Ubuntu smartphone offers alternative to apps(bbc.co.uk)
bbc.co.uk
Ubuntu smartphone offers alternative to apps
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31148661
97 comments
I think you might be mixing together the problem and one possible solution.
People definitely want to be able to use different form factors in different places. One way to do that would be to carry around a central GPU+Memory store. Another would be different devices interconnected through a network - and the world that's being made is the latter.
Right now I can leave off in the middle of an ebook on my tablet and pick up at the same spot on my phone (Kindle). Same with videos from my TV to my phone/tablet/computer (Plex).
It gets a little trickier with development environments, but if I was sufficiently motivated I could do everything in a VPS that I accessed remotely, or use Nitrous.io to get a web accessible IDE (though I'm not sure about using a watch for programming).
I think this is mostly prompted by the fact that on the hardware side - everything is very custom and tailored to that form factor (to keep size and weight down, we've got all these systems on a chip and custom shaped batteries).
People definitely want to be able to use different form factors in different places. One way to do that would be to carry around a central GPU+Memory store. Another would be different devices interconnected through a network - and the world that's being made is the latter.
Right now I can leave off in the middle of an ebook on my tablet and pick up at the same spot on my phone (Kindle). Same with videos from my TV to my phone/tablet/computer (Plex).
It gets a little trickier with development environments, but if I was sufficiently motivated I could do everything in a VPS that I accessed remotely, or use Nitrous.io to get a web accessible IDE (though I'm not sure about using a watch for programming).
I think this is mostly prompted by the fact that on the hardware side - everything is very custom and tailored to that form factor (to keep size and weight down, we've got all these systems on a chip and custom shaped batteries).
There was the guy a while back who wrote a pretty high-profile rundown of why he liked coding on an iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard, using vim and Linode. There's also Cloud9 that has support for quite a bit more development environments than Nitrous has. Coding in the cloud can be done, and for some needs, can be done quite well.
I'm sure it's not just you, and people approve, but I do not. In fact, all I want is actual GNU/Linux on the mobile device, which boils down to native DM, which is usable with touchscreen and having nice API + drivers. Everything else will come. Something like that Nokia N900 with updated hardware would do just fine. (Well, almost). I don't need it to be "one environment for all devices" — in fact, I think it's pretty horrible idea, because what I need with keyboard and a couple of 24" monitors is far from what I need on 4.3" touchscreen (and neither is "Unity", btw). I just want my familiar OS with standard messaging services and daemons, that I can make do what I want by writing plain shellscript, and not some Java-framework with half-proprietary firmware on most devices, developed by some evil corporation, which makes money by advertising and spying on its users.
So, well, what I need is not complicated (pretty much the opposite), but it requires "doing things right" and this is always incredibly hard. Essentially, to make proper DM it would require to hire someone, who already has written a couple of DMs which were used widely enough for mistakes made while inventing its API to become obvious. Unlikely that somebody, who isn't spying on his users would want to invest in something that big. And, furthermore, obviously there is much more people, who need Angry Birds, than people, who need transparent process interoperation.
So, well, what I need is not complicated (pretty much the opposite), but it requires "doing things right" and this is always incredibly hard. Essentially, to make proper DM it would require to hire someone, who already has written a couple of DMs which were used widely enough for mistakes made while inventing its API to become obvious. Unlikely that somebody, who isn't spying on his users would want to invest in something that big. And, furthermore, obviously there is much more people, who need Angry Birds, than people, who need transparent process interoperation.
"Why can't we start with a phone that can be the CPU for wearables and tablets, and that can dock into a higher horsepower 'GPU station' with a mouse and a keyboard and a monitor when we need it?"
Because a full-on SoC costs somewhere between $20 and $30? It costs almost nothing to add a full computer to any tablet/laptop form factor phone dock.
Because a full-on SoC costs somewhere between $20 and $30? It costs almost nothing to add a full computer to any tablet/laptop form factor phone dock.
The capabilities for converged devices are getting closer. Will's video (lower down) shows some of the latest software developments. You shouldn't be discouraged - it's on the way - but there is a reason that the major players have two OS platforms! It's a hard software problem to solve. You have to create a full stack that will work across both device form-factors and the variety of use-cases that both supports.
The Ubuntu Edge campaign was aimed at trying to accelerate hardware innovation for those that wanted convergence faster. We didn't make it - but it will still happen.
Separate to convergence, the "next billion" devices are mobile in some form. Ubuntu's goal is to be the free software platform available to everyone [0]. That's why we're creating a first-class phone experience. And there's still lots of room for innovation in what phones can do and how they can be central to people's lives.
So the point of today is shipping the first Ubuntu phones to users. I'm really looking forward to how people use, enjoy and develop with them.
[0] http://www.ubuntu.com/about/about-ubuntu
The Ubuntu Edge campaign was aimed at trying to accelerate hardware innovation for those that wanted convergence faster. We didn't make it - but it will still happen.
Separate to convergence, the "next billion" devices are mobile in some form. Ubuntu's goal is to be the free software platform available to everyone [0]. That's why we're creating a first-class phone experience. And there's still lots of room for innovation in what phones can do and how they can be central to people's lives.
