Ubuntu Plans to Turn a Smartphone into a Full-Sized PC
Smartphones are already more powerful than laptops were a few years ago. But they are limited by the size of their screens and lack of a really a really usable keyboard.
There are already a few attempts to marry a handset with a laptop, such as the Motorola Atrix 2. But London-based Canonical is going a step further with Ubuntu Linux for Android, which it says will provide a full desktop operating system when a smartphone is plugged into a keyboard and screen, as PC Magazine reports.
In this mode, Ubuntu works exactly as it does on a regular PC, with the same Unity UI and access to certified applications including Chrome and Firefox—except that your phone is now standing in for a bulky CPU tower. Otherwise, Ubuntu for Android stays invisible; when you’re out and about, your phone works just like a normal Android phone. Canonical says that all data and services stay consistent between the Ubuntu and Android environments, including contacts, SMS, and voice calls.
The desktop mode also works with Windows applications in virtual environments, and with its various enterprise hooks, could eliminate the need for IT departments to manage separate phones and PCs for each employee. Ubuntu for Android will supports HDMI, USB, Google Docs, and 4G LTE data, among other things, and Canonical says wireless carriers can load up branded applications and services as part of the Ubuntu desktop.
Ubuntu for Android will require a multi-core Android phone. There are no quad-core phones available in the U.S. yet, although that’s expected to change very soon. Also, judging by [Canonical founder] Mark Shuttleworth’s quote that “the desktop is the killer app for quad-core phones in 2012,” it’s pretty clear that the company is targeting brand-new handsets coming out this year, rather than any existing dual-core devices, though we should learn more about this in the coming days.
It should be said that although the idea is attractive, history is littered with laptop docking stations and other attempts to get the best of both form factors from a single device. On the other hand, working on a desktop PC with a smartphone in your pocket, a laptop in your bag and a tablet on the couch in front of the TV is not exactly uncommon, even if not entirely rational.
Smartphones are already more powerful than laptops were a few years ago. But they are limited by the size of their screens and lack of a really a really usable keyboard.
In this mode, Ubuntu works exactly as it does on a regular PC, with the same Unity UI and access to certified applications including Chrome and Firefox—except that your phone is now standing in for a bulky CPU tower. Otherwise, Ubuntu for Android stays invisible; when you’re out and about, your phone works just like a normal Android phone. Canonical says that all data and services stay consistent between the Ubuntu and Android environments, including contacts, SMS, and voice calls.
The desktop mode also works with Windows applications in virtual environments, and with its various enterprise hooks, could eliminate the need for IT departments to manage separate phones and PCs for each employee. Ubuntu for Android will supports HDMI, USB, Google Docs, and 4G LTE data, among other things, and Canonical says wireless carriers can load up branded applications and services as part of the Ubuntu desktop.
Ubuntu for Android will require a multi-core Android phone. There are no quad-core phones available in the U.S. yet, although that’s expected to change very soon. Also, judging by [Canonical founder] Mark Shuttleworth’s quote that “the desktop is the killer app for quad-core phones in 2012,” it’s pretty clear that the company is targeting brand-new handsets coming out this year, rather than any existing dual-core devices, though we should learn more about this in the coming days.
It should be said that although the idea is attractive, history is littered with laptop docking stations and other attempts to get the best of both form factors from a single device. On the other hand, working on a desktop PC with a smartphone in your pocket, a laptop in your bag and a tablet on the couch in front of the TV is not exactly uncommon, even if not entirely rational.
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