is the first to market with the concept of “ask for what you want and we’ll build it”. On their Indie GoGo project they’ve compared their specs quite favourably to the front runners in the tablet field such as the iPad Mini, Nexus 9 and Nokia N1.

With the hardware they’re listing its easy to see why they think they’ll have a good run at the market.

• 64bit Quad Core Intel CPU
• 32GB Storage
• 2GB RAM & MicroSD Slot
• 5MP Rear facing and 2MP front facing cameras
• 7.85″ IPS LCD Screen witbh 2048 x 1536 @ 330ppi
• 4300mAh Battery

But where they really come out on top is the US$189 cost vs $399 for the iPad and Nexus or $249 for the N1. It is a near certainty (make sure you read all the terms and conditions on Indie GoGo or Kickstarter if you decide to back a project) that backers will end up with the product in their hands so if you think you might like a low cost alternative to the mainstream tablets it’s probably worth checking out their Indie GoGo campaign.

Has the cost of the Nexus 9 deterred you from purchasing this round of Nexus Tablets? Will the Jolla Tablet or Nokia N1 get your money?