[Ubuntu] The Ubuntu Smartphone

[Arthur]

Looks good.

Source: Ubuntu (via Ars Technica)

Canonical today announced a new version of Ubuntu designed specifically for smartphones to power everything from entry-level handhelds to "high-end superphones" that double as PCs.

The move by Canonical was long expected, although it is coming late to a market already dominated by the iPhone and Android-based devices. Ubuntu for phones isn't a whole new operating system. Instead, it is a "smartphone interface" for Ubuntu. This helps Ubuntu differentiate from other phone operating systems by Voltron-ing itself into a full-fledged PC when docked to a monitor, mouse, and keyboard.

Ubuntu has previously been in the smartphone game with Android devices that become a modified Ubuntu PC when docked. This didn't make much of an impact, as the most prominent such device—the Motorola Atrix and lapdock—has been discontinued.

Ubuntu for Android is a separate product, which Canonical will continue to maintain. The newly announced version of Ubuntu will run on smartphones without any reliance on Android, however. This helps fulfill founder Mark Shuttleworth's promise of having Ubuntu become one operating system from phones to supercomputers.

[nephilim]

Ubuntu smartphone has been underway for a long while. I am waiting under the beta programme to get my hands on a copy of the os to install on ny phone.

Phones that they intend to work with are as follows (as per beta programme)

Samsung galaxy...
Ace
Note
Note 2
S1
S2
S3
S3 mini

Google Nexus

Sony and HTC (everything released since August 2011)

More to be added but I have 3 of those in my household which will be fun (Ace, Note and S3)

[glennda]

Along with Samba 4 I can see this hopefully starting to make more and more ground on the Business side of things. Unity is a lot easier to navigate then Windows 8

[Arthur]

I am waiting under the beta programme to get my hands on a copy of the OS to install on my phone.

Have you got a Galaxy Nexus?

Proper Ubuntu phones are promised to be out in early 2014, but the company has a number of demo phones out here in London and downloadable images of the development platform will be available for the Galaxy Nexus over the next couple of weeks. That's the only officially supported device for now, which Canonical expects developers to be working on as they start fleshing out the ecosystem. (Source)

Unity is a lot easier to navigate then Windows 8

Lots of Linux users seem to hate Unity for some reason.

[SYNACK]

When will they have this tested out for tablets, still painful dealing with androindows 3.1 , I mean 4.2 . maybe I can even find a metro skin for the ui

[glennda]

Lots of Linux users seem to hate Unity for some reason.

Don't get me wrong I prefer Gnome but unity took some getting used to

[jinnantonnixx]

Lots of Linux users seem to hate Unity for some reason.

It's a personal choice of course, but I really like Unity. I use the word with caution, but it's satisfying to use. Hand on heart, I really think I've tried most desktops, but find Unity the most efficient and best to use.

But that's the beauty of choice. Don't like it? Change it.

[Arthur]

maybe I can even find a metro skin for the ui

Urgh!

[SYNACK]

Urgh!

Yay

In seriousness I have been looking for a way to dump that on my nexus 7. For tablets and phones that ui is great, desktops not as much but it is just as bearable as unity if not more so. I actually prefer not having to download an app for every little thing.

Anyhow Ubuntu getting tested and optimised more for mobile devices will be great, it may lead to less lobotomised devices in future.

[FN-GM]

I am not an Android fan, i am a little bit fedup on the iPhone so been looking at other things. This may just be the ticket!

[jinnantonnixx]

I've been keeping an eye on the Firefox phone and that looks OK. It's not Firefox on Android, it's an OS in its own right. It runs HTLM5 stuff, natively and on-line.

I watched the Ubuntu video and it looks very, very impressive.

How do you get it on the phones? Are Samsung happy about this?

How I wish Nokia would have got together with Ubuntu. Imagine Nokia's build quality with this OS. Elop threw away all Nokia's skunkworks teams and got back into bed with Microsoft. What a disaster that will be.

[Arthur]

Elop threw away all Nokia's skunkworks teams and got back into bed with Microsoft.

Have you seen Sailfish? It's a new OS based on MeeGo created by ex-Nokia developers.



There's also Open WebOS too (seen below running on the Nexus 7).



It's crazy how many smartphone/tablet OSs there are now.

[jinnantonnixx]

As an aside, I regularly follow Tomi Ahonen's blog. He's an ex-Nokia exec. His blogs are very long, but if you have an interest in mobile technology they are well worth a read.

Communities Dominate Brands: How Do You Know If Your Strategy Has Failed - The Nokia Form 20-F Submitted to the NY Stock Exchange - Elop, your two-year experiment has failed and so have you

Communities Dominate Brands: The Three Pillars of Nokia Strategy - Have All Failed. Why Nokia Must Fire CEO Elop Now

Nokia generated 12.5% profit per smartphone sold when Elop was only executing the Symbian/Maemo/MeeGo based strategy he was given. After he foolishily abandoned that, today Nokia's smartphone unit reports 48% loss generated per every smartphone sold. Yes, its clear, the new strategy was not able to create a profitable business model. The new strategy has comprehensively failed. Spectacularly failed. I cannot think of any industry ever, where a global market leader went from 12% profits to 48% losses in a period of less than two years (while the industry itself continues to be highly profitable, so excluding world economic downturns, wars, natural disasters etc)

P.S. Sorry Arthur - thread derailed.

[Duke5A]

Ubuntu lost me as a user on the desktop with 11.04. For anything Linux I'm back with Debian on the server side and Mint on the desktop. All I can see coming from this is another OS sending my usage data to online retailers and ad agencies. I'll pass....

[Arthur]

@jinnantonnixx. Nokia shows signs of life after its bet on Lumia devices starts to pay off.