10 ms·

Ubuntu for Android

698 points by dave1010uk 15y ago

strags 15y ago
I know it's immature of me to note this, but what's up with the logo to the left of "Ready to talk?". Is it just me, or is it faintly reminiscent of... well, something else?
- untog 15y ago
  Ha. Maybe we're both immature, but you're not alone. I'm surprised none of the techies at Ubuntu picked up on it. Or maybe they did...
  - jpdoctor 15y ago
    > Or maybe they did... ... which would explain why the "Get In Touch" button is in close proximity.
- angersock 15y ago
  I really hate to say it, but I would agree. Either Canonical has a sense of humor, or they need to think about how their users interpret their interfaces more.
- readme 15y ago
  I didn't notice it until you pointed it out.. That makes this the second time I've thought of it today.
dave1010uk 15y ago
Not 100% sure but I think this is a chroot. From the features page [0]: Ubuntu and Android share the same kernel. When docked, the Ubuntu OS boots and runs concurrently with Android. This allows both mobile and desktop functionality to co-exist in different runtimes. [0] http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/features-and-specs http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/features-and-specs
- nextparadigms 15y ago
  It looks great, but I still think Google needs to make it so when docked like this, what you see on the PC screen is the "tablet UI" of Android. It makes more sense, and you don't even have to waste resources running 2 OS's on a mobile processor.
  - ericmoritz 15y ago
    My guess is it's going to be an entire Xorg stack and Unity running along side Android.
  - cbr 15y ago
    When docked you have power, so "wasting resources" isn't much of a worry.
  - benologist 15y ago
    If they did that all that happens is you're stuck with a crap tablet os and apps, the goal is a full-fledged workstation you can work on without compromise.
  - bryanlarsen 15y ago
    The whole point of the announcement is that it isn't 2 OS's: Android and Ubuntu are running on the same kernel.
sl4yerr 15y ago
Does anyone have any real-world experience with this? It looks amazing, but I'd like to hear from someone who's lived with it (if you're out there)...
- maytc 15y ago
  Only if it comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse...
- Droopy 15y ago
  The motorola Atrix had demos of this concept. There was no ubuntu- it just was moto's skinning of android & a $200 docking station for your phone/keyboard/monitor. It wasn't particularly successful.
- keithpeter 15y ago
  http://forums.theregister.co.uk/post/1322323 http://forums.theregister.co.uk/post/1322323 This chap is trying his own home rolled version. I'm just wondering how fiddly the wiring would get when you decide to go desktop on another monitor somewhere.
fredsted 15y ago
Is this the way Apple is headed? Just dock your iPhone, boom, OS X on the monitor.
- tylerritchie 15y ago
  That's where the whole world is headed. As a general consumer, why have a desktop when you can dock your phone/tablet and playback or stream videos, edit content and browse the web?
  - morsch 15y ago
    Well, because it's annoying to constantly have to dock your phone in order to use the desktop, for one thing. What are the upsides here? Synchronised calendar, user accounts, data, everything? You can do that without sharing the hardware. (Much harder to do it without relying on the internet, admittedly.) Less maintenance because you don't have to worry about two devices? Cost efficiency because you don't have to pay for a standalone computer? I suppose that's the big one, and I guess it's good enough. Then again, you could just get something like a Raspberry Pi for not much money. And if you need a dock, that won't be free, either. Don't get me wrong, I see the potential, but I'm not sure it's where the world is headed. I guess it will be one of a large number of modes in which people use computers with displays larger than tablets.
    - hollerith 15y ago
      Hmm. 12 to 15 years ago most laptop owners also had a desktop machine. Since then most of those users have gone laptop-only despite the fact that many (most?) of them face a similar annoyance to the one you give: they either dock their laptop when at their desk or they plug in an external monitor. You can point out (correctly, IMO) that there were no truly satisfactory ways to sync laptop and desktop back when laptop-desktop owners went laptop-only, and I suppose you would claim that sync will work better this time because vendors and users "get the cloud" now. Hmm. Any laptop users who also run a desktop care to chime in on how annoying it is in the age of Dropbox to keep data on the two devices in sync?
- 15y ago
joejohnson 15y ago
I don't understand what you use for input devices? Bluetooth keyboard and mouse paired with the phone?
- morsch 15y ago
  Maybe the dock has a few USB ports? Otherwise, I'm not sure what exactly the dock does. You don't need a dock to connect a display to a phone with HDMI-out, which are the only phones supported.
  - cgranade 15y ago
    I think the idea is so that you can just drop in a dock to connect USB, HDMI and power, rather than plugging and unplugging three different cables each time. That is, the dock wouldn't offer new kinds of ports, so much as collect them together for the user.
    - morsch 15y ago
      If that's the case, I'd assume I can use this without a dock, ie. just by connecting HDMI; all other connections being more-or-less optional. But I get the feeling that's not true.
    - keithpeter 15y ago
      So instead of my company phone and company locked down desktop PC, I get one device which I can then plug into any dock in the building. IT Support only have to worry about one device instead of two.
- JoelSutherland 15y ago
