Canonical unveils Ubuntu phone OS that doubles as a "full PC"

Seeking OEMs: Who will build Ubuntu phones?

Read the whole story

 

[theJonTech]

Would love to see the docking idea explored some more.


Love the idea of having a phone dock as a laptop with a full keyboard and screen

 

[deviladv]

"Voltron-ing itself into a full-fledged PC"

Heh. Voltron-ing.

Form file system and drivers!
Form TCP stack and IP protocol!
And I'll form... the GUI!!!

Go Ubuntu force!

Form blazing fast internet connection!

RAWR!!!!! *scha-wing*

 

[ahabenezer]

The early adopter in my shouts "yes," but the person that has felt the lack of support and apps on webOS then Windows Phone since 2009 is hesitant.

 

[potato44819]

I'm looking forward to this.

 

[S_T_R]

I do not want ANOTHER phone OS at this point. There's too many unsupported or poorly supported platforms as is. Let's shake out the stragglers we already have first, then move into Round 2 when there's more room for things like this and the Mozilla initiative.

Having said that, I'd like to see the "desktop UI when docked" implemented. I don't see why it couldn't be done with Windows Phone 8 and (especially) Android, given that the former shares a lot with Windows RT/8 and the latter could use the open sourced bits from Canonical.

 

[ngativ]

Looks good.

 

[ThatOneGuyWithTheFace]

The early adopter in my shouts "yes," but the person that has felt the lack of support and apps on webOS then Windows Phone since 2009 is hesitant.

This pretty much sums it up exactly.
Right off the bat, I can bet that a lack of apps is going to hurt it, especially when that is one thing most people on the market for a phone complain about.

Looks pretty though.

 

[ngativ]

The early adopter in my shouts "yes," but the person that has felt the lack of support and apps on webOS then Windows Phone since 2009 is hesitant.

Canonical has always been very respectable when it comes to support. Just look at the long term support , up to 5 years, releases. Nothing to do with the WEBOS or Microsoft ventures.

 

[Workaround]

Awesome idea - I'm genuinely excited.

Also really skeptical. Phones today live and die by apps.

 

[qst330]

They have some huge entities to climb over. I wish them luck. I really do.

 

[Wheels Of Confusion]

When did Ubuntu become an operating system, rather than a Linux distribution?

When was a Linux distribution not an operating system?

 

[aliasundercover]

Hmm, the big idea of having a phone turn in to a full PC when docked seems good. An awful lot of computer fits in your pocket today.

Problem is I have faith in Canonical's lack of user interface taste. They will ruin this just like they ruined the PC desktop. I do hope they prove me wrong but I will not spend any time on this until that proof is overwhelming. You only get to Unity me once.

 

[scottt732]

It's an interesting move, but I can't imagine Canonical having the financial resources to survive the mobile patent wars.

 

[Lonyo]

Would love to see the docking idea explored some more.


Love the idea of having a phone dock as a laptop with a full keyboard and screen

Already been done. Twice, at least.
One is already dead, the other is quite recent but will probably die soon too.

 

[vortex_mak]

I really like this idea, not a new one but it has to be done well.
Apps are going to kill this though. The only thing Canonical can do is make the most useful, popular ones themselves.

I'd like to get rid of Android's heavy JVM architecture.

 

[Vycia]

I like the idea, but really, Canonical ought be focusing on their tv efforts - a market that doesn't have such a dominant player as Google/Samsung in smartphones.

 

[Shelterpaw]

I'm interested, but worry about updates. Too many things break with updates.

 

[enderandrew]

Did anyone else notice that they're encouraging QML development or that they're using Qt for the new interface?

Gnome has always been pure C over C++, and GTK over Qt. Canonical has publicly admired Qt, but always shipped a Gnome distribution, with all their shells/interfaces developed in GTK.

I wonder if this might be a sign of things to come for Ubuntu's desktop interfaces. With KDE/Qt/Plasma, you can easily change shells on the fly. And I've long wondered how long it would take to create a Unity desktop shell in Qt/Plasma.