So the point of today is shipping the first Ubuntu phones to users. I'm really looking forward to how people use, enjoy and develop with them.
[0] http://www.ubuntu.com/about/about-ubuntu
Not just you. I'm on the same waiting list.
I'll take it a step further. I want like you said, my mobile device to also be my main and only computer. When I place it near a monitor, I want it to spark into 'computer' mode. When I pull out a keyboard from my bag and place it near the phone - it should work. Same with the mouse. And it should function and operate with comparable performance to a regular laptop. I don't think this is too much to ask for. After all, I'm not asking for a battery that lasts all day am I?
We're getting close to this - you can buy graphics cards that plug into a PCI Express port on a laptop, for example. But the hardware's not quite there yet.
But why is it THIS hard?
Batteries. Running a full Ubuntu OS on a smartphone battery would result in the battery draining quickly. So instead you'd need some sort of dual boot phone OS and desktop OS system that shares data... it's far from simple.
Batteries. Running a full Ubuntu OS on a smartphone battery would result in the battery draining quickly. So instead you'd need some sort of dual boot phone OS and desktop OS system that shares data... it's far from simple.
One OS should suffice. Driving a desktop monitor and powering desktop app features while still on battery would certainly drain battery life, so don't do that. Plug it in. The OS and apps will morph to the I/O and power class it has access to (we already have power-stepping processors... it can't be that far-fetched).
Also, from this whole argument it simply doesn't follow that one OS can't scale from IoT to mega-servers. It's just code. Not all of it has to be running all the time. Not all services have to be proffered at the same time. We can do that. It may not look like "Ubuntu desktop OS on a phone", but maybe it shouldn't. That's probably the wrong direction.
Also, from this whole argument it simply doesn't follow that one OS can't scale from IoT to mega-servers. It's just code. Not all of it has to be running all the time. Not all services have to be proffered at the same time. We can do that. It may not look like "Ubuntu desktop OS on a phone", but maybe it shouldn't. That's probably the wrong direction.
Wasn't that one of the selling points of micro kernels ? Small Kernel that starts and stops servers as needed depending on the circumstances.
Yes. Turns out the cost of context switches quickly overran the benefits of this approach, but things are slowly getting better. L4 is one approach. The library-OS approach (where apps run directly on virtualized hardware with a minimal OS) are another.
This must be some strange definition of OS. Phones already run on a Linux kernel - and are already capable of running a GNU/Ubuntu yserland in parallel with an Android userland. Clearly the Android userland works quite well for mobile use, and the desktop userland could work quite well for docked use. It seems odd to claim that the two modes of userland couldn't be more tightly coupled (allowing a single app to expose multiple UIs, like a browswr exposes both a command line interface (firefox www.google.com) and a GUI?
a combination of widi/miracast,bluetooth,wifi,etc can achieve alot of that goal but it needs to get easier to use still
You've basically described the Star Trek universe...
>Why do I have to have different computers for all of this when all I want is different I/O modalities (and related computing expansion devices)? Why do we keep ignoring the fact that what we want is the ability to experience our virtual world in the input / output environment that suits us at this moment? Everything else is secondary.
AFAICT, because hardware makers determine the operating-system market rather than the other way around. I dreamed of a more modernized, Plan 9-like OS to ~~tie all devices together~~ RULE THEM ALL back in freshman year of college. It's simply the obvious thing to do if you're a user and enough of an OS geek to understand the idea.
But, well, we softies don't drive those markets. We could never get the effort together to produce an operating system that would both support (via hardware drivers) and be supported by (in the sense of not having to crack open your phone with a screwdriver to install the thing) all the necessary hardware platforms.
AFAICT, because hardware makers determine the operating-system market rather than the other way around. I dreamed of a more modernized, Plan 9-like OS to ~~tie all devices together~~ RULE THEM ALL back in freshman year of college. It's simply the obvious thing to do if you're a user and enough of an OS geek to understand the idea.
But, well, we softies don't drive those markets. We could never get the effort together to produce an operating system that would both support (via hardware drivers) and be supported by (in the sense of not having to crack open your phone with a screwdriver to install the thing) all the necessary hardware platforms.
the convergence thing? It's coming. Soon :)
I think you need to say a little more :)
I am eagerly awaiting this. I've been wanting to write my own smartphone apps for a long time. I don't care about writing games, what I want to write is my own music player. I want it to replace the stock music player. I want access to the Bluetooth chipset so I can actually know why the damn thing doesn't just play when my car starts up. I want the music player given priority over all other apps so I get no stutters instead of 4+ per song with my Nexus 5. I want to order my phone's interface around it. I want all other apps shut down when it goes into standby, standby time is the difference between me having to charge my phone before I go out for the night and not having to worry about it.
The music player is 95% of what my phone is doing for me, yet the Nexus treats it as a second-rate concern.
I want Linux on everything, even (especially!) my toaster.
The music player is 95% of what my phone is doing for me, yet the Nexus treats it as a second-rate concern.
I want Linux on everything, even (especially!) my toaster.
