Ubuntu For Android Brings Full Linux to your Phone
Smartphones operating systems are great, but they lack quite a few of the essential apps that make desktops indispensable. Several companies have come out with nifty docking systems to circumvent this, turning your phone into a full-fledged computer. But they invariably end up using their own proprietary platform that can do little more than browse the web and check mail. Things that you can already do on your phone.
Ubuntu for Android aims to fix this. The project is a replacement to existing “webtops,” something designed to make turning your phone into a computer actually useful. Right now it is still merely a demonstration, and Canonical is relying on an Atrix 2 with modified software as their test platform.
Canonical has managed to make all the Linux apps share information with the Android apps, so that everything is kept synced. That means the Ubuntu music player shows Google Music music, Thunderbird shows email, etc. Further, they even had the TV interface on tap, as if the phone could be docked with a TV for added functionality.
Webtops are an interesting idea. Basically, the philosophy is one of convergence and simplicity. Rather than carry around a phone with a processor and a computer with an even more power hungry processor, both with their own distinct storage devices that must be synced with clever technology to keep the data seamless, why not use the processor and memory from the phone to power the computer? After all, modern smartphones are more powerful than many of the older netbooks (I owned an Asus EeePC 701. I know underpowered).
This ensures that your data remains unchanged, means your computer has an incredibly energy efficient processor and your phone has a gigantic battery to keep it charged, since there is no need for a motherboard in the faux laptop.
Whether or not webtops prove to be a great thing, Ubuntu for Android is a step toward making them actually useful. Ubuntu can be used for actual work, unlike most of the existing webtops. So if Canonical manages to make this work, I can totally see getting me a dockable smartphone.
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