 

[fuzzzerd]

The early adopter in my shouts "yes," but the person that has felt the lack of support and apps on webOS then Windows Phone since 2009 is hesitant.

Not to derail the conversation, but compairing webOS and Windows Phone are very different things. webOS is not being pushed, marketed or sold, Windows Phone is. While there is an awareness issue for Windows Phone, most of the top apps are available. I'm not saying there aren't issues or that there isn't room for improvement there because there absolutly is; however, Windows Phone has room to get better, as it is activly supported by Microsoft.

While I think that there will be app issues for these phones (if they come to market) if the platform is supported by Canonical like WP is supported by Microsoft, developers will get on the band wagon and apps will start showing up, and then eventually the big brands will show up as well.

 

[fuzzzerd]

I'm interested, but worry about updates. Too many things break with updates.

This has been my experience with Ubuntu as well. The more I stick to LTS releases, the more stuff just keeps working. I like the 6 month update cycle, but I've found enough things break that I only try it out on my test machine.

 

[MonkeyPaw]

What would be super awesome is if the dock had extra horsepower to handle the desktop workload. Imagine docking an Atom powered phone into an Ivy Bridge powered dock. Take pictures and videos on your smartphone, and edit and encode them while docked.

 

[PNWcontrib]

I don't get it. What's the business model for yet another OS?

 

[daggar]

While Android's Java/Dalvik layer slows things down, I like the degree of platform-independence it brings. It seems without it, you have to either:

1) Force developers to maintain parallel executables for different flavors of ARM (and maybe Intel if they make any headway)
or
2) anoint a particular ARM flavor as your Official Hardware.

Maybe there's an alternate solution-- something like Apple's Universal Binary format or some other format that supports parallel machine languages.

 

[mattholimeau]

You only get to Unity me once.

This was worth repeating.

 

[JediFonger]

can't wait for xda-developers to get their hands on it!

this way, users can root and then load a fully supported mobile OS onto the phone and do whatever the heck programmers want with it! amazing! =)

i wonder what will happen to meego? it should all just fold in =P

 

[scuttle22]

As a long time Ubuntu user, they wrecked my reliable Gnome 2 desktop for this? The Motorola Atrix killer we've all not been waiting for?

Well, at least the third tier Chinese OEM's will be able to produce a linux phone without Java.

 

[ngativ]

While Android's Java/Dalvik layer slows things down, I like the degree of platform-independence it brings. It seems without it, you have to either:

1) Force developers to maintain parallel executables for different flavors of ARM (and maybe Intel if they make any headway)
or
2) anoint a particular ARM flavor as your Official Hardware.

Maybe there's an alternate solution-- something like Apple's Universal Binary format or some other format that supports parallel machine languages.

Yeah!, usually, developers trade for their own convenience ,to produce more junk software per second, for less efficient software to the end user. Of course, a more powerful and non-free processor will come in six months to handle that junky software.

 

[BigLan]

2013: The year of Linux on the desktop phone.

 

[thebonafortuna]

I would love to try loading this on an old Samsung Captivate I have laying around. They need to find a way to make loading these operating systems as easy as it is on a PC; actually, that goes for all smartphones. Users should be able to take the hardware and load up Ubuntu, WP8, or (shudder) Android, if they so choose. And it shouldn't be an overly complicated process that voids hardware warranties or likely bricks your device.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Android fragmentation will eventually harm the platform. I know it sounds crazy, but OEMs are making it way too complicated to stick with Android. My Samsung Captivate wouldn't sync with my computer because the Kies software only worked for Galaxy S II and III devices, so there was no way to back it up. You can't update to the newest software because the manufacturers block it. If Ubuntu gets it right, I don't see any reason they can't find a place in the mobile handset world alongside the other offerings. I hope they do.

 

[OrangeCream]

Would love to see the docking idea explored some more.


Love the idea of having a phone dock as a laptop with a full keyboard and screen

I do it all the time with my iPhone, excepting I use a Bluetooth keyboard and a 720p HDTV as my screen.