  Yep. For what it's worth, Android 4.0 (ICS) supports a bluetooth keyboard and mouse natively: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK7sK0qCDqI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK7sK0qCDqI
gjmveloso 15y ago
It's the official debut of PC Plus Era. This will be huge if Canonical and Google works together. Outstanding!
- notatoad 15y ago
  i don't see canonical and google working too closely together on this, as google has a competing OS that they're trying to push: chrome. and now with the introduction of chrome for android, there's no reason why your cell phone couldn't turn into a chromebox when it gets plugged into a similar dock.
lifeisstillgood 15y ago
We have struggled to get a BIOS that is Free / Libre And where does this leave us now? Just because Ubuntu is free, if the phone manufacturers start to get trusted mobile computing (tm) disease, we are still in trouble. "Curated" is still not free And there are some obvious holes - you cant carry a monitor around with you. So you need docking stations to plug into. Do you trust the keyboard in the Public library not to watch your keystrokes?
bguthrie 15y ago
This, or something like it, is the future: the computing device is portable, and adapts itself to the forms of input available. There's no reason why your display should have to be permanently attached to the device that drives it, and increasingly, it won't be. I don't know what the implications are for Ubuntu or Android. But genuine support for a first-class computing experience is one of the few things that would tempt me back onto those platforms.
- genbattle 15y ago
  Exactly. It would be great to be able to use an Optimus Prime or something as a mobile development machine. My dream for android development is definitely to be able to build and deploy on a single device. Of course there's a way to go for that. The range of devices that support mobile docks is very small; I would prefer support for tablets with attached keyboards/mice. If they managed to get this working on tablets, I would definitely consider something like the transformer prime to replace my netbook.
  - rhizome 15y ago
    I think it's better as a thin client. Already I can (and have) used ConnectBot on Android to connect to my shell and fix webserver (and content) problems from my phone, in the field (3G).
    - bryanlarsen 15y ago
      A full Ubuntu installation is a superset of a thin client.
      - rhizome 15y ago
        Or in other words, a thicker client.
        beatle 15y ago
        Androbuntoid: a THICKER client
thechut 15y ago
I am so excited about this idea, being able to dock and have a full desktop with full applications and keyboard would be awesome. I have BusyBox on my Android phone but it usually isn't enough to make it function like a real Linux desktop. However, I hope that Canonical will stay true to itself and develop and release this as truly open software. Edited for clarity.
tnorthcutt 15y ago
"Ubuntu is the killer app for multi-core phones in 2012" This text is displayed as if it's a quote, but as far as I can tell, it's not: http://goo.gl/vKHOI http://goo.gl/vKHOI (link is to a Google search for the above text). If there's anyone from Canonical here, can you comment on why that is presented as a quote, or what/where it's a quote from, if it is in fact a quote?
- stroboskop 15y ago
  As far as I see, this is the text of reference: Newer multi-core processors are up to the job, and Ubuntu is the killer app for that hot hardware. It’s the must-have feature for late-2012 high-end Android phones. The quote itself is outside the text body and refers to the text body. For a marketing text like this, I don't think that kind of quoting is difficult to understand or swallow.
  - aeontech 15y ago
    Yup, it's a pull quote.
    - etomer 15y ago
      Ya.
shapeshed 15y ago
Canonical may not have the resources or funds of Apple or Microsoft but they are innovating better than both at the moment. Unity is daring to be different on the desktop, and Ubuntu on Android is a simple idea that could really change the way people think about the PC. The ideas might not all work out in the long term but for sheer creative thinking you have got to applaud what they are doing.
vijayanands 15y ago
I strongly believe, this would be just the beginning. Mobile phones give you three things - (recently, Horsepower), Mobility and Identity. And there are a plethora of things that could be powered with a combination of the three. Weirdly, wrote about something like this, back in 2008. http://www.vijayanand.name/2008/10/the-future-of-living-how-3g-could-help/ http://www.vijayanand.name/2008/10/the-future-of-living-how-... ... in a nokia centric world, be it.
- movingahead 15y ago
  Yes, this is what we hope the future looks like. But, for this to happen, the device manufacturers need to collaborate. We still don't have a universal phone charging adapter. Imagine how messy things will get if Apple, Samsung, Nokia etc each start making their own docks which are not compatible with others.
  - vijayanands 15y ago
    Not "if", thats precisely what they will do. :)
  - vijayanands 15y ago
    Not "if", thats precisely what they will do. :)
Mmallow 15y ago
One desktop to take wherever you go is the future. You can kind of do it remote desktop, but that is not nearly as cool as one device to rule them all.
tambourine_man 15y ago
I always find it odd that people call the hardware and OS by the same name. My first impression was a virtualized Ubuntu on top of Android (the OS).
xpaulbettsx 15y ago
If Microsoft was smart, this would be exactly how their Win8 tablets should work - plug it into a dock and it turns into a Desktop PC. Ubuntu and Microsoft are in an awesome place here that Apple is going to miss out on.
- hollerith 15y ago
  I don't get it: what advantage do they have over Apple here?
  - Lewisham 15y ago
