November 2013 is definitely the month for new technology launches, with Microsoft, Sony, and Apple all releasing some of their most anticipated products of the year within weeks of each other. It might come as a surprise, then, that Jolla is choosing November 27th as the day to launch its first smartphone. Jolla is an independent phone maker from Finland formed by a number of ex-Nokia staff. Its first Sailfish OS device is a mid-range handset with a low-resolution qHD (960 x 540) 4.5-inch display, LTE, an 8-megapixel camera, 16GB of internal storage, and microSD support.

Jolla's phone will be priced at €399 (roughly $535 including sales tax), which is considerably more than similar devices, but the Finnish company is hoping the draw of a new OS will win consumers in its home country over. The price seems even higher when you consider Motorola is pricing the Moto G, a mid-range 3G handset with a higher resolution display than Jolla's, for less than €180 in Europe.

The company has partnered with local carrier DNA to peddle its wares, and we'll find out soon enough if Jolla's effort to introduce a new OS into such a mature market will be successful. One thing in its favor is that Finland's only other smartphone maker — Nokia — is selling its device business to Microsoft, meaning there's a chance that, in its home market at least, Jolla could cash in on some national pride. There's no word on a precise launch date outside of Finland yet, but the company has previously said it aims to sell its device across Europe before the end of 2013.

Thanks, Kicke!