The desktop mode is compelling enough that I'd be fine if Canonical delayed the Ubuntu Phone further to get it right. It's already been delayed considerably and the buzz it once had has mostly disappeared. The ability to plug it into a monitor and have it function as a desktop, or plug it into an HDTV and have it behave like a Roku would be a massive edge over what's on the market now. Not sure why Canonical is content with releasing an "also ran" phone.
>Not sure why Canonical is content with releasing an "also ran" phone.
It's a $200 device, off contract. The goal is probably just like the early firefoxOS devices - a minimal effort step to get out of the emulator and get the product into the hands of some users who aren't ubuntu enthusiasts. If the only people trying your product are the ones willing to flash their nexus devices, you're going to get kind of skewed feedback.
It's a $200 device, off contract. The goal is probably just like the early firefoxOS devices - a minimal effort step to get out of the emulator and get the product into the hands of some users who aren't ubuntu enthusiasts. If the only people trying your product are the ones willing to flash their nexus devices, you're going to get kind of skewed feedback.
I have to agree that the idea of rocking up to work and plopping my Ubuntuphone into a dock and having desktop functionality was a major attraction.
Anyone know why Canonical are releasing early like this? Need for volume? Desire to get feedback on the 'card' interface? Limited processor power on the target hardware?
Anyone know why Canonical are releasing early like this? Need for volume? Desire to get feedback on the 'card' interface? Limited processor power on the target hardware?
"The Ubuntu fan base will clamour to buy the phone just because they will be curious to see what it is"
Who is this "Ubuntu fan base"?
I connect to ten Ubuntu machines a day, and my parents use Ubuntu laptops. I don't consider myself a "fan", and my parents don't know what their OS is called. Where are these "Ubuntu faithful" the article talks about?
Who is this "Ubuntu fan base"?
I connect to ten Ubuntu machines a day, and my parents use Ubuntu laptops. I don't consider myself a "fan", and my parents don't know what their OS is called. Where are these "Ubuntu faithful" the article talks about?
There are fans of everything out there, it's almost the point of the Internet - connecting people together from around the world with specialist interests!
You don't have to be a fan to use Ubuntu (as you said) - but there are lots of people that are interested in Open Source and alternative technology options who will be excited about a new software launch. I'm sure there are fans of the colour Orange who'll be excited it's getting more coverage today! :)
You don't have to be a fan to use Ubuntu (as you said) - but there are lots of people that are interested in Open Source and alternative technology options who will be excited about a new software launch. I'm sure there are fans of the colour Orange who'll be excited it's getting more coverage today! :)
I think this is closer to the Windows phone tiles than they're letting on, but still a neat idea. Not convinced about how well it would work with games (which are hilariously second class citizens for all mobile platforms in spite of PR efforts).
One very curious thing about the scope idea is it will need tweaking for different cultures around the world. Gross oversimplification, but generally in the west we categorize by what something is, whereas in the east it's what something is for.
One very curious thing about the scope idea is it will need tweaking for different cultures around the world. Gross oversimplification, but generally in the west we categorize by what something is, whereas in the east it's what something is for.
I think it's a lot closer to the PalmOS cards functionality, which a lot of people really enjoyed.
"...generally in the west we categorize by what something is, whereas in the east it's what something is for."
Interesting comment. Have you got more information or a reference? (I must be 'Eastern' as I characterise my software tools by function).
Interesting comment. Have you got more information or a reference? (I must be 'Eastern' as I characterise my software tools by function).
I'd digested that largely from this:
http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439838730
That book is slightly out of date, but details a lot of actual studies (of varying quality) into both variation in priorities of users globally and how information architecture should vary. The example that stays with me was the Chinese having a strong preference for stores that group objects based by the room the object belongs in (imagine how lamps would be sold in a department store - either all together or lamps for the kitchen in the kitchen section etc.), whereas either the Koreans or Japanese were the exact opposite, as were most western nations.
It's not a great book by any stretch, but it did persuade me that successful localization needs to consider much more than just language. Additionally working out how to invert the structure of what you're doing proves to be a useful exercise which can help improve the structure for all users.
Finally, they emphasised that these patterns change with time, and surprisingly fast. Again in China there are strong generational differences, which they put down to the economic changes.
That book is slightly out of date, but details a lot of actual studies (of varying quality) into both variation in priorities of users globally and how information architecture should vary. The example that stays with me was the Chinese having a strong preference for stores that group objects based by the room the object belongs in (imagine how lamps would be sold in a department store - either all together or lamps for the kitchen in the kitchen section etc.), whereas either the Koreans or Japanese were the exact opposite, as were most western nations.
It's not a great book by any stretch, but it did persuade me that successful localization needs to consider much more than just language. Additionally working out how to invert the structure of what you're doing proves to be a useful exercise which can help improve the structure for all users.
Finally, they emphasised that these patterns change with time, and surprisingly fast. Again in China there are strong generational differences, which they put down to the economic changes.
"It's not a great book by any stretch, but it did persuade me that successful localization needs to consider much more than just language."
Nice reference. The perspective is the important thing, the book is just the vehicle.
Nice reference. The perspective is the important thing, the book is just the vehicle.
