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Wednesday, April 21, 2021
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Meizu MX3 may be Ubuntu OS high-end partner

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meizu-mx3-ubuntu-os Canonical, the team behind Ubuntu and Ubuntu Touch, announced a short while back that they have got one high-end partner to launch Ubuntu OS on a phone. From leaks today, it looks like that partner will be Chinese phone maker Meizu and the phone may be the current flagship, the Meizu MX3.

The Meizu MX3 is one of the high-end smartphones competing in the Chinese market and comes in a variation on models, the highest running a octa-core Exynos processor, 2GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage and 8MP rear camera.

It is questionable why Meizu would partner up with Ubuntu OS, considering they already have Flyme OS, an Android skin with extras. This is not the first Chinese company to decide to do this and Meizu may see it as a way to break into the Western market, offering their hardware and Ubuntu OS as the software.

Oppo did the same with CyanogenMod, a popular ROM for Android, adding it onto the Oppo N1 and shipping it in the US and Europe. Not only did this gain Oppo presence in those markets, it made CyanogenMod look at adding their ROM onto smartphones before users open the phone.

Canonical needs to start somewhere and securing a high-end smartphone could bring them a lot of success in the future. Ubuntu OS may not only be available on the Meizu MW3, according to recent reports, the new mobile OS will run on a few low-end devices too.

The company did say they were excited about 2014 and it looks like Ubuntu OS will be a fully-fledged mobile OS this year, instead of just a switch between Ubuntu and Android. We are seeing a lot more mobile operating systems come out, including Firefox OS and CyanogenMod.

Ubuntu Edge misses crowdfunding goal by $19 million

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ubuntu edge The Ubuntu Edge is officially the most successful crowdfunded project on both IndieGogo and Kickstarter and the biggest failure, missing its $32 million goal with $19 million still needed.

Canonical shocked many Ubuntu fans by announcing their first party support for the new Ubuntu mobile OS. The Ubuntu Edge was set to be the example product for mobile manufacturers preparing to work with Canonical on Ubuntu smartphones in the future.

Against other smartphones on the market today, the Ubuntu Edge outclasses them in performance. With a top of the line CPU, 4GB of RAM and dedicated GPU, it has enough horsepower to run Ubuntu desktop OS, something it can do when plugged into a display.

The Ubuntu Edge would be made with rough edges, hence the name and Canonical would bring one metal piece to build the device, with a 720p screen and enough battery to last one day. The Ubuntu Edge would also come with 128GB of storage.

This is why it was so exciting, a smartphone that could run Ubuntu OS, both desktop and mobile and Android. The Ubuntu Edge got lots of early buyers, hitting $3.5 million within the first few days.

Since then the excitement deteriorated and with Canonical changing the pricing on the Ubuntu Edge, some potential backers were put off because they may purchase the Ubuntu Edge at the wrong time and end up paying more.

Some thought Canonical would invest their own to keep the Ubuntu Edge going, but that has not happened and the project has failed by $19 million. It is possible Canonical will offer the Ubuntu Edge out to anyone willing to buy the first 10,000 or units or something along those lines.

Overall, this is a bit of a bummer for the Ubuntu developers who wanted this smartphone. Ubuntu OS is still set to come on some devices in 2014 and Canonical continues to grab partners for the project.