    Because Apple had said multiple times that they fundamentally don't believe in a one device world. Tablets are tablets, desktops are desktops. Mixing the two bastardizes both. Microsoft doesn't agree, and Win8 is a hybrid that supports both interactions. Ubuntu is showing it will do the same. Personally, I think Apple are seriously short-sighted in their approach. The other possibility I they are being very long sighted and waiting for the desktops' inevitable death in the consumer market. However, they've shown nothing that indicates they know how Mum and Dad are going to write their Christmas letters, or edit that important work document that has to get done tonight but they're home sick.
    - asdfpoiu 15y ago
      They say that, but with all the device consolidation features (iCloud, syncing, unified messages, launchpad, dock with no indicator lights, automatic process management), they are playing out a different tune. I think Apple is aware of this trend, and is going to eventually act on it. I still hope Ubuntu does it well first, because I'd love to have an affordable OSS solution.
    - bryanlarsen 15y ago
      The rumour is that Microsoft Office is going to be released for the iPad in a few weeks.
    - r00fus 15y ago
      > Microsoft doesn't agree, and Win8 is a hybrid that supports both interactions. Ubuntu is showing it will do the same. Yes, why do one thing well when you can do two things adequately? I think this fundamental difference separates Apple from nearly everyone else in the markets in which they compete. Apple's vision is similar to Sun's: one ID that allows you to transport your data (incl. apps for appropriate platform) to all your Apple devices... Have you ever used a Sun-Ray[1]? It's like that, except for apps/data, not sessions. Personally, I don't think Win8 is anything like Ubuntu for Android. Microsoft has the same problem as Apple: they don't want you to stop buying desktops, as both companies make a lot of money on continued sales of traditional computers. Whereas Apple created a whole new device platform in the iPad and iPhone, Microsoft is trying to merge the two markets back together... while at the same time relying on the computing profits to keep their overall margins up. Meanwhile Google and Canonical would happily cannibalize any revenue from desktops for the much greater potential in mobile.
yread 15y ago
So what do you do when the phone rings and you're doing something uninterruptible on the PC?
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- cbr 15y ago
  Ideally: pick the phone out of the dock and answer it. Your desktop session will pause until you return the phone to this (or another) dock. If what you're doing on the desktop is so important you can't pause it, don't take the call.
  - papalalu 15y ago
    that doesn't seem ideal if the phonecall is about what you're doing on the desktop.
- recoiledsnake 15y ago
  Take the call via a bluetooth headset?
  - yread 15y ago
    So instead of a notebook and phone you're going to have a phone, notebook, keyboard, mouse, headset and a screen. Also in case you've an external DVD drive that is burning a disc and somebody calls you, you'll throw it out and start again? I'm getting old
- swang 15y ago
  Hit answer on the phone and it goes to speakerphone or to your Bluetooth
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
orbitingpluto 15y ago
Reminds me of doing the Debian chroot on the Nokia N8x0. That's been around for quite awhile. It's nice to be able to apt-get whatever you need. It's prohibitively slow to use on a device from 2007 though and overclocking is a bit risky and drains the battery quickly. (Maybe I'm a dinosaur, but I still use one of these things rather than the brand new 1.2 GHz dual core Android phone sitting next to it in my bag.) I don't really see this panning out unless Ubuntu runs on the mobile screen as well. I'd also hope that the curated experience can be replaced with, well, anything else. Ubuntu is increasingly becoming a forced experience and reconfiguring things is a waste of time. Configuring something to how you want to use it is also a lot more educational than trying to figure out where to disable the new configuration.
- freehunter 15y ago
  I use a chroot on my Touchpad to run Ubuntu with LXDE. It's... workable, but no where near "desktop" quality. The lack of a mouse kills it, and LXDE isn't really touch optimized. It's really nice to have around when there are apps you need to use that are run better (or easier) from a GUI, and the dual core 1.5Ghz processor with 1GB of RAM is sufficient to keep it running without hiccup (until I load Eclipse). With some low-end (or ARM) optimization, Ubuntu would rock the mobile productivity world.
  - orbitingpluto 15y ago
    Have you tried eclim for 'mobile' development? http://eclim.org/ http://eclim.org/ Having a decent soft/hard keyboard is highly recommended. I played with this after having to push out an update connecting with VNC through an SSH tunnel to use Eclipse using the n810. It took ten times as long as it should have to fix two lines of code and build.
    - freehunter 15y ago
      That's interesting, hadn't seen it before. I do use Vim on my laptop, but the HP webOS keyboard has some funky modifier keys. I'm not sure if it would work properly. Oh well that's the beauty of free software, I'll download and give it a shot. Thanks!
mrb 15y ago
You could push the ease-of-use even further with wireless HDMI, A2DP, and Bluetooth HIDs. Imagine: sit at a desk, without your phone even leaving your pocket. The wireless HDMI monitor, Bluetooth keyboard, and Bluetooth A2DP speakers automatically pair up with your phone. You just start using the device, eg. show a video to your friends, or start working. Stand up and leave. The phone unpairs itself from the monitor/speakers/keyboard, free to be used by the next person. (If security is a concern, make this less automatic, eg. make the pairing require pressing a button on the phone.) I have been waiting for precisely that concept to take off for years, namely using your cellphone as your portable computer.
