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Maru OS: an Android ROM that Turns into Debian when it Senses Connected PC Peripherals

posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday February 16 2016, @10:44AM   Printer-friendly
from the desktop-and-phone-converge dept.

-- OriginalOwner_ writes:

Softpedia reports

A phone that is powered by Android and magically transforms into a Linux desktop when connected to an external display has been tried before. It was called Ubuntu for Android and it was one of Canonical's earliest attempts at some sort of convergence between the mobile and PC worlds.

It never succeeded and it was never launched. [The idea, however,] was working and they had a preliminary version of it in a sort of functional state. It's not clear why Canonical dropped the project but it probably had something to do with the hardware which wasn't all that powerful three or four years ago.

Maru is trying to do a similar thing. [...] [Now that] the team behind this project has better hardware, [....] it should work--at least in theory.

For the moment, Maru only works for Nexus 5 and it's in a closed beta. This means that if you subscribe, maybe you'll be given access. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be the kind of project that can work on anything and support needs to be added to each individual phone model.

[From the project site [1]]

Maru Mobile is built on the latest Android Lollipop. It ships with zero bloatware, so your phone runs snappy and has lots of free space for all your apps. Maru Desktop brings you true multitasking and desktop productivity in a lightweight package.

[Update: Maru is being open sourced!]

[1] The site's content is behind scripts; the archive.is link bypasses it.

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  • (Score: 2) by Farkus888 on Tuesday February 16 2016, @11:31AM

    by Farkus888 (5159) on Tuesday February 16 2016, @11:31AM (#305131)

    I imagine this took time but it needs updated. Lollipop is a potential problem because it is already out of date. The nexus 5 is a bit old too. Rebuilding on marshmallow and the 5x or 6p would bring security updates on the android side. The real killer would be USB-c for the peripherals, which this practically begs for.

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday February 16 2016, @11:56AM

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Tuesday February 16 2016, @11:56AM (#305133) Journal

    Whatever happened to wireless DisplayPort using WiGig?

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    • (Score: 2) by Farkus888 on Thursday February 18 2016, @02:14AM

      by Farkus888 (5159) on Thursday February 18 2016, @02:14AM (#306089)

      No idea... my best guess is range issues and options like chromecast and miracast being available already killed it. USB-c does displayport and you are theoretically cabled in anyway with this OS, at least when you need an external display.