At the Canonical booth at Mobile World Congress, I had a chance meeting with Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical and spiritual leader of Ubuntu. I was actually at the booth to try out the new Ubuntu Edition of the Meizu MX4, a mid- to high-end smartphone, but all of the untethered devices had run out of battery – every phone, that is, except for Shuttleworth’s.
Ubuntu Phone looks good on this device. The Verge has an additional story.
Really looking forward to try this phone. I am trying to escape all those apps that require ridiculous permissions (like access to your contactlist or webbrowser for a flashlight application) and with Ubuntu I think I have a chance.
Also, if the GUI turns out to be crap, at least you can flash the Meizu MX4 to Android and still have a nice phone!
Edited 2015-03-04 22:09 UTC
That is the thing I think might be most important. No one wants to risk having a useless phone or one they just don’t feel that they like. Give them an easy fallback solution (emphasis on easy) and I bet more people would be willing to try new things. That’s how I work at least.
I very much enjoy the idea of device that turns into full-blown desktop when connected to appropriate hardware. I like Windows 10 for that, and I totally support Ubuntu in going that route. That said, I severely lack confidence in Ubuntu: my experience with everything coming from them was negative, I strongly dislike the way they handle development issues and I absolutely hate their technical decisions, including software they produce (as opposed to software they merely distribute).
Another thing to note: this particular handset resambles early iPhones. Don’t think it is a really good idea to establish market presence with something that would most likely look like a complete rip off to many potential users.
“…help thinking of windows 10.”
Uhmmm…
This is like Microsoft/Apple all over again.
Someone not giant’ish are develloping something for years, and into the stage, one of those giants just step in and shows us the same kind of technology.
Only cooler and better running in the end.
Yeah… Ubuntu/phone/touch something have lost one of the coolest races as I see it.
Ubuntu is once again best for servers, unless it is being hold up against a different and better Linux-Server distribution… Debian for instance.
…Padfone
But probably not going to be successful because of
* Lack of touch-optimized software
* Lack of hardware
* Lack of carrier-support
* Lack of geeks buying this device