Ubuntu OS for Smartphones May Come Next Year

[newbie2]

Canonical will make announcements on the Ubuntu OS for smartphones later this year, said John Barnard, global marketing manager at Canonical, at the Computex trade show in Taipei. He said development was continuing on the smartphone OS, and couldn't say if the announcements were tied to the release of the smartphone OS.

But when asked whether the release would be later this year or next year, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth said "possibly," though he could not provide a specific date.
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/256728/ubuntu_os_for_smartphones_may_come_next_year.html
http://www.intomobile.com/2012/06/04/ubuntu-coming-smartphones-early-next-year/
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/060412-ubuntu-os-for-smartphones-may-259802.html
:popcorn:

[elliotn]

they should ask HTC to make them a device then call it Ubuntu Phone with Ubuntu OS....not to copy the android way

[Dragonbite]

Could be interesting if they came out with an Ubuntu Phone.

[neu5eeCh]

Just hope it's still relevant a year from now.

[Dragonbite]

I'm more interested, though, in an Ubuntu tablet along the philosophy of the Windows 8 Tablet of bringing a full desktop operating system to the tablet, instead of the phone OS on a bigger device like iOS and Android.

The guys at KDE are, I think, shipping their Vivaldi tablets to those that pre-ordered.

[the.weavster]

Come the end of Q3 NOKIA will desperately need to come up with a plan B get them out of their Microsoft induced death spiral before it's too late.

They've sacked all their in-house expertise so what choices will they have... B2G? Tizen? Ubuntu?

[Dragonbite]

Come the end of Q3 NOKIA will desperately need to come up with a plan B get them out of their Microsoft induced death spiral before it's too late.

They've sacked all their in-house expertise so what choices will they have... B2G? Tizen? Ubuntu?

I have heard they are hiring Qt developers. They bought Trolltech, who developed maintained the Qt language, a while ago and didn't do much with them.

[ExSuSEusr]

That would be great - I am more interested in a Ubuntu tablet more than anything. I would LOVE to get an Ubuntu tablet actually.

I am very very tempted to screw up my Galaxy tab and put Ubuntu on it - but then again there is no recovery mode :(

[Paqman]

I have heard they are hiring Qt developers. They bought Trolltech, who developed maintained the Qt language, a while ago and didn't do much with them.

If by "hiring" you mean "sacking" then yes. Looks like they might've been pretty much wiped out (http://pixelstech.net/article/1340711826_Nokia_fires_the_Qt_team). Nokia are jetisoning 10,000 people as they begin their death dive. Not pretty.

[drawkcab]

Just hope it's still relevant a year from now.

I don't think they're relevant now. Beyond a few of us geeks, who would really want one? Hell, I don't really want one.

Maybe they're more relevant in the developing world?

[zombifier25]

For now, I still prefer Android on my phone because there a loads of apps on it, and I have yet to see how Unity would look like on a smart phone.

I would rather own myself an Android phone that has Ubuntu for Android rather than an Ubuntu phone.

[the.weavster]

For now, I still prefer Android on my phone because there a loads of apps on itI'd imagine Canonical would offer something similar to Alien Dalvik like Tizen and Blackberry are going to do.

Alien Dalvik was demonstrated running flawlessly on the NOKIA N9 before that was released (in limited markets) but it was not included on the device. Mmm... almost like someone didn't want it to succeed.

As for a UI Hildon is still in the repositories isn't it?
So is Enlightenment which is what Tizen is going to use.
Another alternative is to just go for something in the browser in the same way as Boot2Gecko. There's numerous JavaScript frameworks with mobile widgets now like QooxDoo or SenchaTouch.

[Dragonbite]

If by "hiring" you mean "sacking" then yes. Looks like they might've been pretty much wiped out (http://pixelstech.net/article/1340711826_Nokia_fires_the_Qt_team). Nokia are jetisoning 10,000 people as they begin their death dive. Not pretty.

Sorry, it looks like RIM is hiring Qt developers (http://blogs.kde.org/node/4580). Unfortunately that is like "out of the pan and into the fire", but I'm not a Qt developers so they may be the more daring type.

[Simian Man]

This is great! Now Ubuntu, in addition to failing to make an impact in the desktop computing world, can also fail to make an impact in the mobile computing world.

I just don't see how they can ever compete with Andorid or iOS in terms of independent application development. The quality Linux programs we have now by and large won't be suitable for a smart phone - at least without a fair amount of work on the interface.

[Dragonbite]

This is great! Now Ubuntu, in addition to failing to make an impact in the desktop computing world, can also fail to make an impact in the mobile computing world.

I just don't see how they can ever compete with Andorid or iOS in terms of independent application development. The quality Linux programs we have now by and large won't be suitable for a smart phone - at least without a fair amount of work on the interface.

Why does it need to make an impact on the mobile world?

I would think the sheer number of people who do use Ubuntu or any Linux, would not consider themselves insignificant.

Is it #1? No, there can be only one #1! Is it #2? #3? #4? It really doesn't matter! There is ENOUGH to keep the desktop Linux system alive and adapting to changes in the world so for those that use Linux it doesn't matter where it is in some arbitrary ranking.

Do people leave Linux because it isn't "#1"? Do people leave Ubuntu to Mint because of its distrowatch ranking, or do they leave and that leaving change the rankings?

I don't know why people are getting obsessed with being #1 or #2, if it does what you want then does it matter?

An Ubuntu phone would not have to be #1 or #2 (iPhone or Android) or even #3 or #4 (RIM or Windows Phone) to be successful. It just has to be relevant.