Ubuntu Linux Gets Smart about Phones, Tablets and TVs
Canonical, the maker of Ubuntu, has announced that it will brings its Linux-based platform to mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs. This porting of Linux Ubuntu will take place in the coming years, while its short term goal is to make Ubuntu 12.04, the next long term support (LTS) of Linux distribution, as stable as possible and to give the Unity desktop interface.
“This is a natural expansion of our idea as Ubuntu as Linux for human beings. As people have moved from desktop to new form factors for computing, it’s important for us to reach out to our community on these platforms. So, we’ll embrace the challenge of how to use Ubuntu on smartphones, tablets and smart-screens,” said Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical in an interview.
It is believed that Shuttleworth has been in talks with Unity for the past several months for designing of Ubuntu’s future tablets. But the Canonical founder has not accepted the same yet.
“Unity has a strong design vision and part of that is to provide coherent screens across platforms. While it’s not one size fit all a common design is vital to it. Still, nothing is cast in stone. Still, since Unity on the desktop is part of a greater whole, we look at the experience as a whole. So, we want a consistent platform with a tightly structured user experience.”
But we won’t be able to see the Ubuntu Linux coming to the commercial landscape anytime soon, at least until 2014. So the question is, will it be too late to bring Ubuntu for mobile users after such a long interval? It might happen that users become disenchanted with Android and run in droves to whatever else is new. It may even create a barrier to entry for Ubuntu in the mobile realm. Looking at the flip side, it might also prove as a great opportunity, especially when some prominent mobile manufacturers like HTC decide to build with it.
The mobile space is a heated industry with plenty room still to grow. Ubuntu’s looking to the mobile sector as the future of computing, similarly to HP and Dell, seeking the best way to survive a shift that’s changed the way consumers use electronic devices.
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