Android has found a new ally in its battle for market dominance against the iPhone: Ubuntu. Android has passed the phase where it was dominating the smart phone market and beating even its arch rival – Apple’s iPhone, that seems to be a thing of the past now. In order to gain dominance, Ubuntu came up with a new solution that enabled Android users to use the Ubuntu platform on their smart phones. Although Ubuntu has not been as successful as it was touted to be when it was released, it is very user friendly. When running on Android phones, it can support desktop level software.
Latest surveys have not been encouraging for Android
In 2010 and 2011, Android won the appreciation of more users than the iPhone. Although iPhone’s then CEO, Steve Jobs, tried to bring in new models and add-ons for the iPhone, Android’s novelty, open source applications and its user interface appealed to the users than the slightly rigid iPhone. Android based smart phones were available with more carriers and the cost was also relatively cheaper compared to the iPhone which came at a base price of $200. Outsourcing the manufacturing to China and other developing economies proved to be a masterstroke from Apple as the base price for the latest iPhone is as low as $100 and it is available with almost all the carriers.
The Ubuntu boost
The incapability of iPhone that Android planned to exploit is its inability to be docked and used as a webtop. With the integration of Ubuntu, the Android phones can be used as a webtop. This was demonstrated by Canonical, the establishment behind Ubuntu, at the Mobile World congress in February 2012.
Since the Android platform also runs on the Linux kernel and Ubuntu employs the same, the result is not running two clashing operating systems. In fact, they act as complementary operating systems. The phone will be running on the Android platform when making calls or any smart phone type usage. When it is docked, Ubuntu takes over and swings into action where you can use desktop level apps.
Encouraging feedback from phone makers, users and wireless carriers
Users who got a feel of Ubuntu on Android were very happy with the capabilities of the Ubuntu features. The noticeable trend was that users were looking out for a device that could perform basic functions such as send and receive e-mails, listen to music, photo editing, video editing and social networking. Phone makers were also impressed with the fact that Ubuntu did not require high specs smartphones.
Ubuntu is very lean and only 2GB of space is required for the operating system. That 2GB package has all the capabilities such as browsing, email, photo editing, music, and other basic requirements. Wireless carrier providers were excited by the prospect of these powerful smartphones. The desktop level applications meant that data demand from the users would reach an all time high.
The hardware specs required for this integration reveal that the current Android smartphones are perfectly capable of supporting Ubuntu. It requires a 1GHz dual core CPU, 2GB of memory space, 512 MB of RAM, USB host mode and video acceleration.
The 2GB Ubuntu package will have built in capabilities such as Google docs, Google Calendar, Email client, SMS client, photo editor, video editor, Video player (VLC), phone dialer, IM client and a variety of other apps.
No need of a complete makeover
The aforementioned specs reveal that there is no need of a complete makeover of the Android devices in order to incorporate Ubuntu. So you can expect extensive research and development and a commercial release of the devices in the near future. Android has to bring their A-game and speed up this process or risk being overrun by Apple.
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