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I'd like for Jolla or Ubuntu to succeed with their phones but I just don't see it. I fiddled around with an Ubuntu phone for a while but stopped using it eventu

I'd like for Jolla or Ubuntu to succeed with their phones but I just don't see it. I fiddled around with an Ubuntu phone for a while but stopped using it eventually. The basic funtionalities are just not as good or as stable as they should be. That would be step one. But then, especially with phones, there's a lot of innovation and those kind of phones just can't keep up.

Brakenshire 10y ago
I'm not sure there's all that much innovation in smartphones. Android doesn't seem to have changed all that much over the past 2-3 years, it seems to have entered a holding pattern with various small tweaks over that time. I just looked up Android N, and the first article I got back had some of the top features as new emoji and keyboard themes! It strikes me that the whole area is mature and stable, which is great, but it doesn't exactly mean they're speeding off into the distance. If they can catch up with basic functionality, web apps continue to develop and are integrated well, there's decent android app compatibility, and they can add an extra interesting feature like convergence (which requires that the next-generation hardware is fast enough), I personally would be quite enthusiastic to have an Ubuntu phone as my next smartphone.
- hypercluster 10y ago
  True, on OS level not that much. Although things like multitasking, nightshift etc. are quite neat. Smartwear/watches are something that wouldn't get any love either. And yes, web apps need to get better to work. Android compability is nice but will never be nicely integrated (especially if dependent on Google Services). And only a fraction will develop native apps. But convergence is a killer feature, indeed!
- Zigurd 10y ago
  Android N will enable richer multi-tasking, a richer focus model for apps, and provide desktop style mouse support, basically bridging the gap from the touch-first side, so that you get the full spectrum of usage modes from handset to desktop. Over the years Android has also made gains in multimedia, GPGPU, and graphics that most users might not be aware of but will affect the kinds of apps being developed. There are a lot of resources being applied to Android and Sailfish and other more Linuxy phone OSs will find it hard to keep up. BUT I'd still like a Linux phone and/or tablet that runs the legacy Linux apps. Then I could have a mobile device on which I could compile Android and run Android Studio for app development. That would be fun. I also think two mobile ecosystems isn't enough.
- hackney 10y ago
  I hate to say it but the lack of technological freedom that exists in the US is in direct relationship to the lack of 'open' phone technologies being offered. Essentially the US is paying so that good hardware (as in private and secure) is being held back from the general public. This shit has to stop.
RaleyField 10y ago
They should pull an IBM and open up the platform like it's customary on x86. Then users can keep Jolla OS or switch to Ubuntu or somebody else comes with something better. Jolla should focus on hardware and Ubuntu on software instead of both doing their job poorly and going nowhere when compared to Android.

Brakenshire 10y ago

I'm not sure there's all that much innovation in smartphones. Android doesn't seem to have changed all that much over the past 2-3 years, it seems to have entered a holding pattern with various small tweaks over that time. I just looked up Android N, and the first article I got back had some of the top features as new emoji and keyboard themes! It strikes me that the whole area is mature and stable, which is great, but it doesn't exactly mean they're speeding off into the distance. If they can catch up with basic functionality, web apps continue to develop and are integrated well, there's decent android app compatibility, and they can add an extra interesting feature like convergence (which requires that the next-generation hardware is fast enough), I personally would be quite enthusiastic to have an Ubuntu phone as my next smartphone.

hypercluster 10y ago
True, on OS level not that much. Although things like multitasking, nightshift etc. are quite neat. Smartwear/watches are something that wouldn't get any love either. And yes, web apps need to get better to work. Android compability is nice but will never be nicely integrated (especially if dependent on Google Services). And only a fraction will develop native apps. But convergence is a killer feature, indeed!
Zigurd 10y ago
Android N will enable richer multi-tasking, a richer focus model for apps, and provide desktop style mouse support, basically bridging the gap from the touch-first side, so that you get the full spectrum of usage modes from handset to desktop. Over the years Android has also made gains in multimedia, GPGPU, and graphics that most users might not be aware of but will affect the kinds of apps being developed. There are a lot of resources being applied to Android and Sailfish and other more Linuxy phone OSs will find it hard to keep up. BUT I'd still like a Linux phone and/or tablet that runs the legacy Linux apps. Then I could have a mobile device on which I could compile Android and run Android Studio for app development. That would be fun. I also think two mobile ecosystems isn't enough.
hackney 10y ago
I hate to say it but the lack of technological freedom that exists in the US is in direct relationship to the lack of 'open' phone technologies being offered. Essentially the US is paying so that good hardware (as in private and secure) is being held back from the general public. This shit has to stop.

RaleyField 10y ago

They should pull an IBM and open up the platform like it's customary on x86. Then users can keep Jolla OS or switch to Ubuntu or somebody else comes with something better. Jolla should focus on hardware and Ubuntu on software instead of both doing their job poorly and going nowhere when compared to Android.