- freehunter 15y ago
  But with all that running, you won't be working for longer than an hour or two. I really like the Palm/HP Touchstone charger, and I wish wireless charging would take off. It'd be nice to just sit in my cube while all my devices charge in a 3' radius of my desk. Why are there no wireless-charging mice?
  - mrb 15y ago
    True. Wireless HDMI is currently too power hungry for cellphones.
  - timdorr 15y ago
    MIT has a wireless tech that appeared to work with that range: http://blog.ted.com/2009/08/25/wireless_electr/ http://blog.ted.com/2009/08/25/wireless_electr/
- morsch 15y ago
  To me, that seems like a lot of trouble to share a relatively trivial amount of hardware. Hardware which is optimised for different, fairly specific circumstances, incidently.
  - mrb 15y ago
    It's not sharing the device's hardware that matters, but the device's data. All your data is either on the phone (pictures, etc), or available through the phone which is always on and always authenticated to the "cloud" (Android Gmail contacts, emails, etc). The future of computing is either that (using your cellphone as a computer), or putting 100% of your data on the cloud (so you can access it from any device). But the former has the advantage that data can be cached on the device (pictures, contacts), therefore it does not require permanent Internet access so you can work even when offline.
spinchange 15y ago
Is this going to be available to end users to install themselves, or is Canonical holding out for handset makers to respond to this and partner with them? Sadly, since so many of the big Android guys are also in bed with or paying some kind of extortion to Microsoft, I would expect there to be some amount of pressure and possibly economic incentives for the big Android ODMs to NOT to ship this. Beyond that, is any carrier going to be interested in offering subs Ubuntu? (Idk, maybe?) Put this into the hands of end users first even if it's a "sloppy" / hack-ish install. That's the way to get it out there.
spiralpolitik 15y ago
Its the obvious extension of the current model. Kudos to Canonical for giving it a go. I was expecting Apple or MS to move in this direction and I seem to recall a POC/patent application/Mock up from a few years back showing an iMac with a removable iPhone/iPod as the home directory. Maybe I'm misremembering.
aremie 15y ago
Finally an OS company has seen and grasped this big business opportunity. This could mean a big boom in Ubuntu users. A win for linux.
dfc 15y ago
Does anyone know who coined the "inside of every X there is a Y trying to come out"?
CWIZO 15y ago
So this isn't something I can actually buy if I understand this correctly, right?
cs702 15y ago
I can see this working really well for younger users, non-power-users, and non-techies who want to carry around their desktop environment and whose needs are met by web apps like Google Docs. I can also see its potential in developing countries where many people have a phone and a TV but not a PC. The medium-term goal is sort of obvious: Ubuntu running on the phone with the ability to display Unity on its own tiny screen or on larger external displays and allowing the user to interact with it via touch or via external input devices like keyboards, mice, etc.
lhnn 15y ago
Shut up and take my money. This is what I've been dreaming of since I got my smartphone. Why should I even have a netbook for general purpose computing? I want to go anywhere with my MID (mobile internet device).
- diminish 15y ago
  feel the same. i am using an ubuntu laptop for a long time, and my 2 android phones tablets running ubuntu is like a mobility dream... i am excited.
raarky 15y ago
Just curious. What happens if the phone rings and you rip it out of the dock?
ez77 15y ago
It sounds great, but I'm confused: Are they planning to give this away as a free download? They seem to be targeting manufacturers only.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
schpet 15y ago
Video of ubuntu for android in use: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUXUjjg9qQ0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUXUjjg9qQ0
corysama 15y ago
And, with the "Cotton Candy" Android-on-a-thumbdrive, your next desktop could hang on your key chain. http://www.tomshardware.com/news/fxi-tech-cotton-candy-usb-exynos-computer,14471.html http://www.tomshardware.com/news/fxi-tech-cotton-candy-usb-e... http://www.tomshardware.com/news/fxi-android-ubuntu-arm-angry-birds,14035.html http://www.tomshardware.com/news/fxi-android-ubuntu-arm-angr...
verelo 15y ago
I think this is a great step in the right direction, and we've already observed a compression of devices recently. Consider the Laptop, Desktop & phone. Who still uses a desktop? Its really just a matter of time until we compress the laptop and phone, we're a long way off in my opinion (in terms of actually usable hardware) but once we have the power and portable input devices (i think one could already structure an argument to say we have them) i don't know what would hold it back. Good to see we're headed in a sensible direction.
headbiznatch 15y ago
I never got my jet pack, but I DID get my handheld supercomputer. I love this. I love the idea of it and the 7 year old in me who had his world rocked by that TI-99/4A is stoked. I just can't be upset at any aspect of this - our computing dreams just keep coming true.
test23452 15y ago
Cheap office computer costs 200-350$. Why would you buy a phone for 1000$ to replace it? It doesn't even run Windows. It will work only after 10 years when devices get cheaper, and only if they put x86 in it. Another problem is that phones are stolen much more often than Cs.
rhygar 15y ago
