The Inquirer reports:
Canonical has taken the covers off the first phone to be powered by Ubuntu, created in association with Spanish electronics company BQ. The BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition phone will be available across Europe by mail order starting next week.
It boasts a 4.5in screen, Mediatek A7 quad-core processor running at 1.3GHz and 1GB RAM, with 8GB storage. The rear camera is 8MP and the front is 5MP.
[...]No operators have agreed to take on the BQ Aquaris as yet, although several, including Giffgaff in the UK, are offering plans for the device, although it isn't yet clear whether that means anything specific.
[...]Cristian Parrino, VP of mobile at Canonical, described [the debut] as a product "aimed at early adopters". The version of Ubuntu included is not the latest, it does not have Snappy, the system that allows easy rollout of app updates in the operating system, and most notably of all, this is not the Universal version of Ubuntu which we were promised over a year ago.
[...]the whole thing has a feeling of being rushed out rather than thought out.
Engadget notes:
Where Canonical and BQ are hoping to break the mould is with their software and sales strategy. Taking a page from the playbook of Chinese firms such as Xiaomi, the first Ubuntu handset will be sold, at least to begin with, through a series of online flash sales. The first of these is next week and a handful of European carriers will be offering special SIM bundles to early adopters.
But here's the bad news: BQ currently has no plans to sell the phone outside of Europe. Canonical has stressed that it's still "actively working on a US device strategy" and that its flash sales are a deliberate move to target early adopters.
Jay Cassano at Fast Company says of the Scopes interface:
The First Ubuntu Phone Won't Rely On Apps. Here's Why That's Brilliant
The mobile market is saturated. Any new entrants are doomed from the start. And if you need proof, just look at Windows Phone or BlackBerry. The problem is that you need an app ecosystem to gain market share, but you need market share in order to entice developers to your platform.
So goes the prevailing wisdom.
[...]Scopes are essentially contextual home-screen dashboards that will be much simpler and less time-consuming to develop than full-on native apps. [...] The user experience offered by Scopes seems a lot more intuitive than the "app grids" that dominate most devices.
Related Stories
OMG! Ubuntu! reports
The second Ubuntu Phone to be commercially released is a 5.36-inch smartphone powered by an eight-core MediaTek MT6595 SoC (modified by Meizu), a healthy 2GB RAM and 16GB of built-in flash storage for files, photos, and apps.
Two cameras are included: a 20.7 megapixel rear snapper and a front selfie cam pushing a more modest 2 megapixels.
It runs the latest version of Ubuntu (for Phones) rather than the Flyme OS Android fork Meizu traditionally ships on its handsets.
Like the Bq Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition, the Ubuntu version of the Meizu MX4 is also being pitched at developers initially.
[...] The Ubuntu MX4 is available to buy directly from the Meizu website in China. It's priced at ¥1,799 (less than US $300) and available in a choice of two color schemes: 'Silver' and 'Golden'.
[...] Update May 20: The device is currently not showing up as an option available to purchase. Meizu is running a 20 day discount on the MX4 (dropping to ¥1499 ) but the Ubuntu version seems to be excluded. We've reached out to Meizu to find out more.
Related: The First Ubuntu Phone: €169, Underwhelming Specs, Online Apps, Sales Gimmick
[Editor's Comment: Original Submission]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 07 2015, @03:20PM
Canonical probably squandered its chance by not flexibly funding the premium Ubuntu Edge desktop replacement, with the pathetic excuse that 40% of $32 million wasn't enough (spot the odd one out on this list [wikipedia.org]). If Canonical expects manufacturers to adopt the OS on low-end phones, it will be competing with homegrown Android manufacturers [techinasia.com], Tizen [wikipedia.org], Firefox OS [wikipedia.org], and even WinNokia [cnbc.com]. Canonical has missed its chance at smartphone relevance by years.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 07 2015, @04:29PM
Releasing a phone now gives them the opportunity to grab a foothold in the market without putting all of their eggs in one basket with the phone/desktop hybrid. If this becomes viable, one can fully expect the phone/desktop hybrid to come to market in a few years.
But you're right about the missed opportunity two years ago. They raised 6x what Jolla raised for their tablet, yet the Jolla tablet is under development with a May release date and the Ubuntu desktop phone is vaporware.
And of course, for the Android/iPhone tards (which I don't expect to have many on this site), competition is a GOOD thing.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 07 2015, @04:31PM
And I forgot to mention, it seems Ubuntu is wasting a lot of resources on making Mir happen. They are the only ones on the Mir bandwagon. Jolla just went with upstream Wayland and it's been working for two years now on their phone. That probably has something to do with the leaner production costs that allows Jolla to deliver while Ubuntu keeps getting forked.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday February 07 2015, @09:02PM
I hope Jolla does as well on its tablet as you say it has done on its phone. (I've never actually seen their phone).
