Ubuntu Touch 13.04 is a completely different Operating System like Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, Mozilla’s B2G (Boot to Gecko), WebOS, Samsung Bada or Symbian which will support a large variety of devices and will give a complete Ubuntu experience. We can expect a stable version of Ubuntu Touch by the last quarter of this year with (might) a release of their Ubuntu Touch OS 14.xx for Tablets.
Canonical has updated their Mobile version of the famous Linux distro. Ubuntu Touch 13.04 mobile OS codenamed Raring Ringtail preview is now open for developers and beta testers who has Nexus series handsets including Galaxy Nexus (maguro).
The build quality very nice. User Interface (UI) does look very real and live. It gives you a reflection of yourself by telling you how many minutes you talked, the number of messages / emails received, how much did you walked and how long have you been taking rest. Very smart! Isn’t it?
At present the preview is only available for Nexus series Android devices and you can not use the OS as a daily driver as this is not stable yet. Still a lot work need to be done. Despite that I would say they have already done a great job by making this possible. Developers can write apps with native support and functionality.
By using Ubuntu Mobile you will be using 2 devices at the same time. If you need the phone function to call someone or send a text message you can use the phone User Interface (UI) and if you connect it to a dock or external display with keyboard and mouse the phone will be working as a full working and powerful desktop. You can use all your favourite app on Ubuntu Mobile. Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Youtube, Google Maps, Instagram, Wikipedia, Weather, Spotify, Skype and lots of other apps are ready to use.
If you use this OS on your phone you will be surprised that there is no button or on screen button on the phone. Ubuntu Mobile is using swipe and gesture based navigation. There are buttons hiding at the edges of the screen. If can try taking your finger over the left edge of the screen to get a menu and on the top-right corner for a quick settings. You can explore the whole OS yourself by swiping your finger across the screen. Swiping your finger up from the bottom edge of the screen will bring you app controls. Something like pulling the menu drawer up for early Android devices.
Canonical the huge company is backing Ubuntu Touch so we can expect faster and nicer development and long term support. It is going to be awesome when they release the final version or a version fully stable and you can use it as your daily driver.
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