This is cool from a gee whiz/novelty standpoint, but in practice this will have very poor usability. Why? Good touch apps have terrible UI for keyboard & mouse interaction. For example swiping, pinch to zoom, etc. Many apps use a swipe to the left or right to perform and action. How would this work with a mouse?
- recusancy 15y ago
  There are plenty of touch mice.
- Lewisham 15y ago
  This isn't what they're proposing. What they're saying is that Android will be on the touchscreen, and Ubuntu will available on the main screen. Presumably, Ubuntu apps will be given access to Android's data store and events, but Ubuntu apps won't run on the touchscreen, and vice versa.
translated 15y ago
Linux for human beings for Android?
mitakas 15y ago
There is a video, showing the functionality. [0] Now I begin to understand why Canonical made those recent changes. The Ubuntu part of it seems kinda slow, but smartphones are going to get faster. [1] [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUXUjjg9qQ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUXUjjg9qQ0 [1] http://www.anandtech.com/show/5559/qualcomm-snapdragon-s4-krait-performance-preview-msm8960-adreno-225-benchmarks http://www.anandtech.com/show/5559/qualcomm-snapdragon-s4-kr...
JoelSutherland 15y ago
I know this is Ubuntu on Android, but all I can think of is Windows 8. Doesn't this seem like an inevitability for Microsoft? Intel even has x86 mobile chips on the way.
ilaksh 15y ago
Yesterday on reddit headline was something like "I can't believe you can play Grand Theft Auto on a _phone_" and my response was "I can't believe we call them phones, they are powerful pocket computers that just happen to have the ability to send and receive phone calls" I wonder when they are going to come out with portable OLED display sheets and ultralight paper-based keyboards.
reactor 15y ago
To see in action, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUXUjjg9qQ0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUXUjjg9qQ0
tmzt 15y ago
This is pretty cool, but it's an OEM-driven product, dependent on the phone maker to enable it. For over a year I 've been working on a port of X to Android as an application, running as a non-privileged user, displaying to a surface allocated through the Android Java API. The port is at http://github.com/tmzt/androix http://github.com/tmzt/androix along with build instructions. (see the readme)
charlieok 15y ago
So it doesn't seem like I can actually run this right now. Am I missing the link to actually get it and set it up? If there isn't one, why are they making an announcement?
rodolphoarruda 15y ago
Look at the place I live: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvUXFav7aDk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvUXFav7aDk You do not want to "have everything" with you in your mobile while you are in a public place. I have a notebook and an iPad, and, of course, my 4 year old shitty Compaq laptop I take outside when I have meetings. I keep my files inside a truecrypt file vault just in case.
ajasmin 15y ago
Can I only use Ubuntu when the phone is connected to a large monitor? Even having access to some command line packages on the phone would be a big improvement over the minimal busybox stuff that comes with Android.
modev 15y ago
I'll love to test this out as soon as possible. Getting my Android phone to try it out. ;)
chj 15y ago
Ubuntu is the future of open computing. Look what apple does to their OS X and what Microsoft is going to do with their windows.
LnxPrgr3 15y ago
Did I just come out of a 40-day coma? What month is this? "Android was designed for touch only, and has its hands full winning the tablet wars." Be careful. I think Steve Jobs might've patented the reality distortion field. "The Ubuntu desktop sets the standard for ease of use." Compared to what? "And imagine TVs that become home PCs when you dock your phone: perfect for the emerging market where LTE will be the normal way for new users to connect to the Internet." Great. My home connection's going to come with a 4GB monthly cap now too? In a lot of ways this is actually a neat idea, and I could see something close to this catching on. I see a few problems though: * As fast as my laptop is, I still sometimes wish it had a faster CPU, a better GPU, and more RAM. Modern phones are still around an order of magnitude slower and have a fraction of the RAM. They're not exactly desktop replacements. * 64GB is an impressive amount of storage for a cell phone. It's pretty weak for a laptop. * "The Cloud" is an order of magnitude or two slower than my local disk, and my local disk doesn't have a monthly data transfer limit. * Normal people have no clue what Ubuntu is, and they're not exactly adopting it in droves, even without having to buy new hardware to support it. So… neat idea, but I don't see this getting off the ground. If it does, though, I see a lot more idle sword fighting in my future.
bane 15y ago
Reminds me of this from 2011 http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/motorola-atrix-4g-hd-multimedia-dock-and-laptop-dock-hands-on/ http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/motorola-atrix-4g-hd-mult.... Which I think is awesome.
erikpukinskis 15y ago
I could've done without the goatse reference, Canonical.
lnanek 15y ago
I admit, this would get me to bite the bullet if integrated with one of the existing laptop dock solutions for Android phones such as the Motorola Atrix 4G Lapdock or the ASUS Transformer Prime. Ubuntu is enough for me to do everything I need a computer for, except for some rare book keeping that has to be done over a VPN only supported on Windows/Mac. Instead of bringing my phone and laptop on all trips I'd just have my phone and laptop dock. The laptop docks seem much lighter and having the same stored data and same wireless data connection without tethering would be handy.
arisAlexis 15y ago
still waiting for ubuntu car what taking them so long...