There's a lot to be disappointed about, but Scopes are interesting. More thoughts on this here: http://www.fastcompany.com/3041969/ubuntu-phone-scopes-specs...
Slightly off topic, Ubuntu and Redhat are building their own display servers, Mir and Wayland. Why they can't simply use SurfaceFlinger? It should be simpler to add X Server emulation to SurfaceFlinger than to create whole display server from scratch.
Isn't that what they did for Ubuntu Touch?
They sort of forgot to mention why this phone is better than Android, IPhone, Firefox OS and so on...
My guess: Better support for Python. Probably also some kind of Docker support. Nothing to sneeze at.
My guess: Better support for Python. Probably also some kind of Docker support. Nothing to sneeze at.
I was very impressed with Windows Phone's integration of Facebook, Twitter etc. I could see in one native-styled list all the updates and replies from all my connections on both networks. I could reply and post right there. I didn't have to launch the Facebook app and then the Twitter app and then the LinkedIn app etc. That basic functionality was much more painful on Android. Hopefully these Ubuntu scopes can capture some of that.
$200 for a phone that relies on new HTML5 apps to be better than a phone at half of it's cost?
I see another failure in the making...
I see another failure in the making...
I wish they would put the mic on the front of the device so peole could hear me when I speak.
So will this phone be free from OS updates having to come from the hardware manufacturer?
I doubt they'll show up in the U.S anytime soon.
The ability for it to "become a desktop PC when plugged into a monitor" was 90% of the appeal to me when they first talked about an Ubuntu powered smartphone. That they've stripped that out makes it relatively uninteresting.
Exactly - it's worthless now (listening, Ubuntu?).
My recent experience with the Android 5 "upgrade" on my Nexus tablet, which broke things I was using, really drove home to me that I really just want a Linux, like Raspbian or something, that runs on a phone or small tablet. Entertainment apps are nice and all, but I really want a general purpose computer, which happens to have a keyboard emulation on screen when not docked via USB or Bluetooth with keyboards, monitors and such.
... aside: the Android 5 Lollipop experience really made me appreciate RMS's stance on proprietary software. My command line tool app? gone. My Quickoffice notes? gone. Easy access to frequent peripheral settings? not gone, but buried deeper in the menus. More advertising noise ("notices") on the home screen. Scroogled!
I want an open mobile device, even if I realize not everybody wants the power and responsibility to maintain and/or break their own device.
My recent experience with the Android 5 "upgrade" on my Nexus tablet, which broke things I was using, really drove home to me that I really just want a Linux, like Raspbian or something, that runs on a phone or small tablet. Entertainment apps are nice and all, but I really want a general purpose computer, which happens to have a keyboard emulation on screen when not docked via USB or Bluetooth with keyboards, monitors and such.
... aside: the Android 5 Lollipop experience really made me appreciate RMS's stance on proprietary software. My command line tool app? gone. My Quickoffice notes? gone. Easy access to frequent peripheral settings? not gone, but buried deeper in the menus. More advertising noise ("notices") on the home screen. Scroogled!
I want an open mobile device, even if I realize not everybody wants the power and responsibility to maintain and/or break their own device.
Hell they removed the photo gallery, they expected me to log into google+ to see the pictures on my local device, that I had just taken.
This is one of my disappointments with Jolla/Sailfish - they give the impression that they don't care one bit about allowing end-users be/become developers/hackers of the system (or help port it etc). No easy to access public repo, no build instructions...
It appears FirefoxOS is our last best hope (for open devices running open code). Unfortunately I'd be more interested in a system like the original Ubuntu vision than what I understand FOS to be (not that it's a problem that Moz makes the product they want - it's just not the product I want). Maybe the kernel/init/rootfs of FOS can provide a solid foundation for a fork, along with a supply of actual hw to run the thing on. Unlike ASOP/replicant which only works on a small subset of devices despite the GPL protection of the kernel.
It appears FirefoxOS is our last best hope (for open devices running open code). Unfortunately I'd be more interested in a system like the original Ubuntu vision than what I understand FOS to be (not that it's a problem that Moz makes the product they want - it's just not the product I want). Maybe the kernel/init/rootfs of FOS can provide a solid foundation for a fork, along with a supply of actual hw to run the thing on. Unlike ASOP/replicant which only works on a small subset of devices despite the GPL protection of the kernel.
On the Ubuntu side of things it is a full "Linux" stack. The code-base is public and available, and the community is open.
On the application front you can develop HTML5 or native (QML) apps. There's more info on developer.ubuntu.com. You can easily side-load applications etc.
The hardware thing is basically the same situation as with FirefoxOS. So that might be to your taste or not.
On the application front you can develop HTML5 or native (QML) apps. There's more info on developer.ubuntu.com. You can easily side-load applications etc.
The hardware thing is basically the same situation as with FirefoxOS. So that might be to your taste or not.
It's quite possible the ubuntu sw/hw will prove to be interesting to fork in order to make hybrid device as well (even if Canonical has abandoned that vision). But fos devices are already available. Either way I didn't mean to imply the ubuntu devices wouldn't be open (I fear they might lean that way, like Android and Jolla - I hope I'm wrong).
