Ubuntu Developed by Canonical Enters the Smartphone Arena
Canonical announced Ubuntu for phones back in January, and then quickly promised to ship hardware by October of this year. Now, developers of the Ubuntu Touch project are promising a usable build of the software by the end of the month. Even so, major features like app installation and camera functionality are still a ways off. The system can often be used with Linux kernels used in Android, which makes it trivially-portable to most recent Android smartphones.
Ubuntu Touch is a touch-friendly interface based on the desktop Unity interface. It is based on Several Open Source Software Frameworks (such as “Qt” & “QML”). Ubuntu, on all devices, introduces the capability for applications written in with web technologies to use native facilities such as the system tray and notifications.
Ubuntu Touch utilizes the same core technologies as the Ubuntu Desktop, so applications designed for the latter platform run on the former and vice versa. Additionally, Ubuntu Desktop components come with the Ubuntu Touch system; allowing Ubuntu Touch devices to provide a full desktop experience when connected to an external monitor. Ubuntu Touch devices can be equipped with a full Ubuntu session and may change into a full desktop operating system when plugged into a docking station. If plugged the device can use all the features of Ubuntu and user can perform office work or even play ARM-ready games on such device.
With over 20 million users, Ubuntu is the world’s favorite free operating system – and Ubuntu for Android is the first complete solution for office productivity on a phone.
If all goes as planned, phones running Ubuntu Touch at the end of the month will be able to make and receive calls, send and receive text messages, use WiFi and 3G to browse the web, add and edit contacts, successfully use the proximity sensor, and retain user data after software updates. That’s only the basic functionality, so important features will still be missing at that stage.
If you have a Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 7, or Nexus 10, you can install the Touch Developer Preview for Ubuntu by flashing your firmware.
It remains to be seen if Ubuntu Touch will be the open platform that Android always wanted to be, or if this will stay a quirky niche project relegated to a tiny sliver of market share. Either
way, Linux fanatics have a lot to look forward to in the coming months. Canonical is taking the mobile market very seriously, and it has its work cut out for it as Mozilla gears up for the release of Firefox OS.
By Suneth Jayarathne
Category: Tech Tips, Technology
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