Ubuntu comes to smartphones: the new rival iOS and Android

One of the most popular distributions of Linux desktop operating system adapted for smartphones. Soon, the mobile market will be a new strong player in the person of the software platform Ubuntu Mobile on the corporation Canonical, that "would work well even on recent smartphones."

Architecturally similar to the OS operating system Android. The heart of Ubuntu Mobile supports kernel Linux, but not using a virtual machine. In addition, the smartphone manufacturers Canonical assure that the system will work fine with the existing kernel and drivers for popular systems-on-chip, used in smartphones to Android. This is to avoid long work on the special adaptation OS specific processors.

The interface of Ubuntu Mobile is actively used swipe gesture from the four edges of the screen navigation system is basically similar gestures. The developers admit that the platform will be a weak point ecosystem. At the start of the OS will ship with 5 customary applications, with Google Maps, Facebook, Gmail and Spotify. The biggest problem at the initial stage will be to convince users prefer Ubuntu more mature OS like iOS, Android or Windows Phone.

Canonical has made a bet on HTML5-programs, which are very easy to move to other operating systems. And a special application API can interact with system services unit. But Ubuntu is not limited to HTML5. For advanced applications and games, actively using resources smartphone, Ubuntu offers the opportunity to develop C / C + +, and full use of OpenGL. The company stresses that Ubuntu on a PC and on your phone is essentially the same, so that one application written in native code, can run on both operating systems with different interfaces.

Minimum system requirements for the mobile version of Ubuntu - the single-core Cortex A9 processor with 1 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 8.4 GB of internal memory. When you connect your smartphone to monitor the mobile device will turn into a desktop system. Requirements for such devices is much higher: a quad-core Cortex A9 or Intel Atom, more than 1 GB of RAM, 32 GB of flash memory and support for memory cards SD.

Release of the first device running Ubuntu is expected by 2014. According to the official website, the system will be ready for launch at the end of this year. Learn more about Ubuntu for mobile devices, you can link to ubuntu.com / Devices / phone .