This is why I have high hopes for Windows, especially for the Surface line. I'm up for a new laptop in a year or so, and I'll very much be seeing what Win10 will be doing. Only MS seems to have a vision of a all-in-one device. Some of the Yoga-style Win8 machines are interesting and tempting, but I still think they're too thick and the price point isn't terribly appealing. To be fair, there are Yoga-style Dell inspirons at very cheap price points. My wife is interested in an 11" or 12" $349 one that folds back into a tablet form-factor with a touch-screen. Performance wasn't hot but I was pretty impressed that these kinds of things aren't $899 anymore.
I also have no idea what is going on in the mobile space right now. My N5 can barely handle Android 5 and the iPhones I've played with are not much better. My old ipad 3 can barely run iOS8 and Apple does not allow me to go back to 7. The specs on these devices are at the point where they exceed computers running XP and Office not too long ago. There's something very wrong with mobile today. The bloat is here to stay and Google and Apple just seem to be re-inventing PCs, but in the worst way imaginable - tacking on random crap every update and throwing more and more handware at the problem.
I'm more than willing to forgive a lot of the Win8 missteps if Win10 is good out of the gate. Especially if MS finally gets its security act together. I still dont understand why in this day and age my email or browser will deliver an unsigned exe to me, at least without explicitly allowing that. Or why my internet-facing apps aren't strictly sandboxed. Or why there isn't a built-in IPS system that can stop attacks as patches are pending.
>RMS's stance on proprietary software.
I think its unfair to peg this as a FOSS vs proprietary battle, especially considering AOSP is open source. I think the chasing of the mighty mobile buck is sending these systems into the toilet. When your main motivator is pushing out viral apps to low information and low attention users, then the product will of course be sub-par. MS has the incentive to produce a ecosystem that is more based on production than consumption and that's why I think they'll win in the end. Consumption devices really won't satifsy my use cases. Its a real shame Shuttleworth has moved towards the consumption model.
I also have no idea what is going on in the mobile space right now. My N5 can barely handle Android 5 and the iPhones I've played with are not much better. My old ipad 3 can barely run iOS8 and Apple does not allow me to go back to 7. The specs on these devices are at the point where they exceed computers running XP and Office not too long ago. There's something very wrong with mobile today. The bloat is here to stay and Google and Apple just seem to be re-inventing PCs, but in the worst way imaginable - tacking on random crap every update and throwing more and more handware at the problem.
I'm more than willing to forgive a lot of the Win8 missteps if Win10 is good out of the gate. Especially if MS finally gets its security act together. I still dont understand why in this day and age my email or browser will deliver an unsigned exe to me, at least without explicitly allowing that. Or why my internet-facing apps aren't strictly sandboxed. Or why there isn't a built-in IPS system that can stop attacks as patches are pending.
>RMS's stance on proprietary software.
I think its unfair to peg this as a FOSS vs proprietary battle, especially considering AOSP is open source. I think the chasing of the mighty mobile buck is sending these systems into the toilet. When your main motivator is pushing out viral apps to low information and low attention users, then the product will of course be sub-par. MS has the incentive to produce a ecosystem that is more based on production than consumption and that's why I think they'll win in the end. Consumption devices really won't satifsy my use cases. Its a real shame Shuttleworth has moved towards the consumption model.
Windows might be okay if you're comfortable being part of the Windows ecosystems. I for one am not eager to get back into Microsoft's walled garden again. Their user-hostile baked-in DRM is not something I'm interested in supporting.
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Agreed especially on the tablet front. My iPad 2 was far more usable before IOS8...really regret upgrading. Don't even think I've turned the thing on this year.
This is why projects like Cyanogen or Replicant or Paranoid Android are important, and why I always buy Android devices with unlocked bootloaders. Preferrably Qualcom ones, since freedreno is pretty much the only good Android reverse engineered GPU driver.
You simply do not control your Surface / iOS hardware. You have no power over it. You cannot run what you want on it, and you are stuck with the operating system given you, with any changes they make. You are completely at their mercy.
It is probably a nightmare world for Richard Stallman to know people eagerly line up to buy these things.
You simply do not control your Surface / iOS hardware. You have no power over it. You cannot run what you want on it, and you are stuck with the operating system given you, with any changes they make. You are completely at their mercy.
It is probably a nightmare world for Richard Stallman to know people eagerly line up to buy these things.
Well I bought the iPad back when there weren't really any good android tablets out, and now I can't really justify the purchase of a new tablet. I watch movies and game on my tv or pc, read on my kindle, and work on my laptop. The only thing I use the iPad for is to Facetime with my wife when I'm traveling for work, and only because it seems to work marginally better than skype on crappy hotel wifi.
As mobile CPU performance is getting into desktop territory, I see less and less reason to use some half-baked restricted OSes like iOS, Android or WP on a phone/tablet. What is however happening is that desktop OSes are being turned into mobile OSes, imposing ridiculous restrictions. It's all upside down now :-/
Exactly, I really miss Terminal IDE on my new Nexus 6.
Yep, that was one of the things I lost.
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This phone is some Mediatek garbage SoC with a horrible OpenGL blob. It is probably reapportioned Android hardware.
