Ubuntu for Android arrives: In pictures

Canonical has revealed the latest component of its mobile strategy for the Ubuntu operating system, unveiling what it is calling 'Ubuntu for Android'. This is a hybrid mobile/desktop platform that the company hopes will enable a smartphone to become your sole computing device.

Ubuntu for Android runs alongside Google's mobile OS on a smartphone, only activating when placed in a dock that's connected to an external monitor via HDMI.  This is reminiscent of the way Motorola's Atrix provides an external web browsing experience when docked. However, Ubuntu for Android goes much further.

"Ubuntu for Android is a capability to have your desktop and smartphone converged on a single device," Jane Silber, chief executive of Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, told ZDNet UK on Tuesday. "It is not an Ubuntu application on Android, it's a full Ubuntu desktop experience powered by the smartphone, which you interact with when it is docked in a desktop environment."

The platform also detects the kind of device to which it is being connected. For example, when placed in a TV dock, it boots into the Ubuntu TV UI rather than Ubuntu for Android. Despite its chameleon-like nature, some level of Ubuntu's common look-and-feel is retained — for example, the launcher on the left-hand side of the screen pictured here.

Read Behind Ubuntu's shift into mobile on ZDNet UK.

Ubuntu for Android only activates when docked, so the smartphone provides a normal Android experience until that point. Once docked and activated, Ubuntu for Android allows you to resume activities such as web browsing sessions or email creation automatically without the need to manually reopen any open tabs or windows (pictured).  

According to Richard Collins, engineering project manager at Canonical, Ubuntu for Android is "not looking to encroach on Android". Silber, however, told ZDNet UK that the company's ultimate goal would include its own standalone OS, but that it has no roadmap or product to share at this stage.

Silber said that the initial strategy is to have the platform preloaded on smartphones to act as a differentiator at the point of purchase. She added that Canonical expects large-scale adoption of Ubuntu for Android to come initially from enterprise customers.

"We've seen a lot of initial interest from enterprise IT departments," Silber said. "However, everybody we show it to is interested, at the individual consumer level as well; everybody can see the appeal to simplifying their life to one device, regardless of a work scenario. I think the initial market is enterprise, but the themes there translate equally well."

Read Behind Ubuntu's shift into mobile on ZDNet UK.

When docked, Ubuntu for Android provides access to key smartphone functionality such as contact management, text messaging, email and phone call handling, as well as providing the extra features afforded by a full desktop OS.

Read Behind Ubuntu's shift into mobile on ZDNet UK.

Ubuntu for Android also provides access to all the media stored on the device (pictured) and will show which Android apps are installed.

You cannot currently install apps from the Android Market onto a device while docked, but Canonical's Collins said there was no reason that this functionality could not be added at a later date.

Naturally, docking a smartphone with Ubuntu for Android brings up Ubuntu's own music and video playback software. It also uses standard Ubuntu apps for things like managing photos — Shotwell, in this case.

Read Behind Ubuntu's shift into mobile on ZDNet UK.

Silber added that as it is essentially the standard Ubuntu platform, there's no need to recompile apps to run specifically on it. The software also plugs into the Ubuntu One platform, giving access to its cloud storage and services. Ubuntu One, along with things like text messaging and emailing, is directly accessible from the top-right hand menu (pictured).

Canonical expects the first Ubuntu for Android devices to be offered in a bundled package with a dock included, but Silber said that was a decision that would need to be made by the specific manufacturer. She could not say which companies had signed deals to produce handsets running Ubuntu for Android, nor when the first devices would arrive.

Silber added that while updates could follow the standard desktop Ubuntu update schedule, for security patches as well as new features, operators and manufacturers could have the final say in when the updates ultimately roll out.

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