Ubuntu Edge - Ubuntu Smartphone

[atho]

There is an Indiegogo campaign right now for a Ubuntu Smartphone. The specs seems really nice and has a slick prototype design. It will be able to dual boot Ubuntu and Android. The goal is a little outrageous tho but hope something like this does make other h/w manufactures look into a Linux market for the phone.

There prototype specs include:

• Dual boot Ubuntu mobile OS and Android
  
• Fully integrated Ubuntu desktop PC when docked
• Fastest multi-core CPU, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage
• 4.5in 1,280 x 720 HD sapphire crystal display
• 8mp low-light rear camera, 2mp front camera
• Dual-LTE, dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4, NFC
• GPS, accelerometer, gyro, proximity sensor, compass, barometer
• Stereo speakers with HD audio, dual-mic recording, Active Noise Cancellation
• MHL connector, 3.5mm jack
• Silicon-anode Li-Ion battery
• 64 x 9 x 124mm

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ubuntu-edge

 

[WebSearchingPro]

32,000,000 through crowd funding, that's a bit crazy. Thats 20 times more than any other indigogo goal... 

Looks cool though, wouldn't mind having one if the price tag isn't ~700$. 

 

[jarland]

I wonder if they've actually built a prototype. Anyone can dream and many can design, but far fewer can combine vision and reality. It's easy to think you can put anything into a small case and it'll work, but the manufacturers out there doing it know how difficult it is and know the kind of money you need to dish out to get things adjusted to fit your product. Then when you're done, you realize the battery sucks and there's no room for a better one...

 

[wdq]

It looks pretty good, it'll be interesting to see how it turns out. Since this seems like more of an enthusiast device at this point and time they'd probably be better off continuing to improve support for the operating system on various different rooted Android phones.

 

[MannDude]

Meh. Don't get me wrong, neat idea, but I'd rather be able to install the OS on my existing phone instead of having to buy a new one altogether.

All these smart phones have features I rarely ever use. My S3 is essentially just a mobile web browser / phone. At this point I'd rather have a dumbed down version of a smart-phone that is focused on security and stability.

 

[sv01]

sh*t for ubuntu

$32 million for 30 days

 

[Ivan]

Yup, that is pretty ridiculous. $32,000,000 in 30 days? 

I am speechless. I'll be pretty damn shocked if they do reach that goal though...

 

[Slownode]

Holy hell an $830 phone, I think I'll stick to my $100 androids, the remaining $730 can get me a Pi and a nice computer or laptop.


If it were $150 I'd definitely get it... maybe $200. I don't need a 4GB quadcore monster for my hand, it'd drain the battery real quick.

 

[wdq]

Holy hell an $830 phone, I think I'll stick to my $100 androids, the remaining $730 can get me a Pi and a nice computer or laptop.


If it were $150 I'd definitely get it... maybe $200. I don't need a 4GB quadcore monster for my hand, it'd drain the battery real quick.

It'll be so expensive because it's unlocked and unsubsidized by the carriers. $830 isn't too bad for an unlocked phone.

 

[Jeffrey]

It is a great idea, but will it sell?  Most of cell phone buyers still have no idea what Ubuntu is.  I'd rather just buy a Galaxy S4 and install Ubuntu on it to be honest.  It is very cool though.

$830 isn't too bad for an unlocked phone.

The iPhone 5 unlocked is cheaper than that.   

 

[Ruchirablog]

They would have been reached their goal in just a few days if they had only $600 units

 

[Chronic]

Holy hell an $830 phone, I think I'll stick to my $100 androids, the remaining $730 can get me a Pi and a nice computer or laptop.


If it were $150 I'd definitely get it... maybe $200. I don't need a 4GB quadcore monster for my hand, it'd drain the battery real quick.

It is meant to be used as a laptop and a phone, since it features Ubuntu Desktop in convergence with Ubuntu Mobile.

 

[Slownode]

It is meant to be used as a laptop and a phone, since it features Ubuntu Desktop in convergence with Ubuntu Mobile.

My desktop which runs Linux and is used for work has to have an x86 CPU due to the work software only having AMD64/i686 versions currently, also games. Also, the difference in power is extraordinary.

 

[ErrantWeb-Travis]

I feel like they are asking for a lot for the phone up front from people. I mean they surely might need that amount of funding, however they should have smaller incentives for people, perhaps a cheap Ubuntu desktop or something for like $100 that they can make $50 on. Cool stuff to make people want to contribute. 

 

[terafire]

That's ridiculous. That's a lot of money for  donation "funding" and then to turn around and sell the device to customers.

 

[Francisco]

That's an insane phone.

Francisco

 

[Francisco]

It'll be so expensive because it's unlocked and unsubsidized by the carriers. $830 isn't too bad for an unlocked phone.

Aren't iphone's like $700 unlocked from Apple?

Francisco

 

[clarity]

This thing has really slowed down. They have only gotten a couple of million since the first week! It would be a cool idea, but the price point is just too high. I love signing contracts with providers so that I can get the cheaper price!

 

[Shados]

This thing has really slowed down. They have only gotten a couple of million since the first week! It would be a cool idea, but the price point is just too high. I love signing contracts with providers so that I can get the cheaper price!

Yeah, but unfortunately there's not a huge amount they can realistically do about the price-point. Lowering the price-per-phone more would require more units, but they're limited in the number of units they can produce, and this would in turn result in a higher overall goal, making it more unlikely to succeed. They're not planning on making a profit out of it - even if they get funded they Shuttleworth has stated that they may go over-budget, in which case he'll cover any overage from his personal fortune - which means they can't lower profit margins, either .

That's ridiculous. That's a lot of money for  donation "funding" and then to turn around and sell the device to customers.

Except they won't be selling it to any 'customers'. It's a limited, one-time production run - basically the only people getting the phones are the backers. Part of the point is that they're using next-gen tech that isn't really ready for mass production scales (e.g. can't sanely make millions of units), so they can't really sell it very effectively afterwards until manufacturing catches up.