Canonical, the folks behind the Linux distro Ubuntu, have announced a new product. The ability to run Ubuntu from a docked Android phone.
Image credit: Canonical
The idea is an interesting one. A desktop version of Ubuntu, called Ubuntu for Android, is installed onto the handset along with the standard Android OS, and the OS runs on the host PC when the handset is hooked up to a special dock that connects it to the keyboard and monitor (yes, additional hardware is required for this to work).
This is not some cut down OS either, there are a ton of apps and features for the user to play with:
Image credit: Canonical
The hardware requirements are also very modest:
- Dual-core 1GHz CPU
- Video acceleration: shared kernel driver with associated X driver; Open GL, ES/EGL
- 2GB storage for the OS
- 512 MB RAM
- HDMI video out with secondary frame buffer device
Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth is thrilled by this technological step forward for Ubuntu:
For network operators who have long believed that the phone was the PC of the future for the next billion connected consumers, and for handset manufacturers who want to offer companies a single device for corporate computing, this is a delicious prospect. For those of us who love our desktops free, focused and mobile, it’s nirvana.
This could put a lot of new eyeballs on the Ubuntu OS.
Sorry if you got all excited, but this product isn’t available for download. It’s currently available only to OEMs.