It is certainly not the kind of tech one wants or needs to drive a converged device.
Hopefully Canonical gets less stupid in the coming months and finds a higher end hardware partner to ship that converged experience, because early adopters have been able to do it on their Nexus phones running Ubuntu Touch for over a year.
It is certainly not the kind of tech one wants or needs to drive a converged device.
Hopefully Canonical gets less stupid in the coming months and finds a higher end hardware partner to ship that converged experience, because early adopters have been able to do it on their Nexus phones running Ubuntu Touch for over a year.
Yeah. I never much saw the value of that, myself -- PCs are relatively cheap these days. But it's the only feature that the Ubuntu phone was offering that made it stand out from Android/iOS/Windows Phone/Blackberry/FirefoxOS/Sailfish. It's launching far later than most of its competitors, with fewer features and a less developed ecosystem to support it -- without some kind of killer app (which this might have been) it's probably DOA.
Mobile devices are getting powerful enough to be your PC.
PC prices and performance have stagnated because most people are deeming the low end of the market "powerful enough", and so mobile devices are rapidly catching up.
As much as cloud services help gloss over the effect of moving from device to device, there is still plenty of state on my devices, and it would be great to have all of that state in one place, and then it needs to be on the smallest device.
My laptop is on its way to becoming a dumb terminal anyway: I keep less and less state on it, because I don't always have it with me. My phone on the other hand is always in my pocket.
PC prices and performance have stagnated because most people are deeming the low end of the market "powerful enough", and so mobile devices are rapidly catching up.
As much as cloud services help gloss over the effect of moving from device to device, there is still plenty of state on my devices, and it would be great to have all of that state in one place, and then it needs to be on the smallest device.
My laptop is on its way to becoming a dumb terminal anyway: I keep less and less state on it, because I don't always have it with me. My phone on the other hand is always in my pocket.
Right. My workday basically starts fishing my laptop out of my bag and plugging in all the stuff so I have a decent keyboard, mouse and monitor. Why shouldn't my PC just be my phone?
I actually have everything I need for most of my work on my phone: several reasonable Office productivity softwares (including the official Office mobile), a tabbed terminal window with ssh, a browser.
My phone has 3d acceleration, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage (with an sd card slot so I could bump it up). The resolution it operates at 1080x1920 or something ridiculous and more than sufficient for desktop needs.
It has a usb port I can hook up to a hub for keyboard and mouse and it supports MHL so I can mirror the screen on a decent monitor.
Hell, if I stick under my hand it's a decent touchpad interface and my Note 3 even has pen input so I could use it as an "artist tablet".
The problem is of course not hardware, but software. The hardware is more than sufficient, the apps are functionally capable, but they lack the right kind of UI metaphor to make it work as a desktop.
It's so close, but somehow so far.
I actually have everything I need for most of my work on my phone: several reasonable Office productivity softwares (including the official Office mobile), a tabbed terminal window with ssh, a browser.
My phone has 3d acceleration, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage (with an sd card slot so I could bump it up). The resolution it operates at 1080x1920 or something ridiculous and more than sufficient for desktop needs.
It has a usb port I can hook up to a hub for keyboard and mouse and it supports MHL so I can mirror the screen on a decent monitor.
Hell, if I stick under my hand it's a decent touchpad interface and my Note 3 even has pen input so I could use it as an "artist tablet".
The problem is of course not hardware, but software. The hardware is more than sufficient, the apps are functionally capable, but they lack the right kind of UI metaphor to make it work as a desktop.
It's so close, but somehow so far.
Why do you take your laptop home with you? Why not just leave it plugged in at work (or get a workstation with more power for less money)? Surely you can ssh (or vpn) in if you need to work from home?
We have a crazy corporate security plan, everything's encrypted, limited out-to-in network access etc. Most of the major systems are only accessible from your internally assigned IP, etc. VPN only auths from our issued computers, servers only auth from those computers etc.
It's all pretty seamless from our issued computers, but it's a pain inducing minefield trying to do anything outside of that.
It's just a rMBP, so it's not like I'm huffing around a 12lb Dell monster or anything. But it seems kind of pointless when the computer in my pocket is good enough technologically for most things.
It's all pretty seamless from our issued computers, but it's a pain inducing minefield trying to do anything outside of that.
It's just a rMBP, so it's not like I'm huffing around a 12lb Dell monster or anything. But it seems kind of pointless when the computer in my pocket is good enough technologically for most things.
I think it'll be a useful feature to have. Say what you will about "the cloud" and all - syncing local storage and personal customizations is not well solved, so keeping "your pc" in your pocket at all times would be a useful thing to have.
I certainly hope that Ubuntu is ready with software that provides a phone interface on a phone and a desktop interface when plugged into a monitor.
Because unlike a year and a half ago when they tried the Edge, hardware is (almost) ready for it.
The next generation of monitors, PC's, phones and tablets will all have USB 3.1 Type C ports. These are true docking ports, able to supply 100W of power, and transmit DisplayPort, PCIExpress and USB simultaneously.
You'll only have a single cable connected between your laptop and your monitor, with power, keyboard, mouse, network, printer, et cetera plugged into the monitor.