698 points by dave1010uk 15y ago

I know it's immature of me to note this, but what's up with the logo to the left of "Ready to talk?". Is it just me, or is it faintly reminiscent of... well, something else?

untog 15y ago
Ha. Maybe we're both immature, but you're not alone. I'm surprised none of the techies at Ubuntu picked up on it. Or maybe they did...
- jpdoctor 15y ago
  > Or maybe they did... ... which would explain why the "Get In Touch" button is in close proximity.
angersock 15y ago
I really hate to say it, but I would agree. Either Canonical has a sense of humor, or they need to think about how their users interpret their interfaces more.
readme 15y ago
I didn't notice it until you pointed it out.. That makes this the second time I've thought of it today.

dave1010uk 15y ago

Not 100% sure but I think this is a chroot. From the features page [0]: Ubuntu and Android share the same kernel. When docked, the Ubuntu OS boots and runs concurrently with Android. This allows both mobile and desktop functionality to co-exist in different runtimes. [0] http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/features-and-specs http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android/features-and-specs

nextparadigms 15y ago
It looks great, but I still think Google needs to make it so when docked like this, what you see on the PC screen is the "tablet UI" of Android. It makes more sense, and you don't even have to waste resources running 2 OS's on a mobile processor.
- ericmoritz 15y ago
  My guess is it's going to be an entire Xorg stack and Unity running along side Android.
- cbr 15y ago
  When docked you have power, so "wasting resources" isn't much of a worry.
- benologist 15y ago
  If they did that all that happens is you're stuck with a crap tablet os and apps, the goal is a full-fledged workstation you can work on without compromise.
- bryanlarsen 15y ago
  The whole point of the announcement is that it isn't 2 OS's: Android and Ubuntu are running on the same kernel.

sl4yerr 15y ago

Does anyone have any real-world experience with this? It looks amazing, but I'd like to hear from someone who's lived with it (if you're out there)...

maytc 15y ago
Only if it comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse...
Droopy 15y ago
The motorola Atrix had demos of this concept. There was no ubuntu- it just was moto's skinning of android & a $200 docking station for your phone/keyboard/monitor. It wasn't particularly successful.
keithpeter 15y ago
http://forums.theregister.co.uk/post/1322323 http://forums.theregister.co.uk/post/1322323 This chap is trying his own home rolled version. I'm just wondering how fiddly the wiring would get when you decide to go desktop on another monitor somewhere.

