[PLUG] Ubuntu on Android - official release

[Mandar Vaze / मंदार वझे]

> Any opinions, anybody previewed this?

There is already a "Ubuntu for Android" project (
http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android) which is different than recent
announcement(http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/phone).

Ubuntu for Android
================
This was announced around Feb 2012. This promises to be able to run Ubuntu
side by side with Android and "When docked, you get full desktop Ubuntu
experience" I think this is much more promising than "Ubuntu on Phone".
Unfortunately there is no end-user product available for "Ubuntu for
Android" since the announcement.
Both "Ubuntu for Android" and "Ubuntu for Phone" is currently aimed at
device manufactures, rather than end users. (so it could be chicken-and-egg
problem)

Ubuntu for Phones
===============
As you may have read on interwebs, first Ubuntu phones won't be available
till late 2013 (best case/optimistic) or Early 2014 (most likely)
So announcement sooooooo early without anything tangible doesn't mean much
for anybody.

In terms of being "third platform" I doubt Ubuntu has that chance,
especially when iOS/Android (and WP) have another year to establish their
leads. So I see this as very niche platform.

Since canonical isn't interested in making this available directly for end
users, it means if you are interested , you'll need to buy a new phone
which comes preinstalled w/ Ubuntu (when available) iOS/Android are already
mature, so by 2014, everyone and their grandma would have one of these (or
WP) devices. So what is the USP of Ubuntu for Phone to the non-geek end
user ?
I don't see this as commercial success.

As a geek, both these are exciting. If they had user installation ROM (or
some such thing) I would like to try it. Especially "Ubuntu for Android"

-Mandar