Submitted by “Canonical today hoped to preempt all comers today with news of Ubuntu Mobile. Its first Linux variant aimed at handhelds, the software is tailored for the Mobile Internet Devices expected to launch in spring based on Intel’s Silverthorne technology and is designed to recognize basic iPhone-like gestures such as swiping to scroll through menus and websites. A scrolling visual front end based on Flash or Clutter replaces the traditional Ubuntu desktop and is designed to be used solely with fingers, including an on-screen keyboard.”
The screenshots (for what they were) look really nice. I wonder which phones will be the first to implement it. It will be nice to have an alternative to the iPhone that runs Linux and goes head to head with it.
i sorta had the impression that it was more for eeepc-like devices than for phones. i’d certainly love to see something like this replace the custom xandros install on the eee. guess we shall see.
its specifically designed for what intel wants to talk about as MID. one could maybe call it a consumer scaled umpc, or a upspaced nokia web tablet, in any case its supposed to run X86. intel would prefer it to run on their kind of X86, but it will more likely use via’s kind…
ok, so i guess one could call the eeepc a mid, but im i dont know if ubuntu mobile supports using a mouse instead of a finger or stylus…
could be that they use the “invisible mouse trick” that nokia use on their N8x0…
Edited 2008-02-28 00:30 UTC
I don’t know about mobile phones, but I’d love to try this on my tablet PC. I really like the concept of tablet PCs, but too little software is written to take advantage of them and most ‘normal’ software is a pain use on them.
So far, devices like the EeePC and the Cloudbook are missing the sweet spot for me. THey have 7-inch screens with wasted space around the LCD. 800×480 is not a good resolution for surfing real websites. They need to borrow just a smudge of the wated space around the Lcd and fit a 9-inch screen in the same form-factor device. This device can surf at 1024×600, which is quite comfortable for surfing real websites with no change in form-factor, and little change in weight.
Supposed both companies (Asus, Everex) are going to release just such devices (9-inch and 1024×600) in the June time frame. I cannot wait, and it would be absolutley awesome to run this version of Ubuntu on it. Hopefully one of them will come out at the same time as my “George Bush” check comes in the mail. I know my economy would be stimulated!
it sure beats cumbersome mobile phone internet.
i think of this new-ish class of mobile computers as very task-oriented. that is, i wouldn’t use them for general browsing, at all. but for quick, on-the-go gmail access, the screen size is ample. and for typing up a quick document in openoffice, it’s plenty. i’m not saying i wouldn’t like a slightly bigger screen. but, i think 7″ is enough to do what is reasonable on such a device. after all, it’s not a desktop replacement.
the extra space around the eee’s screen does certainly add to the cramped effect, though.
Edited 2008-02-28 00:14 UTC
If they could port this over to the ARMEL processor, then it would run on the Nokia N800, man that would be sweet. It almost looks like Canola on the N800.
If anything, I would think that the MPX extension for X.Org ( http://wearables.unisa.edu.au/mpx/ ) could be included in future Linux-based mobiles, at least after it is released in 2008-09 as part of X11R7.5.
The reason is that, when it is integrated into the main Linux distributions, it’ll most likely lead to demo videos of “Compiz Fusion + multitouch” on YouTube. Demand for “multitouch-centric” applications (particularly image viewers like lowfat, file browsers, audio/video players and even web browsers) will follow, and newer desktop environments will be built around multitouch access.
When desktop Linux gets to that point, I think that a number of consumer device companies (maybe Sony?) will be attracted to the zero-cost of the free software used for these multitouch-centric desktop environments, and then simply compress them into a smaller package for handheld computers and other devices. They will possibly also enlist the contributions of the developers of the free multitouch-centric applications, kinda like Nokia+Trolltech or Google+Mozilla.
I´d like this for my old slow laptop! Ubuntu needs to release an easy to use, modern operating system for really old hardware that can easily run Windows 98 but not Ubuntu proper.
Damsmall Linux (DSL) http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/ runs on systems that could barely run Windows 98.
I got DSL running on an old Toshiba laptop … it had just 32MB of RAM and all of 4GB of disk, 800×600 screen. I think it was a Tecra 440.
DSL was just fine.
Do i understand it correctly that Ubuntu Mobile requires closed source products to work properly?
That only seems to be an issue for ubuntu where things like keyspan usb-to-serial dongles are concerned.