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The First Ubuntu Phone Is Here, With Underwhelming Hardware
A few days ago, Fast Company reviewer Jay Cassano was enthusiastic about Ubuntu's approach to apps for its new phone OS: namely, not relying on them, and instead interfacing seamlessly with existing websites and protocols. Now, new submitter ablutions (4006541) writes with a less than glowing review at The Daily Dot of the actual hardware that the OS is launching on. A sample that conveys the gist: Let's start with the good stuff: It sports a 4.5-inch multi-touch screen and a respectable 8-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel lens on the front. That's pretty much it. The list of negatives is a bit longer.
Sure, the hardware sucks, but honestly I think people here are more interested in how the software works. At least I am.
Be seeing you...
I don't have any opinion about this phone — although I've long wondered why they were bothering — but I have to question the technical savvy of a reviewer who refers to a "5-megapixel lens." A sensor is rated in megapixels, but a lens is not.
Perhaps better than you think, if it's natively-compiled code instead of some Java-esque thing.
Kid-proof tablet..
I scimmed tfa, and I'm not sure they touched the phone.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
Obviously Ubuntu devs thought the biggest selling point for this phone was that it was running Ubuntu/linux.
We've been here before, it was called OpenMoko. Though that project blazed the trails for ARM-based Linux, it never got off the ground due to the lack of driver support (the chipset guys knew it) and underwhelming h/w. Once an openmoko developer, and seeing how ARM linux has evolved, we really haven't progress much aside from getting driver support and Android (though the biggest mobile player, has an OS that runs less efficient than iOS, BB, WP7).
I'm starting to believe that Linux has finally hit a limit--it excels in the business (server, routers, robots). Forget the direct-to-consumer space--it's not gonna happen, and Ubuntu phone sort of solidifies it w/all the hype that came with it. Hi, FreeRunner 2....
some people want this to compete with an apple or samsung.
How about comparing it to a Motorola? It's no cheaper than a Moto G, which is twice the phone it is.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Why would android try to break into a market when iphone and blackberry already dominated it? When android was released it was a complete dog turd of an os on poor hardware that was doing its best to pretend to be blackberry. Then they switched to trying to be iphone and took over.
Windows phone faced the same argument. Why would anyone want a windows phone when android and iphone already exist? I've used a windows phone, and they're actually alright. The lack of apps isn't a bad thing because everything you need to do is mostly baked in and the android and iphone app stores are 95% junk. (On androids behalf I will not break that down further into malware or insane resource hogs or privacy issues). Most people I know that have them have no problems with them, "they just work". And since most are nokias, they're built like tanks.
As for why anyone would want something besides android or iphone (or now, windows phone), why not? I don't want a market leader. I want something different. I not only want to keep the greedy bastards at the top on their toes and pushing to be better, I want the end result to be real, actual freedom. I don't want to be tied to a cloud service or a fucking email address or an App Store, which is all really a front for tracking each and everything we're doing anyway to get a few pennies when we do decide to buy something.
I have an iphone now, but before that I had a Nokia n900. The App Store was filled with people rebuilding things to work, or to make the device better. It could steal passwords off networks, be a web server. People made waze and what's app work on it. Most apps were not pretty but the functionality would blow everything else away. I would happily go appless again if it meant I was part of an amazing community that cared about each other (and the devices).
TL;DR you don't see the forest for the trees.
I'm starting to believe that Linux has finally hit a limit--it excels in the business (server, routers, robots). Forget the direct-to-consumer space--it's not gonna happen,
We have it, and it's called Android. It has an even more radical departure of an interface and userland than Ubuntu, proving that this is not the problem with Ubuntu's phone effort — the problem is that theirs sucks. Shuttleworth's vision of Linux is a dumb one, coated with candy but devoid of function. Android is candy-coated for easy swallowing, yes, but it actually does stuff. And if you really want to, you can run pretty much any Linux software you want which is available for your architecture. You can get an X server, and wayland will use android drivers. So in just what way do you justify not calling Android linux?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"