fredsted 15y ago

Is this the way Apple is headed? Just dock your iPhone, boom, OS X on the monitor.

tylerritchie 15y ago
That's where the whole world is headed. As a general consumer, why have a desktop when you can dock your phone/tablet and playback or stream videos, edit content and browse the web?
- morsch 15y ago
  Well, because it's annoying to constantly have to dock your phone in order to use the desktop, for one thing. What are the upsides here? Synchronised calendar, user accounts, data, everything? You can do that without sharing the hardware. (Much harder to do it without relying on the internet, admittedly.) Less maintenance because you don't have to worry about two devices? Cost efficiency because you don't have to pay for a standalone computer? I suppose that's the big one, and I guess it's good enough. Then again, you could just get something like a Raspberry Pi for not much money. And if you need a dock, that won't be free, either. Don't get me wrong, I see the potential, but I'm not sure it's where the world is headed. I guess it will be one of a large number of modes in which people use computers with displays larger than tablets.
  - hollerith 15y ago
    Hmm. 12 to 15 years ago most laptop owners also had a desktop machine. Since then most of those users have gone laptop-only despite the fact that many (most?) of them face a similar annoyance to the one you give: they either dock their laptop when at their desk or they plug in an external monitor. You can point out (correctly, IMO) that there were no truly satisfactory ways to sync laptop and desktop back when laptop-desktop owners went laptop-only, and I suppose you would claim that sync will work better this time because vendors and users "get the cloud" now. Hmm. Any laptop users who also run a desktop care to chime in on how annoying it is in the age of Dropbox to keep data on the two devices in sync?
15y ago

joejohnson 15y ago

I don't understand what you use for input devices? Bluetooth keyboard and mouse paired with the phone?

morsch 15y ago
Maybe the dock has a few USB ports? Otherwise, I'm not sure what exactly the dock does. You don't need a dock to connect a display to a phone with HDMI-out, which are the only phones supported.
- cgranade 15y ago
  I think the idea is so that you can just drop in a dock to connect USB, HDMI and power, rather than plugging and unplugging three different cables each time. That is, the dock wouldn't offer new kinds of ports, so much as collect them together for the user.
  - morsch 15y ago
    If that's the case, I'd assume I can use this without a dock, ie. just by connecting HDMI; all other connections being more-or-less optional. But I get the feeling that's not true.
  - keithpeter 15y ago
    So instead of my company phone and company locked down desktop PC, I get one device which I can then plug into any dock in the building. IT Support only have to worry about one device instead of two.
JoelSutherland 15y ago
Yep. For what it's worth, Android 4.0 (ICS) supports a bluetooth keyboard and mouse natively: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK7sK0qCDqI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK7sK0qCDqI

gjmveloso 15y ago

It's the official debut of PC Plus Era. This will be huge if Canonical and Google works together. Outstanding!

notatoad 15y ago
i don't see canonical and google working too closely together on this, as google has a competing OS that they're trying to push: chrome. and now with the introduction of chrome for android, there's no reason why your cell phone couldn't turn into a chromebox when it gets plugged into a similar dock.

lifeisstillgood 15y ago

We have struggled to get a BIOS that is Free / Libre And where does this leave us now? Just because Ubuntu is free, if the phone manufacturers start to get trusted mobile computing (tm) disease, we are still in trouble. "Curated" is still not free And there are some obvious holes - you cant carry a monitor around with you. So you need docking stations to plug into. Do you trust the keyboard in the Public library not to watch your keystrokes?

bguthrie 15y ago

This, or something like it, is the future: the computing device is portable, and adapts itself to the forms of input available. There's no reason why your display should have to be permanently attached to the device that drives it, and increasingly, it won't be. I don't know what the implications are for Ubuntu or Android. But genuine support for a first-class computing experience is one of the few things that would tempt me back onto those platforms.

genbattle 15y ago
Exactly. It would be great to be able to use an Optimus Prime or something as a mobile development machine. My dream for android development is definitely to be able to build and deploy on a single device. Of course there's a way to go for that. The range of devices that support mobile docks is very small; I would prefer support for tablets with attached keyboards/mice. If they managed to get this working on tablets, I would definitely consider something like the transformer prime to replace my netbook.
- rhizome 15y ago
  I think it's better as a thin client. Already I can (and have) used ConnectBot on Android to connect to my shell and fix webserver (and content) problems from my phone, in the field (3G).
  - bryanlarsen 15y ago
    A full Ubuntu installation is a superset of a thin client.
    - rhizome 15y ago
      Or in other words, a thicker client.
      - beatle 15y ago
        Androbuntoid: a THICKER client

thechut 15y ago

I am so excited about this idea, being able to dock and have a full desktop with full applications and keyboard would be awesome. I have BusyBox on my Android phone but it usually isn't enough to make it function like a real Linux desktop. However, I hope that Canonical will stay true to itself and develop and release this as truly open software. Edited for clarity.