 

[IntergalacticWalrus]

I really like this idea, not a new one but it has to be done well.
Apps are going to kill this though. The only thing Canonical can do is make the most useful, popular ones themselves.

I'd like to get rid of Android's heavy JVM architecture.

Dalvik is not a JVM.

 

[cwaffles]

I would love to try loading this on an old Samsung Captivate I have laying around. They need to find a way to make loading these operating systems as easy as it is on a PC; actually, that goes for all smartphones. Users should be able to take the hardware and load up Ubuntu, WP8, or (shudder) Android, if they so choose. And it shouldn't be an overly complicated process that voids hardware warranties or likely bricks your device.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Android fragmentation will eventually harm the platform. I know it sounds crazy, but OEMs are making it way too complicated to stick with Android. My Samsung Captivate wouldn't sync with my computer because the Kies software only worked for Galaxy S II and III devices, so there was no way to back it up. You can't update to the newest software because the manufacturers block it. If Ubuntu gets it right, I don't see any reason they can't find a place in the mobile handset world alongside the other offerings. I hope they do.

You should consider putting CyanogenMod on your Captivate. It supports Android 4.2.1 and doesn't require any Kies software, just plug and play. http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/index.php?t ... temtd_Info

After putting my Galaxy S II on CM10, there is no looking back.

 

[bartfat]

Dalvik is not a JVM.

It isn't a Java Mobile VM, but it is a Java virtual machine, because it runs Java code. So you can call it any other way you like, but it doesn't change the fact that it uses a virtual machine to run Java code.

 

[sidran32]

I don't see hardware partners jumping in on this.

I do, however, seeing enthusiasts flashing existing phone hardware with this OS. It's similar to how OEM computers shipping with Ubuntu aren't common (yes, I know Dell does, but like I said...). While it's out there, Linux survives, is used, and the vast majority of installs are by enthusiasts who install it onto computers that did not ship with it installed.

 

[scuttle22]

I really like this idea, not a new one but it has to be done well.
Apps are going to kill this though. The only thing Canonical can do is make the most useful, popular ones themselves.

I'd like to get rid of Android's heavy JVM architecture.

Dalvik is not a JVM.

One can argue that it's a "DVM" I suppose.

 

[calson33]

It would be great if this became any sort of success. I am not going to hold my breath though. Linux and non-IT people generally don't mix.

 

[Flatline403]

So do they call the phone interface Unity, or something else? And when it's docked does it only go to Unity, or can you have it default to KDE, Xfce, etc?

If this has anything to do with Unity then I'm not interested. If other desktop environments are available, then I'm very interested.

Would love it if phone manufacturers would start supporting multiple OSes so you could install whatever you want, and there's drivers available. I'm dreaming though. Wouldn't it make a ton of sense for a manufacturer to release the same handset, but shipping with either Win 8 or Android? Seems like it would save them a ton of money vs developing separate hardware. I want an HTC 8x, but with Android!

 

[Scorp1us]

Wait a second. Is this "yet another smart phone OS" or just Linux with phone apps? Or a Hypervisor?

It looks like the Ubuntu/Android was a hypervisor approach.

It looks like this phone approach is just ARM Ubuntu with phone apps. The presence and suggesting of using QML (Qt) for phone apps suggests this is no longer the hypervisor approach. it in fact looks like a replacement for the Nokia N9, complete with gestures.

So I don't think you're looking at another smart phone OS. I Think you're looking at the continuation of MeeGo (in a way) and the full-on, proper, Linux on on a smartphone (like the N9 was).
[Edit: to elaborate: You can write HTML5 apps, your can write QML apps. Your QML apps will work the same between phone mode, desktop linux, windows, OSX, (and soon iOS and Android) so only if you made a native Android or iOS app will you have any work to do. But the work you do will be able to be used on iOS or Android as the Qt support progresses on those platforms. ]

This is amazing in terms of potential in that Linux will get more QML apps, and your phone and your desktop will be one and the same... Also, we might get that multi-persona phone thanks to a modified login prompt.

I think this news is so big, we are having trouble appreciating how pivotal it is.