Jolla, a smartphone company founded by ex-Nokia staff looking to revive the Finnish giant's MeeGo platform, has announced a partnership with 3 Hong Kong to start selling its handset on August 12.

The deal, which is currently the firm's only major operator partnership in Asia, marks Jolla's first foray into the Asian market.

Indeed, it seems Jolla is preparing to fight a global battle after recently revealing it had struck up an agreement with Snapdeal to start rolling out its device in India. 

Global outreach

It's clear that Jolla is intent on cracking the worldwide market, and, after launching in Finland, the company now has its sights set on new horizons.

Jolla's not-so-secret weapon is its handset's Sailfish OS, which recently "achieved compatibility" with Google's Android operating system.

Sailfish's versatility allows apps designed for Google's ecosystem to run on a Jolla device without any modifications, meaning those who purchase a handset will be able to "take full advantage of the Android ecosystem".

According to Jolla CEO Tomi Pienimäki, the handset's Android compatibility will ensure it has an edge in both the east and the west.

"Highly popular apps such as Instagram, WhatsApp and Spotify run directly on Sailfish OS. Also Chinese WeChat already with over 400 million users runs on Sailfish OS," said Pienimäki.

"We believe Sailfish with Android compatibility is a highly relevant mobile operating system option for major mobile companies in Europe and in Asia."