In the first days of the new year 2013, a loud announcement was made. Canonical has officially presented the mobile version of the Ubuntu operating system.
Unlike Android, Ubuntu does not use a virtual Java machine, due to which, according to Canonical, it will be provided with a fairly solid performance gain on existing devices. The mobile version of Ubuntu supports devices based on x86 and ARM processors. That is, to install Ubuntu, a smartphone must meet at least the following requirements: a 1 GHz Cortex A9 processor, 512 MB of RAM and at least 4 GB of internal memory.
Ubuntu Mobile will resemble its “desktop” version with the Unity interface and special mini-Lenses applications. Among the high-quality improvements of Ubuntu, we note the optimization of the search query, support for voice commands and the ability to use HTML5 applications.
The launch of devices running Ubuntu Mobile is planned for the end of this or early 2014, according to Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth. It is not yet known which of the mobile device manufacturers the company intends to cooperate with.
This year, the company plans to complete work on the Ubuntu for Android project, announced in February 2012.