Ubuntu smartphones to arrive in October

 

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By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 7 Feb 2013 at 10:11

The first Ubuntu smartphones will arrive in October, but it hasn't been revealed who is making them or where they will launch.

Ubuntu Phone looks to offer an alternative to Android on low-end handsets, as well as bringing full desktop apps to high-end "super phones", which effectively act as desktop computer when docked.

Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of development firm Canonical, told the Wall Street Journal that smartphones running the Ubuntu Phone mobile OS would be available to customers from October.

While Shuttleworth said the handsets would be available in two "large geographic markets", according to the newspaper, he didn't give any more detail.

Mozilla's Firefox Mobile OS has targeted emerging markets such as Brazil for its launch, but Shuttleworth stressed that North America is "absolutely a key market for Ubuntu" - suggesting Canonical hopes to make a mark in heavily saturated markets.

He also didn't say which manufacturers were making the Ubuntu smartphones, or which operators were interested. At the launch of Ubuntu Phone in January, Shuttleworth told PC Pro: "We've not yet had a meeting [with the operators] that was negative; we don't yet have a signed-up agreement with any operator."