I took a flyer on the tablet, joined the crowd fund, but, haven't seen the device yet.
https://jolla.com/tablet [jolla.com] (Warning: Jolla is out to prove html5 websites can be just as annoying as Flash.)
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by joekiser on Sunday February 08 2015, @01:45AM
I had the Jolla phone when it came out, but it didn't work in the country I was living at the time with anything other than 2G (nor does it work in this country, it turns out). So I sold it and turned to BlackBerry 10, which was probably the closest thing design-wise. I would love to see a Jolla refresh with western hemisphere frequencies and dual-SIM support. From what I remember, UI was innovative and made Android look dated.
Debt is the currency of slaves.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by TheGratefulNet on Saturday February 07 2015, @04:36PM
its not saturated for a certain segment that wants some FREEDOM.
zero freedom in iphone. nearly zero freedom in google's crap offerings. zero freedom in windows phones.
I consider my phone to be my own worst enemy. I constantly distrust it and have no idea what's going on under the covers, at the various layers.
I don't really need 'apps' other than reliable, secure, ad-free browsing, email and gps. that mostly does it for me. if ubuntu phone can meet this need, I will jump on it and gladly give up my ancient android POS phone.
ubuntu is to be cautiously watched, though. but I'll keep an open mind and see how this plays out.
just sick and tired of the android 'churn' (no bugfixes, no more support, just buy another one, sonny!) and refuse to be held captive by apple.
please, we need some freedom, here. and no, android stopped being the answer years ago. I'm not falling for another android phone if I can help it.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 2) by buswolley on Saturday February 07 2015, @05:05PM
firefox os?
subicular junctures
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday February 07 2015, @07:33PM
This. (Minus the rant layer).
There is a market for this type of phone.
Even the Pay as you Go market in the US (like Straight Talk: http://specials.straighttalk.com/ [straighttalk.com] ) which let you get a phone on any compatible network for cheap. With the EU being almost totally on the same network technology, it makes sense to release that phone in Europe first to test the market. The wide availability of pre-paid SIMs on almost any EU network makes this a good low end starter phone, especially for people that actually talk on the phone rather than use it as a computer.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by wantkitteh on Saturday February 07 2015, @10:09PM
It's encouraging that Giff Gaff is offering plans for this phone - for non-UK folks, they're a budget virtual operator that offer good value and rely on their customers to provide support for each other, making them the go-to provider for geekier folk who engage with their phones at a deeper level of awareness than most iPhone/Android owners. That shows this device is being aimed at exactly the right target market, at least in it's carrier support, but I don't think they can rely on this strategy to do anything other than get them a toe-hold in the market with committed fans. That's not such a bad thing, but Canonical will need a great follow-up move up their sleeve to do any more.
(Score: 2) by Foobar Bazbot on Saturday February 07 2015, @09:14PM
I'm not sure flex-funding is the answer, really. The whole point of crowdfunding sites, as opposed to just throwing up a donate button on a webpage, is that donors are more likely to donate if they don't have to worry about their donation being wasted due to underfunding. So a better deal, IMO, would have been a 5-10 M$ goal (with normal, all-or-nothing funding) for a less ambitious project (perhaps on par with this BQ Aquaris, but a year sooner) with stretch goals of 15-20 M$ (a nicer phone) and about 30 M$ (the full Edge thing).
But yeah, not doing something different back in 2013 certainly seems to have cost them their chance.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by sigma on Saturday February 07 2015, @04:28PM
I'd buy one if I could.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday February 07 2015, @09:09PM
I'd buy one if I could.
If money is not the blocker, I'm sure you could find a way to buy one and have it shipped to where ever you are.
And since the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition is dual SIM and completely unlocked so consumers can use it with their current network, as long as that network is some flavor of GSM.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 07 2015, @07:27PM
https://fixubuntu.com/ [fixubuntu.com]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 08 2015, @01:34AM
It's a cell phone. Spying is built-in.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 07 2015, @11:13PM
Video - Watch the First Ubuntu Phone Commercial [softpedia.com]
-- gewg_
(Score: 3, Insightful) by kaszz on Sunday February 08 2015, @03:55AM
If the phone is truly "open" it will allow the user to control the code signing bits in the processor. If not the phone is actually your enemy!
It will then only allow you to run software that will be detrimental to your well being.
Oh, and check that no radio interface may manipulate memory on the main processor just like is possible with a bus like PCI or Firewire.