http://www.ubuntu.com/phone
http://www.ubuntu.com/tablet
UBUNTU (pronounced ooboontoo) Linux works on smartphones RIGHT NOW, but Canonical (the developer) plans release of a smartphone and a tablet running UBUNTU natively. Many people might want UBUNTU running on their smart phones. Read about the feature mix at the above links. And note: Google's android IS a Linux application. IT runs on a UBUNTU linux base in android phones and tablets.
The ideal smart phone and tablet have HDMI connectors for hooking them to a flat panel monitor. The latest phone and tablet will have such a powerful CPU and sufficient memory (high speed 64G) to become the NEW DESKTOP COMPUTER.
I imagine you could have a nice business installing UBUNTU on smart phones and selling terminals - keyboard (with touchpad or mouse), monitor, and dock. I imagine also that you will find a good market for touch screen monitors in such a setup.
I expect Canonical to announce the phone and tablet full product in November. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that they are partnering with Google who now owns Motorola's cell phone division.
Don't see this as trivial. Universities around the world run FREE BSD UNIX (very similar to UBUNTU Linux) for their servers and computer science classes and projects. FreeBSD formed the basis for Apple's Darwin OS which forms the core of MacOS. IOS is a Darwin application like Android is a UBUNTU application. So, I don't expect Apple to take Canonical's move lying down. I imagine in due course Apple will create a phone/tablet that runs FreeBSD natively. With the UNIX/LINUX running on all the smart phones, every university student with a smart phone will have a UNIX/Linux in pocket for doing school projects including computer science classes, programming, etc. Smart Phones will really revolutionize education.
I hope Apple and Google will devise ways to allow teachers electronically (via wifi) to turn off all phone/text activity except as needed for school projects during classes. Right now schools make students turn off their phones and put them away. The time could come when schools will require every student to have and use a smartphone running UBUNTU/FREEBSD for classes. Teachers can broadcast assignments, homework, etc, and students can use the voice capability or built in keypad to type lesson work.
Where does this leave Microsoft. The company has shoved Windows down users throats for decades. It has become bloated, slow, susceptible to virus infections, and remains quirky if not clunky with single user paradigm until introduction of the Metro interface for Windows 8. I still have not gotten used to it. And let's not forget the cost. All but a few versions of UNIX and LINUX are free, and so are thousands of their application programs, including LibreOffice and OpenOffice. But Microsoft Windows and Office still cost a pretty penny. The time may come when even Microsoft will port its Windows apps to Linux.
More hardware companies have begun to bundle LINUX with computers. They should, for economical reasons. Most choose UBUNTU or a derivative. Google, Asus, Samsung, and HP partnered to produce inexpensive Chromebook which boot up Google ChromeOS, a Chrome browser shell running on UBUNTU. Dell has recently announced the XPS13 I7 ultrabook running UBUNTU and featuring LibreOffice. Maybe Michael Dell, with his company staggering under $15 billion in debt, has smelled the coffee of Google's Chromebook success. Lenovo has certified its computers for use with UBUNTU, RedHat, Novell, and TurboLinux. System76 specializes in UBUNTU laptop and Desktop systems.
Linux, particularly UBUNTU, is here to stay, and will become a driving force in consumer computers because of its cost ($0), speed, versatility, and the thousands of sophisticated applications available for it free. It may soon dominate in smartphones and tablets, making them into the "new desktop computers" by plugging right into the home or business flat panel monitor.
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| Bob Hurt |
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