The Turing Phone debuted last year as an Android phone that aimed to be super tough inside and out, offering a combination of a “liquidmorphium” body that’s said to be stronger than titanium and secure software. The phone was supposed to launch last December, but it got delayed to Q1 2016, and now it’s gotten delayed again and will undergo a big change before it finally does launch.
Turing Robotic Industries (TRI) has revealed that its Turing Phone is now expected to begin shipping in April. No reason for the delay has been given, but TRI sounds confident that its phone won’t encounter any further delays, sending an email newsletter that says “We fully expect the Turing Phone to be delivered in the month of April 2016.”
That’s not the only tidbit of important info that email, though. TRI goes on to say that it has chosen to use Jolla’s Sailfish OS on the Turing Phone instead of Android as originally planned. Turing notes that Sailfish OS can run Android apps, though, a feature that Jolla originally announced in 2013. Jolla recently teased that it’s gotten interest from other mobile companies that want to license Sailfish OS, and it looks like TRI may have been one of the firms that Jolla was teasing.
While Sailfish OS can technically run Android apps, this OS swap is still a big deal for the Turing Phone and anyone that pre-ordered a device. Sailfish OS is rather different from Android, and anyone that pre-ordered a Turing Phone expected their device to run Android. TRI isn’t saying why it decided to switch the Turing Phone’s OS, only promising users that Sailfish OS is “running perfectly” on the Turing Phone and that users will have access to “an Android application store” to download apps.
If you pre-ordered a Turing Phone, would you keep your reservation after news of this OS swap?