Ubuntu tablets finally open for pre-orders, with shipments going out next month

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Times have been tough for the forces behind some of the alternative mobile platforms out there, and projects like Firefox OS and Sailfish have failed to find big commercial success. While those two may be on particularly rough ground, not every new platform is struggling to stay afloat, and over the past few months we’ve heard a surprising amount from Canonical about the new hardware coming out running Ubuntu. That’s included ...

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Canonical shares details on Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition tablet

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

A few years back, it seemed like being ahead of the curve with mobile gadgets meant carrying as many as your pockets would allow: you had your phone, maybe a tablet, and packed your bag with a laptop, camera, and no shortage of accessories. And while we still love being packed to the brim and ready for whatever the day throws at us, there’s a new focus on simplifying our mobile lives, and moving to devices that do double (if not more) duty. Microsoft’s stirred up such interest with Continuum on Windows 10 ...

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Meizu MX4 gets a software overhaul, becomes the next Ubuntu smartphone

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Canonical is on a roll this month. We started June off learning about the second commercial Ubuntu-running smartphone, another effort with Spain’s BQ, which also made the first Ubuntu phone earlier this year. But long before this BQ hardware ever arrived, we were talking about Meizu. Canonical confirmed the manufacturer would ...

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Ubuntu smartphone finally approaches retail debut

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

The path to a Ubuntu smartphone has been a long one, beset by many disappointments along the way. The scope of the project feels a bit less grand than it once did, dropping elements like Ubuntu for Android. And efforts by Canonical to deliver its own Ubuntu-running phone fell apart after its crowdfunding effort failed to secure the necessary support. But despite all that, Ubuntu on phones is still happening, and last year we heard ...

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Ubuntu-running Meizu smartphone gets an ETA

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Canonical has not had the easiest time breaking into the smartphone market, maybe most publicly failing as it attempted to crowdfund the Ubuntu Edge handset. But even with the dreams of Canonical’s own Ubuntu phone on ice, we had hope that other manufacturers might arrive to bring the platform to market, and earlier this year heard about plans to do just that with the help of OEMs like Meizu. Thing is, we haven’t seen ...

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Ubuntu for Android runs out of steam in absence of OEM interest

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Canonical’s work on Ubuntu Touch continues ahead, and earlier this year we got confirmation of the first hardware partners that will build handsets specifically designed to run the upstart platform. But while this smartphone OS has been the major component of Canonical’s mobile interest, it hasn’t been the only project it was working on, and before we had Ubuntu Touch system images we ...

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Canonical CEO talks Ubuntu smartphone pricing, hardware level

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Later this year, some of the first smartphones sold with the express purposed of running Ubuntu will hit the market. Canonical confirmed as much early in January, and last month shared news of the first two companies that will deliver such hardware, Meizu in China and bq in Spain. That gave us a starting point, but there was still much more we didn’t know about these phones than what we did. It may still be some time before we start getting specific ...

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Canonical reveals companies behind first Ubuntu smartphones

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Last year’s failed campaign to crowdfund a Canonical-made Ubuntu smartphone left a vacuum of sorts in the company’s plans to present Ubuntu for phones as a viable mobile platform. Sure, we’ve seen the release of installation packages for certain Nexus-series devices, but if this project was ever to get off the ground, it needed some phones of its own. Late last year, Canonical confirmed that one OEM had signed-on to produce Ubuntu handsets, and last month we heard that

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Ubuntu Touch dropping support for majority of Nexus models

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

We’ve been cautiously optimistic about Canonical’s chances for really seeing Ubuntu Touch take off this year, especially with the promise of relationships with OEMs bringing us the first commercial hardware intentionally designed for use with Ubuntu. But thus far, if you’ve wanted to experiment with the platform, that’s meant flashing a Ubuntu ROM to one of several Nexus devices. Unfortunately, your options going forward are going to be a lot more limited, as Canonical announces that support for the ...

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Will Meizu deliver the first Ubuntu phone? OS spotted on MX3

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

If 2013 was the year we saw the arrival of Ubuntu software for smartphones, 2014 will be the year we get some proper Ubuntu hardware. After first getting confirmation that at least one high-end Ubuntu phone was in the works, we recently heard from the company that it’s talking to a number of additional OEMs, potentially setting the stage for the release of multiple Ubuntu-running handsets in the months to come. But just who would be creating this ...

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Multiple Ubuntu smartphone models enter the running for 2014

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Last year saw plenty of progress for Canonical and Ubuntu Touch, including the release of early test ROMs, the Ubuntu Edge crowdfunding project, and the eventual release of the first official system images. Still, that was tempered by its fair share of disappointments; while the Edge was incredibly ambitious, it ultimately failed to achieve its goals, and the software we ultimately got still had a very “unfinished” feel to it. Maybe most telling about the progress Canonical had (or hadn’t) made, we still don’t ...

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Ubuntu learns how to dual-boot with Android

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

For about the past year now, we’ve been following Canonical’s work towards delivering Ubuntu Touch for smartphones and tablets. While we’re still not quite to the point where anyone’s ready to release a commercial Ubuntu-running phone, progress has been ongoing, and we saw official Ubuntu Touch images released with this fall’s distribution of Ubunutu 13.10. So far, the platform has ...

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The smartphone market sorely needs better competition

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

We’re less than two short weeks away from the end of 2013 and it’s hard to deny that this year has been a pretty great one for smartphones. Sure, some players struggled more than others, but the industry’s in a stronger, more mature, and just more interesting place than it was a year ago. For all the progress that’s come our way, though, I wonder if we’re not missing out on even bigger and better things. Because as much as the landscape has grown, we’re still dealing with a small group of ...

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Ubuntu Touch smartphones still happening: Canonical secures mystery hardware partner

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

This past summer, Canonical tried something pretty darn ambitious when it attempted to crowdsource the funding for the Ubuntu Edge, a smartphone that besides dual-booting into Android, would natively run the new Ubuntu Touch OS. Ultimately, the project didn’t reach its goal, so the Edge is never going to happen. Even without any hardware, the OS has lived on, and a couple months back we saw the first formal release of the platform for installation on existing Android ...

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Ubuntu 13.10 arrives, delivering Ubuntu Touch images for phones

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Back in September, we heard from Canonical that the countdown had started towards the release of Ubuntu 13.10 “Saucy Salamander,” with the target date set as October 17. Sure, this is a full-featured release that brings numerous improvements to desktop Ubuntu users, but our concern is on what this means for the mobile side: after months and months of development, Ubuntu Touch is finally read for inclusion in the greater Ubuntu project, and 13.10 brings with it images for installation of phones and tablets. ...

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