# New Ubuntu Smartphone / Smartphone Thread



## Lumi (Dec 19, 2012)

I'm not tech savvy person, but I like to keep up with newest things. News about new smartphone based on Ubuntu system sparked my interest. ( January 2nd, BBC News BBC News - Ubuntu operating system comes to Android smartphones )

I'm totally tempted to switch my iPhone to this when this becomes available. The more tech savvy people: What are your expectations for this phone? When Nokia and Microsoft made their common pack, most of Finland were incredibly gutted. I'm really happy that Linux can get into the game, and I really wish this thing will succeed.

It sounds really easy to navigate and use. Hopefully there will be more details coming up.


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## wuliheron (Sep 5, 2011)

My estimate is that the technology for tablets and phones has become a race for the bottom. That might sound strange, but the estimated number of people online is expected to go up at least a third in the next ten or twenty years. Most of those in poorer countries where savings like Ubuntu make a difference. Already Amazon, Samsung, and Apple have staked out their respective tablet markets all based largely on price and service because that's what the public demanded. 

Cheap-cheap portable computing that will do almost anything the average person wants from surfing the web to watching movies, calling mom, and playing games is around the corner with the next two die shrinks at most. There are only a few companies and countries in the world that produce those kinds of volumes and names you've probably never heard of are ready to compete for the bottom where volume sales are a great foot in the door. Unlike some other industries electronics has become heavily reliant on the production chain so we'll have to wait and see how it shakes out.


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## Kormoran (Mar 15, 2012)

@Lumi
If you're not tech-savvy, Android/Linux is not the way to go. You can do more with it, but that requires more knowledge on it.

Perhaps the Android version is different, though. I don't know yet, but Linux for PC requires some getting used to.


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## Lumi (Dec 19, 2012)

Cormo said:


> @_Lumi_
> If you're not tech-savvy, Android/Linux is not the way to go. You can do more with it, but that requires more knowledge on it.
> 
> Perhaps the Android version is different, though. I don't know yet, but Linux for PC requires some getting used to.


I'm not afraid of learning.


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## Kormoran (Mar 15, 2012)

Lumi said:


> I'm not afraid of learning.


Good stuff . There are several tutorials on YouTube. Linux is a lot better for hardcore systems users. A lot of shortcuts and customization and such.

So go for it. Hakkaa päälle!


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## TranceMan (Aug 26, 2012)

Android is Linux.

Android (operating system) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



> *Android is a Linux-based operating system designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. Initially developed by Android, Inc., which Google backed financially and later purchased in 2005,[SUP][9][/SUP] Android was unveiled in 2007 along with the founding of theOpen Handset Alliance: a consortium of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.[SUP][10][/SUP] The first Android-powered phone was sold in October 2008.[SUP][11][/SUP]*


To me, Ubuntu wouldn't be a huge impact on me in the Smartphone market. My android can do pretty much everything that Ubuntu Mobile can do. The only difference you're getting between the two is package management. ie, you can install any .deb file (pretty much like Windows' .exe), compared to Android where you can either install from Play Store or if you have the .apk installation file.

Ubuntu is a Debian-based OS, which is a Linux distro. If you at least have the proper permissions on your OS/distro, you can do anything.


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## Cosmicsense (Dec 7, 2011)

There are no phones that currently come equipped with the touch enabled ubuntu OS. You have to set it up manually. 

It seems like an awesome smartphone OS. I'll be putting it on my skyrocket here in a month or two when the kinks are worked out. 

I've been running ubuntu for about 5 years now. It's not the slickest distro, but the support/compatibility is top of the line. 

A day will come when you won't have to be tech savvy to run Linux. That's pretty much already here. There's very limited need to work with the terminal for 99% of most people's uses. I like to mess with the sudo-apt function instead of going to the software center, but besides that I rarely use it after the system is properly configured.


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## timeless (Mar 20, 2010)

*BSD would make a much better smartphone OS, just saying


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## pepsivanilla93 (Dec 8, 2012)

I work primarily off of Ubuntu. I had it dual-loaded on my PC alongside windows and, well, windows now runs at almost 100% CPU constantly and I can't figure it out. But I've got Ubuntu down to a science now! I'd love to see an Ubuntu smartphone. The open-source software is actually really good, and the power of such a system is astonishing. It's like you have complete control over the computer. Anyways, I've never really liked mobile OS's because of their lack of high powered features. I've opted for laptops over iPads for years now because the power of mobile computing is not really there for me yet. Hopefully with an Ubuntu OS things will change...


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## Miss Keks (Nov 7, 2010)

Kormoran said:


> @Lumi
> If you're not tech-savvy, Android/Linux is not the way to go. You can do more with it, but that requires more knowledge on it.
> 
> Perhaps the Android version is different, though. I don't know yet, but Linux for PC requires some getting used to.


I know you just want to save someone from disappointment, but IMO it's no way difficult to use *Ubuntu* even without being tech-savvy at all.

Actually, now being used to Linux, I can't get along with Windows or Mac OS anymore (dropped it after I had to abandon Win2000 and never get warm with anything from Microsoft from that on)


But, oh, this is a Ubuntu mobile OS thread, so I'll just tell my opinion about that: I want it!! :kitteh:

My cell is 4-5 years old, I really need a new one, but I don't want to get me Apple or Google ... and free open-source is just my taste :happy:


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## CCCXXIX (Mar 11, 2011)

Lumi said:


> I'm not tech savvy person, but I like to keep up with newest things. News about new smartphone based on Ubuntu system sparked my interest. ( January 2nd, BBC News BBC News - Ubuntu operating system comes to Android smartphones )
> 
> I'm totally tempted to switch my iPhone to this when this becomes available. The more tech savvy people: What are your expectations for this phone? When Nokia and Microsoft made their common pack, most of Finland were incredibly gutted. I'm really happy that Linux can get into the game, and I really wish this thing will succeed.
> 
> It sounds really easy to navigate and use. Hopefully there will be more details coming up.


This is a big deal, make no mistake. Android is based on a linux kernel, and Ubuntu will be able to be installed alongside Android and share the kernel. This will allow Android and Ubuntu to run simultaneously without interference.

Also, for the Ubuntu purists, there will be a pure Ubuntu phone. It will use the same drivers as android, but run apps natively instead of having the Java overhead. It will also be able to integrate HTML 5 apps. On top of this, application developers will be able to work with an sdk that allows them to develop for multiple form-factors while being able to retain most of the original code.

They also offer full opengl support, and have companies like EA and Valve on board.

Canolical has apparently stated that it doesn't intend to go after the Google/Apple market. However, if the Ubuntu phone proves to be viable (which is seemingly very likely, given the technological increases in the smartphone industry), the rest of the industry will have to take notice and adapt. <3 competition.

I personally am excited for the Ubuntu Phone OS, and plan to be developing for it.

All the naysayers out there don't really have a lot of basis. We shall see.


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## Razare (Apr 21, 2009)

I always liked linux-based operating systems, except when it came to using them. As for a stable smart-phone OS, it's probably better suited for that than as a desktop OS.

Main reason I always liked linux is because it came with perl installed as a function of it's OS... instead of poopy DOS scripts, you actually had something useful.


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