Slashdot Mirror
Ubuntu Smartphone Shipping In October
An anonymous reader writes "Smartphones running the open source Ubuntu operating system will be available to customers beginning in October 2013, Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth told CIO Journal. Ubuntu will be available on a full range of devices, including desktop and tablet computers, potentially providing corporate IT executives a way to reduce the number of devices they purchase and manage, and would allow users to access all manner of corporate data through a single, pocket-sized device. 'You can share Windows apps to the phone desktop,' said Mr. Shuttleworth during a meeting in New York Tuesday."
Jon Brodkin adds, "Canonical is taking community input on what the core applications (e-mail, calendar, clock/alarm, weather, file manager, document viewer, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter) should look like. The best aspects of community proposals will hopefully make it into Ubuntu phones when they finally hit the market sometime toward the end of 2013 or beginning of 2014. Take a look at the best designs Canonical has received so far."
And who will be shipping them? Last year, they claimed TVs with Ubuntu TV would be shipping by the end of the year and that never happened.
I just can't get excited about this. Ubuntu on PCs isn't the holy grail of desktop computing, and between Droid and iPhone, I'm not sure what new-shiney Ubuntu brings to the smartphone table. Does that make me a bad person?
If you're announcing a phone this far in advance, it will be obsolete by the time it ships.
is a concern of mine, is this going to be open source? if not there is no reason to purchase such a joke.
It's a non-starter without seamless Exchange access. That's the #1 function of my phone. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
I don't respond to AC's.
Don't install any bloatware and don't lock the bootloader or the SIM.
I saw there one example of a terminal session. And that reminds me - one thing that aggravates me on ipad (jailbroken) when using midnight commander in terminal is that the arrows keys are missing! I cannot event use the bash history.
We definitely want the arrow keys on keyboard when in terminal mode.
#
#\ @ ? Colonize Mars
#
'You can share Windows apps to the phone desktop,' said Mr. Shuttleworth
He said that? What did he actually mean to say, do you suppose? Hopefully something which even vaguely makes sense.
Burns: We're building a casino!
McAllister: Arrr. Give me 5 minutes.
As someone who has lived and worked in iPhone and Android land since the beginnings, I'm excited to see something new. Don't get me wrong - I like my iPhone and android for what they are - but having the option of getting into the code and fixing the stupid is a great incentive for me to switch.
I said no... but I missed and it came out yes.
Just FYI, on Android there's Bitcoin Wallet. Free software.
What exactly is an Ubuntu Phone going to offer that I can't get with an iPhone or Android? Or Win8 Phone or Blackberry, for that matter? Maybe something like this will do well in international markets, as a cheap smartphone alternative or something, but I can't imagine much else.
I think it is Other.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Many companies like to use Exchange for e-mail and calendar functions. Given that, having it integrate on your smart phone is important.
You can argue all you like that companies shouldn't do that, they do, and that is what matters.
I'd love to see an E17/Illume WM/DM replace harmattan/freemantle on N9 and meego devices.
Ubuntu: just give me a full "pocket-PC" that works well as a phone/radio that i can control like all my other devices. Bonus points for speech recognition and synthesizer (arctic/cmu?)
resist propaganda
They need to address the needs of the corporate market. If you can make solid phones and have them integrate well into a corporate environment, offering the features corporations needs you are not just another provider, you are solving problems.
Features I think they should have;
Built in remote management features and "Mobile Device Management Software." This is always a top priority and usually a costly solution.
Make it simple to push approved patches, software, and updates. Make it simple to remote wipe and remote install phones.
Anti Virus.
An easy way to flag Personal vs Corporate calls.
An easy way to separate Corporate vs Personal App purchases.
Centralized accounting of corporate calls and app purchases.
A method for joining Active Directory domains.
IPsec and OpenVPN capable.
Easy file sharing for corporate file shares.
And of course security.
