Ubuntu Smartphone Coming to Europe
After a year of promises, Canonical announced that it will be launching the first Ubuntu smartphone, starting in Europe next week.
"The world's first Ubuntu phone - the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition - will be available across Europe from BQ.com through a series of Flash Sales over the coming weeks," said Canonical in a press release on Friday. "The date, time and URL for the first Flash Sale will be announced through @Ubuntu and @bqreaders on Twitter as well as Ubuntu G+ and Ubuntu Facebook within the next week." The Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition will be priced at €169.90, or roughly $190. The new smartphone will feature a 4.5 inch display with 540 x 960 resolution, a 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek chip, 8 GB of storage with microSD expansion, 1 GB of RAM, an 8 megapixel rear camera with dual flash and full HD, and a front-facing 5 megapixel camera. The Ubuntusmartphone will have dual-SIM slots but will not support 4G LTE networks. The Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition does not focus on apps, partially due to the fact that it has very few apps, and offers themed panels called "Scopes" for news, music, videos, contacts, and more.
"We learned quite a bit from China where unknown brands have become a success in crowded markets by focusing on early adopters... instead of shooting for volume and retail shelves from day one," said Cristian Parrino, VP of mobile and online services at Canonical. "Clearly we are going for the mass market, and [it's] something we will do intelligently over time. We will get there - this is very much a consumer device." The Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition will feature some apps, including Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and more. Some of these will be native Ubuntu apps while others will be based on HTML5. The Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition is a far cry from the Ubuntu Edge which failed to reach its crowdfunding goals, but Canonical CEO Jane Silber describes it as "a significant milestone."
"The world's first Ubuntu phone - the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition - will be available across Europe from BQ.com through a series of Flash Sales over the coming weeks," said Canonical in a press release on Friday. "The date, time and URL for the first Flash Sale will be announced through @Ubuntu and @bqreaders on Twitter as well as Ubuntu G+ and Ubuntu Facebook within the next week." The Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition will be priced at €169.90, or roughly $190. The new smartphone will feature a 4.5 inch display with 540 x 960 resolution, a 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek chip, 8 GB of storage with microSD expansion, 1 GB of RAM, an 8 megapixel rear camera with dual flash and full HD, and a front-facing 5 megapixel camera. The Ubuntusmartphone will have dual-SIM slots but will not support 4G LTE networks. The Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition does not focus on apps, partially due to the fact that it has very few apps, and offers themed panels called "Scopes" for news, music, videos, contacts, and more.
"We learned quite a bit from China where unknown brands have become a success in crowded markets by focusing on early adopters... instead of shooting for volume and retail shelves from day one," said Cristian Parrino, VP of mobile and online services at Canonical. "Clearly we are going for the mass market, and [it's] something we will do intelligently over time. We will get there - this is very much a consumer device." The Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition will feature some apps, including Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and more. Some of these will be native Ubuntu apps while others will be based on HTML5. The Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition is a far cry from the Ubuntu Edge which failed to reach its crowdfunding goals, but Canonical CEO Jane Silber describes it as "a significant milestone."
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