We've been able to do that before, but it's always been expensive and/or proprietary.
But what's really new is that this same cable will also be able to plug into your phone, letting you replace the laptop with a phone.
Because unlike a year and a half ago when they tried the Edge, hardware is (almost) ready for it.
The next generation of monitors, PC's, phones and tablets will all have USB 3.1 Type C ports. These are true docking ports, able to supply 100W of power, and transmit DisplayPort, PCIExpress and USB simultaneously.
You'll only have a single cable connected between your laptop and your monitor, with power, keyboard, mouse, network, printer, et cetera plugged into the monitor.
We've been able to do that before, but it's always been expensive and/or proprietary.
But what's really new is that this same cable will also be able to plug into your phone, letting you replace the laptop with a phone.
I desperately want an all-in-one device like that which I can clip onto my belt, with my phone or desktop or tablet serving as a thin client. Makes me wonder if that could be the future of mobile gaming.
If someone wants to back this as a startup idea, count me in.
Can the USB3.1 port both host peripherals and receive charge at the same time? Because I know that's always the challenge with USB2 that you're either functioning as host or client, and hosts control peripherals while clients receive power... when a "docking-station" scenario involves the host receiving power from the client (impossible with USB2). USB2 ports can switch between host and client, but they can't do both at once like that.
IIRC (and that's a very big if), type C connectors allow either the host or the client to supply the power. Good question, probably worth a bit of google time to confirm my recollection...
The article states
"Unlike the original proposal, the handset does not become a desktop PC when plugged into a monitor."
There is no need for a PC interface therefore.
So, functionally just a low end mobile phone with a quirky interface feature? This seems like a dead end to me...
The phone doesn't have a USB 3.1 type C port, either.
I think the status is "not yet, but soon."
See https://plus.google.com/108554416426692294217/posts/cokrihiE... for desktop-style window management in Unity 8 (Unity 8 is the Ubuntu Phone shell).
See https://plus.google.com/108554416426692294217/posts/cokrihiE... for desktop-style window management in Unity 8 (Unity 8 is the Ubuntu Phone shell).
Is this different than the originally proposed Desktop mode? This seems to be the counterpoint to most disappointment in this thread.
As far as I know, they're the same thing. Unity 8 Desktop Mode will be the normal desktop experience, but reimplemented in a Qt-based shell because that's what Ubuntu uses as its standard API now. ("Reimplemented" as compared to Unity 7, which had the same interface with different underlying technologies.) Therefore, when you plug your phone into a monitor, it will give you a normal desktop experience, just running on your phone.
However, I'm not an Ubuntu developer; I just follow their work. So this could be wrong.
However, I'm not an Ubuntu developer; I just follow their work. So this could be wrong.
I agree that the future could be phones that can be docked to have full desktop environment. And I think it can happen soon with phones using the newer Intel Atom processors, because there are already tablets that can dual boot Android and full Windows 8.1 with good performance, and there are already a few phones with Intel CPU and new ones are announced. Also Microsoft said that Windows 10 will unify desktop with Windows Phone OS.
Ubuntu Phone - Desktop mode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R18XVADjvXU
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I have a bet with a friend that this will be the ultimate destination for iOS/OS X.
"Unlike the original proposal, the handset does not become a desktop PC when plugged into a monitor."
This is what I found most interesting about the device. I loved the idea of how the OS transformed when other things were attached to the phone. There were questions about background tasks and apps running, but your phone turning into your computer via a dock did make sense and seemed like the future.
This is what I found most interesting about the device. I loved the idea of how the OS transformed when other things were attached to the phone. There were questions about background tasks and apps running, but your phone turning into your computer via a dock did make sense and seemed like the future.
That was actually the only thing i was really interested in. I guess if they would have done just that and added some text and data and image manipulation apps to the bunch that could downscale nicely to phone, it would have been a crowd magnet. I am not even expecting all features of apps to be present on mobile. Just preview would be often ok too.
The phone it is based on is probably this: http://www.bqmobile.com/products/details/0e5e9019-78e8-4d44-...
It's not. It's almost identical to the bq Aquaris E4.5 except for the screen, that has no virtual/capacitive buttons. I spoke with bq yesterday about the phone,
http://www.xataka.com/moviles/ubuntu-en-smartphones-a-por-to...
And was able to use it for a few hours. Not what anyone that thought about buying an Ubuntu Edge would have expected, but anyway, a cheap way to see if that experience is really worthy to you.
I won't say if it's worthy for me yet. I've got to write about it next week :)
http://www.xataka.com/moviles/ubuntu-en-smartphones-a-por-to...
And was able to use it for a few hours. Not what anyone that thought about buying an Ubuntu Edge would have expected, but anyway, a cheap way to see if that experience is really worthy to you.
I won't say if it's worthy for me yet. I've got to write about it next week :)
So how open will it really be? Will I be able to compile whatever proprietary blobs that are bound to be using and install debian instead?
It will be as open as it's possible to be on phone hardware platforms. Which means that some SOC's will have binary drivers. Unless you're currently not using a phone then that's pretty much the same position as with any other phone OS.