I believe it's using Qt and that they're working closely with the KDE Plasma team, however, I'm pretty sure they are not using KDE or Plasma. However, if you are interesed in a KDE tablet, I believe you can find more information here: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/01/new-kde-tablet-to-liberate-linux-enthusiasts-from-walled-garden/
I have left slashdot and am now on Soylent News. FUCK YOU DICE.
And when will be installable versions of Ubuntu Mobile for existing phones, and for which ones, besides Galaxy Nexus?
I don't think it will be available for the N9, at least, not very soon (nokia drivers) but for (other) popular Android phones it could be released before october.
So for me the interesting idea is all about reducing the number of devices I need to maintain. Whether it is chrome os/android or ubuntu, or whatever, my interest is in having to maintain as few devices as possible.
Right now I have
Windows x64 Box #1: Old workhours/gaming/media desktop, mainly used for torrents, news, and to use Photoshop, etc when necessary.
Windows x64 Box #2: HTPC with Windows Media Center ('free' guide listings, works with cable card premium chans) (also important not to do too much besides HTPC for stability on this box)
Ubuntu x64 Laptop #1: Main device I use on a daily basis for dev work, etc.
Windows x86 VM on Ubuntu: Windows VM I use for photoshop, and other windows/osx only apps and for old drivers for scanners etc that dont have x64 drivers
Android Phone: My phone
Andoid Tablet: My tablet
I would love to have at most one or two OS instances I have to maintain. A Padphone/Phabet with Laptop dock, etc. may be the converged device that I can use in the future for my full dev stack.
http://blog.slaingod.com
Well, my employer is a 100K seat global Exchange shop, and I don't "allow" it on my phone even though its WinMob 6.5 can do it just fine (unlike newer versions), and the corp IT policy allows it on that and on iPhone and Android 2.2+. My problems are that such access requires a too--cumbersome password (not just a 4-digit PIN), and quick lock timeout, plus the fact that about 85% of the email I get is "corporate spam" I have no use for (use lots of Outlook filters to send straight to trash, but most only run from the Outlook client when my PC is running - unlike our prior Lotus Notes that would run our filters on the Domino server), and the calendar entries are ridiculously verbose to view on a small screen (esp annoying is the wordy "boilerplate" disclaimer that Daylight Saving time offsets are not reflected in the event times on the item when in fact they ARE, and to it goes...).
I opted out of letting them control MY phone (cheap bastards are expecting BYOD to save a few bucks) by not even trying to access Exchange. I just manually put put terse reminders on my calendar for the dozen or so events I really need out-of-hours reminders for (I am on the corp PC most biz hours, and a lot of off-hours, too, for global intranet support), and if I must, I can view the full email and calendar info with Outlook Web Access (OWA) with most browsers over the open Internet, even from my personal Linux PC's. Works for me.
I also have a Dell Streak 5, rooted, and on cheap T-Mobile data plan, but it is mostly just a beltable data consumption device for me. I would like to see an alternative to Android and iOS (and WinMob 6.x) that would have the PIM functionality of WinMob 6.x, but a GUI as elegant and usable as my old Handsprings and Palms (T|X was sweet - just needed a few more capabilities). Ah, the joys of resistive screen writing with a stylus or fingernail (and, no, I am NOT being sarcastic - I hate the "twitchy" capacitive screens that my blunt fingertips keep misfiring on and smearing up.)
YMMV
There's a little mistake in this article. Mark Shuttleworth stepped down from his CEO position in 2009, to "focus my Canonical energy on product design, partnerships and customers".
If the latest desktop developments from Ubunut are any indication then I'm betting this phone will feature a standard desktop interface something like Gnome 2.0 or Mate.
A keyboard and mouse will be required to get the best experience :)
Sky subscribers are morons. They pay to be advertised at !
Two carriers will support the Ubuntu Smartphone:
Unobtainium Telephonics
YouCantHearMeNowNorEverPhone, LLC
I hope Canonical have learned of the miserable job android did. A version fragmented UbuntuPhone-marked will be killing UbuntuPhone before it even starts. I hope those scrap-apps Samsung, ZTE, ... like to add to Android (which isn't removeable) will also be prevented on UbuntuPhone.