Canonical today announced a new version of Ubuntu for Smartphone that is designed specifically for smartphones to power everything from entry-level handhelds to “high-end superphones” that double as PCs. Now you would see desktop PC in your smartphones.
The move by Canonical was long expected, although it is coming late to a market already dominated by the iPhone and Android-based devices. Ubuntu for phones isn’t a whole new operating system. Instead, it is a “smartphone interface” for Ubuntu. This helps Ubuntu differentiate from other phone operating systems by Voltron-ing itself into a full-fledged PC when docked to a monitor, mouse, and keyboard.
The Ubuntu interface will feature the following:
1. Deep content immersion—controls appear only when the user wants them.
2. A beautiful global search for apps, content, and products.
3. Voice and text commands in any application for faster access to rich capabilities.
4. Both native and Web or HTML5 apps.
5. Evolving personalized art on the welcome screen.
Ubuntu’s founder, Mark Shuttleworth, said he was in talks with manufacturers for devices to be sold with the system pre-installed within the year. We must say, Ubuntu comes to the phone, with a beautifully distilled interface and a unique full PC capability when docked.
You won’t be able to get hold of pure Ubuntu phone until the end of this year or even early 2014, but an image for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be released in the coming weeks if you can’t wait that long.