After its titanic effort on Indiegogo and an apparent radio silence, Canonical seems ready to launch Ubuntu into the mobile space. Its messenger will be the Aquaris E4.5, a smartphone with very interesting specs and a fairly reasonable price. The main goal is to tempt enthusiasts, so short and sporadic sales are expected, but with a real product on shelves, Ubuntu adds a new chapter to its history.
Ubuntu Edge nearly broke the $13 million barrier during its Indiegogo campaign. Any other campaign would have done everything in its power to raise such a sum, however, in the case of a high-end smartphone, $13 million equals 40 percent of its budget. Canonical's plans to develop its own Ubuntu phone were frozen, but on the other side, the software advanced a lot. More than two years have passed since Canonical announced a variant of Ubuntu for smartphones. In September we talked about its imminent debut with the Meizu MX4, but beyond some isolated videos and images, the smartphone is missing in action. Fortunately, today we have much more solid news regarding Ubuntu. The operating system will debut on the Aquaris E4.5 and will go on sale in Europe next week.
For those who don't know the Aquaris brand, it's a line of smartphones marketed by the Spanish company BQ. While the device is already available with Android preinstalled, its “Ubuntu Edition” is expected to capture the interest of many enthusiasts. Inside we find a MediaTek quad-core SoC at 1.3 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of internal storage, a 4.5-inch screen with a resolution of 960 by 540 pixels, two micro SIM slots, micro USB with OTG support, MicroSD slot, WiFi n, Bluetooth 4.0, two integrated cameras (8 MP and 5 MP), and the classic array of sensors. We have already seen previously what is expected of the Ubuntu experience. There is a certain emphasis on edge gestures, and its card system should be different from what the market offers today.
It is estimated that the official price for the Aquaris E4.5 with Ubuntu will be the same as the Android edition, that is, 169.90 euros. As always happens in these cases, the biggest question remains focused on the availability of applications. In reality, the launch of this phone is “soft”, and it is expected that the number of units will be limited. However, the transition of apps should be easier (after all, Ubuntu is still Linux) so Canonical has a golden opportunity here. The entire low-end spectrum of Android continues to be a disaster, and Firefox OS qualifies as a rarity. It is a good time for another competitor to appear, but it needs to do things right.
