Slashdot Mirror
Ubuntu Phones To Feature Wireless Display Support With OTA-11 Update (softpedia.com)
prisoninmate writes from a report via Softpedia: The moment you've all been waiting for is almost here, as you will no longer need a cable to connect your Ubuntu Phone to your TV or a supported LCD monitor. Canonical will soon release the OTA-11 software update to supported Ubuntu Phone devices implementing the Aethercast (also known as Miracast or Display Casting) technology that provides Wireless display support to Ubuntu Phone devices, but only for Meizu PRO 5, which comes with out-of-the-box wireless display functionality. Some other features of the OTA-11 update include: the adoption of the NetworkManager 1.2 network connection manager, an updated VPN feature with username and password authentication support, a pre-loaded Home Scope which will allow for a faster startup, multiple application windows, and subtitles in the header. In addition, the positioning in location service has been greatly improved, Dynamic Grid Unit (DGU) support is now available, and many bugs have been fixed (squashed). You can view a list of the devices that support the OTA-11 update here.
UPDATE 5/31/16: The report has been updated to clarify that the Meizu PRO 5 is the only device that supports wireless display functionality out-of-the-box.
UPDATE 5/31/16: The report has been updated to clarify that the Meizu PRO 5 is the only device that supports wireless display functionality out-of-the-box.
I bet more people are running NetBSD right now than this phone!
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
and many bugs have been fixed (squashed)
Why did you add "(squashed)"? Does it convey some additional meaning that "fixed" doesn't cover?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
They should add the ability so sync contacts and calendars using CardDAV and CalDAV.
This has been an issue for some time, the discussion between Ubuntu Phone users has been going on for a while, as can be seen here, for example.
A related bug report (open since 2013) can be seen here.
For now, a Google account is the only option the GUI allows to sync contacts and calendars. If you're doing that, what is the point in using Ubuntu on the phone, might as well use Android.
I'm aware that syncevolution can be used on the phone's command line but really, adding an OwnCloud server (for example) should not require enabling developer mode and adding scripts setting up cron jobs. This very simple omission is what's keeping me from using Ubuntu on the phone. I'd quite like to keep my data from Google or Apple or Microsoft and I fail to see why the management team behind Ubuntu Touch can't see this use - I know I'm far from the only one.
By the way you can easily install Ubuntu on a Nexus 4 using the images provided. It's a fairly ok to use - certainly miles ahead of FirefoxOS - but I was hoping they would have implemented this by now, I first tried it at release 9 so they've had 2 major opportunities to enable it.
Yay!... ...said all five people with Ubuntu phones.
I run it on an old Nexus 4 for shits and grins. Basically the only advantage that I can see (and the only reason I haven't wiped it off the Nexus) is I think the "hook the phone up to a monitor/keyboard and turn it into a computer" is the next big step in mobile computing. Whoever gets it right first will have the advantage. Microsoft is trying with Continuum, and Ubuntu has their version. Android has their home grown merging of ChromeOS/Android, plus third party things like RemixOS, and it looks like Apple are moving OSX and iOS closer to each other as well.
Odds are Ubuntu won't be the winner but its interesting to see where they're going with their phone OS.
Other than that, though, there's no compelling reason to use it. App ecosystem is basically barren, and there's nothing compelling about the UI to recommend it above all the other options.