Canonical Demos Ubuntu For Smartphones at CES 2013, We Go Hands On
Although Canonical is still hunting for OEM partners to develop handsets for Ubuntu on smartphones, the OS is alive and well, running smooth and pretty on prototype handsets at CES 2013.
The Canonical folks were kind enough to give us a demo, which you can see below:
Note in particular the lack of any hardware button on this device; that’s on purpose, as Canonical wants Ubuntu to be a touch-only affair. Because there are no hardware partners on board yet (that we know of), the best we can do on specs is what Canonical says will be basic system requirements for entry-level and high-end phones.
At the least, Ubuntu will need a dual-core Cortex A9 processor with at least 512MB of memory, and 4GB to 8GB of eMMC plus SD flash storage. More heavily spec’d handsets will require a quad-core Cortex A9 or Intel Atom chip, 1GB of memory, and 32GB of eMMC plus SD. Although all Ubuntu-flavored phones will be multitouch, the higher-end version will also feature desktop convergence, which is a major feature of the operating system.
The Canonical folks were kind enough to give us a demo, which you can see below:
Note in particular the lack of any hardware button on this device; that’s on purpose, as Canonical wants Ubuntu to be a touch-only affair. Because there are no hardware partners on board yet (that we know of), the best we can do on specs is what Canonical says will be basic system requirements for entry-level and high-end phones.
At the least, Ubuntu will need a dual-core Cortex A9 processor with at least 512MB of memory, and 4GB to 8GB of eMMC plus SD flash storage. More heavily spec’d handsets will require a quad-core Cortex A9 or Intel Atom chip, 1GB of memory, and 32GB of eMMC plus SD. Although all Ubuntu-flavored phones will be multitouch, the higher-end version will also feature desktop convergence, which is a major feature of the operating system.
