Ubuntu Phone OS
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The first Ubuntu phone arrives next week, but there's a catch
It's been a long time coming, but finally Canonical is ready to release its first Ubuntu phone. After teaming up with Meizu and BQ almost a year ago, we're getting a (sort of) new handset from the latter; it's actually a repurposed version of its Aquaris E4.5, a mid-range smartphone that normally ships with Android. The new "Ubuntu Edition" keeps all of the same hardware, which is nothing to write home about. It has a 4.5-inch, 540x960 resolution display, a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek Cortex A7 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. For shutterbugs, there's also a 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 5-megapixel snapper on the front. At €169.90 ($195), the specs are pretty unremarkable.
Canonical prepping to launch Ubuntu as smartphone OS?
Crawling the job posting boards over at Canonical turns up a pretty interesting position, one for a Business Development Manager (Ubuntu Phone OS). Now, we're not quite ready to jump to any conclusions here, but the wording of the listing is quite intriguing. The group is looking for a "business development lead to engage and develop strong relationships with industry partners in the run up to the launch of Ubuntu as a smartphone operating system," with the goal of "establish[ing] a commercial ecosystem around Ubuntu as a smartphone OS." Does this mean that Ubuntu is preparing to take on Android and iOS in the battle for smartphone supremacy (or, more likely, take on Windows Phone in a competition of also rans)? Honestly, we're not sure. The wording is quite vague, and it could simply be the company is referring to Ubuntu for Android. We've contacted Canonical for comment and we'll update if we get any clarification.[Thanks, Mo]
