Why is no one making useful devices?

[jsmi]

I saw couple of other threads that touch on this subject, but none of them ever achieved satisfactory bitching and whining.

With the fast adoption of +2 gigs memory,4 cores processors, "powerful" graphic, all capable of playing smoothly HD videos, 3D games, and browsing smoothly internet, what is holding back software to turn smart phones in useful general-purpose desktop replacements?

Imagine this: having your smart phone hooked via mini hdmi to an arbitrary monitor/TV set, adopt the new device resolution, turn off the device's screen itself, and have a totally awesome desktop, which you can synch (files) with your main desktop, if you'd have one. Nokia n8 can do this, but the resolution doesn't change. Well, it does change - you can watch HD stuff or play a game if it's HD, but it's sucking somehow. So you'd have the same ability a desktop computer has, but limited only performance, not capability.

We're talking about general purpose desktops here - writting stuff (office), e-mail, internet... Not studio workstations that composite 4k plates with 3D generated content, or some high-end gaming rigs that consume more energy than the LHC.

And i saw the Ubuntu phone, but that seemed a hack - running on top of Android.

[Gene Wilburn]

By useful devices, do you mean running full Linux on devices such as smartphones and tablets?

If so, I think it starts here, with getting a release working on the Nexus 7 tablet.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Nexus7/Installation

Perhaps you meant something else, like a new class of devices.

[Sableyes]

Nothings holding them back. Basic desktop for £45. £80 if you buy everything full price in the below link.

It has HDMI and changes resolution too up to 1280 x 1024 (haven't tried any better).

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=12321397#post12321397

[Paddy Landau]

The "Ubuntu phone" may seem like a hack to you, but let's be realistic: there are only three contenders for the smartphone.

Android, Windows, iPhone.

Ubuntu would never have a chance of competing against any of them.

Android is Linux, as is Ubuntu. (I had heard that Android, initially, was based on Ubuntu, but I don't know if that is true.)

Ubuntu for Android (http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android) is ingenious. It gets Ubuntu onto smartphones, where it can gain a huge audience. When users discover OMG Ubuntu is also available as a desktop operating system!, it will help to bring Linux to new users.