Ubuntu eyes phone, tablet market

Move over, Android, iOS, Symbian, Windows Phone, and company: a new player is looking to make its mark in the mobile operating system market by April 2014. Canonical Software, the maker of the Ubuntu OS, said it expects to power tablets, phones, and even TVs and smart screens, connecting them seamlessly to the cloud. "Today we are inviting the whole Ubuntu community – both commercial and personal – to shape that possibility and design that future; a world where Ubuntu runs on mobile phones, tablets, televisions and traditional PC’s, creating a world where content is instantly available on all devices, in a form that is delightful to use," Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth said in a blog post. He hinted that "by 14.04 (April 2014)," Ubuntu will "power tablets, phones, TVs and smart screens from the car to the office kitchen, and it will connect those devices cleanly and seamlessly to the desktop, the server and the cloud." "We are determined to bring more free software to more people around the world, and building that future hand in hand with device manufacturers is the best way to do it. There is no winner in place yet. This opportunity remains wide open, but only to products that deliver excellent experiences for users, across a full range of device categories," he added. He said Unity, the desktop interface in the present Ubuntu 11.10, was designed with this specific vision in mind. Shuttleworth said Unity’s core elements are arranged to create coherence across all of those devices. Ubuntu started out as a flavor of the Linux OS for desktop computers that gained popularity. According to Shuttleworth, Canonical and the Ubuntu community have established Ubuntu’s place in desktop, server and cloud deployments. It also invested in the design and engineering of Unity, believing that desktop interfaces would merge with mobile and touch interfaces, he added. "The way we access the Internet, connect to our friends, listen to music, watch films and go about our daily lives is rapidly evolving. We now use a diverse set of devices with an array of operating systems, which have a range of connectivity. Few people are exclusively loyal to a single technology provider," he said. Ubuntu to thrive in 'new reality' Shuttleworth noted that just as the world is changing for manufacturers, so is it changing for Linux distributions. He noted 70 percent of people in Egypt access the Internet solely via the phone. Even in the US that figure is a startling 25 percent. "Ubuntu will thrive in this new reality," he said. He noted Ubuntu's established collaboration with the silicon vendors that are driving this converging market are critical. Intel, ARM and AMD will make the chip-sets that will power this future and Ubuntu works with all of them on all technologies. "Our engagement with the PC market will help bring the results of this work to a huge audience – partnerships with the likes of Dell, HP, Asus, Lenovo, Acer, IBM, Vodafone and more are a gateway to users who want continuous, connected, cross-device computing," he said. Also, he said the investment they already made in the interface accommodates the touch scenarios required in some form factors and will soon work in mouse, keyboard or stylus-driven environments. "Ubuntu will not be restricted to small screen or large screen environments but encompasses both and all the form factors in between. We will see our work on the Ubuntu platform land in a variety of formats current and yet to be invented. It is without doubt the most exciting phase in the history of Ubuntu," he said. — TJD, GMA News