Yep. There's nothing stopping you from rooting an Android phone, taking Android off it (or just preventing it from starting up), and then building your own thing on top of the underlying Linux.
When I first heard about an Ubuntu smart phone I got excited because I thought it would mean that finally after all this talk of having a computer in my pocket, I would actually get a proper computer (read laptop replacement) in my pocket. By that I mean something where I can install whatever software I want.. any linux executable.. and it would run fine. I had dreams of running XMonad and firing up Emacs and doing a bit of node development, or perhaps spending a bit of time learning Rust, all while waiting for the bus. Stick it on some hardware that had a physical keyboard and I would be sold.
It seems it was not to be, and the Ubuntu phone is going to be another device that can only run programs created specifically for it and running in some sandboxed environment.
It seems it was not to be, and the Ubuntu phone is going to be another device that can only run programs created specifically for it and running in some sandboxed environment.
Does anyone know if the QML mentioned is the same QML used to construct BlackBerry 10 apps?
It is Qt's QML https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UnityNextSpec
Blackberry 10 uses Qt's QML as well: http://developer.blackberry.com/native/documentation/cascade...
TL;DR: offering apps + widgety apps, not an actual atlernative.
Yes. When I was finally able to articulate what the problem with computing in general is, it was "I like tools better than applications." And everything is an application.
As far as I can see, all that's different about this phone is that it's using "sub-menus in the Start menu" where other stuff is using "icons on the desktop". PDAs already had this, I think.
As far as I can see, all that's different about this phone is that it's using "sub-menus in the Start menu" where other stuff is using "icons on the desktop". PDAs already had this, I think.
Addendum: Redd about Scopes a bit, it's more than just a different way of invoking the same apps. A Scope is a frontend to components of apparently any kind.
Seven swipes to the right in order to find the camera app?
Hopefully there's a shortcut.
EDIT:
Ahh... looks like there's a slide out shelf of quick-access "apps" from the left side.
Hopefully there's a shortcut.
EDIT:
Ahh... looks like there's a slide out shelf of quick-access "apps" from the left side.
It's a really interesting idea, but I suspect it will fail - The market is too ingrained in the idea of "apps" to do anything else.
When it first came out, Windows Phone had one of the most interesting UIs out there. It combined all of your social networks into one single messaging hub, had a novel concept in tiles and the sliding panes (or whatever they were called). Unfortunately, every app maker wanted to more or less port what they were already doing on Android/iOS to Windows Phone, so few ever used the functionality MS provided. As of Windows Phone 10, it all seems to be gone.
When it first came out, Windows Phone had one of the most interesting UIs out there. It combined all of your social networks into one single messaging hub, had a novel concept in tiles and the sliding panes (or whatever they were called). Unfortunately, every app maker wanted to more or less port what they were already doing on Android/iOS to Windows Phone, so few ever used the functionality MS provided. As of Windows Phone 10, it all seems to be gone.
I'm not sure the article is accurate regarding apps, or it might be some Canonical talking point that obscured the issue, but "QML" implies you can write Qt apps that are "native" to the Ubuntu phone environment.
You can write native or HTML5 apps for the phone. Scopes themselves give you different ways of looking at content. The first couple of pages of Ubuntu Developer give the best information (http://developer.ubuntu.com/en/)
Not sure about the other things you mentioned, but "all of your social networks in one single messaging hub" functionality was removed in 8.1 update (which, apart from that one change, made Windows Phone really so much better), but, MS says, it's gonna be back in Win10.
I feel as though the entire market is screaming for something obvious to exist. It's so obvious, so compelling, so useful...
And so far away.
Why do we even have "desktops" and "laptops" and "phones" and "tablets" and "wearable watches" and so forth? Actually, the rise of the wearable watch gives us the biggest clue: it's because we care about form factors.
When I'm on the subway, I want something to hold in my hand. When I'm in a big hurry or on a jog, I want to glance at something on my wrist. When I'm in bed but don't want to disturb my partner, I want to interact with a larger yet personal tablet. When I want to type something (including code) or interact with content in more involved ways, I want something with a mouse and a keyboard. When I want to have a state of the art immersion experience, I want something with a lot of horsepower (and preferably a head mounted display of some sort).
Why do I have to have different computers for all of this when all I want is different I/O modalities (and related computing expansion devices)? Why do we keep ignoring the fact that what we want is the ability to experience our virtual world in the input / output environment that suits us at this moment? Everything else is secondary.
I was so excited when the original Ubuntu Edge was announced, because I felt that FINALLY someone had figured out how to make the thing we've all been screaming for. But now I'm not so sure Canonical really "got it" after all. If they did, it would have been the first feature they kept, not the first one they cut. To even call it a "feature" is diminutive. It's a paradigm that wants to exist.
We've seen already with the Motorola Atrix that it's harder than it sounds to get this right. But why is it THIS hard? Why can't we start with a phone that can be the CPU for wearables and tablets, and that can dock into a higher horsepower "GPU station" with a mouse and a keyboard and a monitor when we need it? You don't have to nail the performance profile as much as you have to nail why the experience is obviously better. I argue that you don't need a supercomputer in your pocket to pull that off.
Is it just me on this, or what?