It was just over a month ago that folks from over at Canonical first showcased its Ubuntu OS for smartphones. They also had a stall at last month’s CES where they showed off early bits of the revolutionary UI that these phones would sport. Back then Canonical didn’t have a prospective release date for devices that would run this OS. This was because they had not inked deals with either handset makers or carriers whose support would be required to make the Ubuntu Smartphone a reality.
A month on, these seems to be some progress on that front. The Wall Street Journal reports that Canonical is likely to bring the first of the Ubuntu powered handsets to developers as early as the end of this month! That is real quick if true! Whats even better is the fact that they might have an official launch of the device by October 2013 – 8 months away! As of now, reports say that the October release of the Ubuntu phone could encompass “two geographically large markets”. I am assuming they are talking about the US and Europe there.
Like I mentioned earlier, the Ubuntu OS makes use of no buttons and is completely gestures based. The best part is probably the fact that the hardware requirements for devices to run this OS is the same as that of existing Android devices. This means that handset makers do not need to bother about designing new hardware designed to run this platform.
Anyway, we are still in the dark about the manufacturers who are interested to hop on to the Ubuntu smartphone bandwagon but I am hopeful of seeing some big names up there.