tnorthcutt 15y ago

"Ubuntu is the killer app for multi-core phones in 2012" This text is displayed as if it's a quote, but as far as I can tell, it's not: http://goo.gl/vKHOI http://goo.gl/vKHOI (link is to a Google search for the above text). If there's anyone from Canonical here, can you comment on why that is presented as a quote, or what/where it's a quote from, if it is in fact a quote?

stroboskop 15y ago
As far as I see, this is the text of reference: Newer multi-core processors are up to the job, and Ubuntu is the killer app for that hot hardware. It’s the must-have feature for late-2012 high-end Android phones. The quote itself is outside the text body and refers to the text body. For a marketing text like this, I don't think that kind of quoting is difficult to understand or swallow.
- aeontech 15y ago
  Yup, it's a pull quote.
  - etomer 15y ago
    Ya.

shapeshed 15y ago

Canonical may not have the resources or funds of Apple or Microsoft but they are innovating better than both at the moment. Unity is daring to be different on the desktop, and Ubuntu on Android is a simple idea that could really change the way people think about the PC. The ideas might not all work out in the long term but for sheer creative thinking you have got to applaud what they are doing.

vijayanands 15y ago

I strongly believe, this would be just the beginning. Mobile phones give you three things - (recently, Horsepower), Mobility and Identity. And there are a plethora of things that could be powered with a combination of the three. Weirdly, wrote about something like this, back in 2008. http://www.vijayanand.name/2008/10/the-future-of-living-how-3g-could-help/ http://www.vijayanand.name/2008/10/the-future-of-living-how-... ... in a nokia centric world, be it.

movingahead 15y ago
Yes, this is what we hope the future looks like. But, for this to happen, the device manufacturers need to collaborate. We still don't have a universal phone charging adapter. Imagine how messy things will get if Apple, Samsung, Nokia etc each start making their own docks which are not compatible with others.
- vijayanands 15y ago
  Not "if", thats precisely what they will do. :)
- vijayanands 15y ago
  Not "if", thats precisely what they will do. :)

Mmallow 15y ago

One desktop to take wherever you go is the future. You can kind of do it remote desktop, but that is not nearly as cool as one device to rule them all.

tambourine_man 15y ago

I always find it odd that people call the hardware and OS by the same name. My first impression was a virtualized Ubuntu on top of Android (the OS).

xpaulbettsx 15y ago

If Microsoft was smart, this would be exactly how their Win8 tablets should work - plug it into a dock and it turns into a Desktop PC. Ubuntu and Microsoft are in an awesome place here that Apple is going to miss out on.

hollerith 15y ago
I don't get it: what advantage do they have over Apple here?
- Lewisham 15y ago
  Because Apple had said multiple times that they fundamentally don't believe in a one device world. Tablets are tablets, desktops are desktops. Mixing the two bastardizes both. Microsoft doesn't agree, and Win8 is a hybrid that supports both interactions. Ubuntu is showing it will do the same. Personally, I think Apple are seriously short-sighted in their approach. The other possibility I they are being very long sighted and waiting for the desktops' inevitable death in the consumer market. However, they've shown nothing that indicates they know how Mum and Dad are going to write their Christmas letters, or edit that important work document that has to get done tonight but they're home sick.
  - asdfpoiu 15y ago
    They say that, but with all the device consolidation features (iCloud, syncing, unified messages, launchpad, dock with no indicator lights, automatic process management), they are playing out a different tune. I think Apple is aware of this trend, and is going to eventually act on it. I still hope Ubuntu does it well first, because I'd love to have an affordable OSS solution.
  - bryanlarsen 15y ago
    The rumour is that Microsoft Office is going to be released for the iPad in a few weeks.
  - r00fus 15y ago
    > Microsoft doesn't agree, and Win8 is a hybrid that supports both interactions. Ubuntu is showing it will do the same. Yes, why do one thing well when you can do two things adequately? I think this fundamental difference separates Apple from nearly everyone else in the markets in which they compete. Apple's vision is similar to Sun's: one ID that allows you to transport your data (incl. apps for appropriate platform) to all your Apple devices... Have you ever used a Sun-Ray[1]? It's like that, except for apps/data, not sessions. Personally, I don't think Win8 is anything like Ubuntu for Android. Microsoft has the same problem as Apple: they don't want you to stop buying desktops, as both companies make a lot of money on continued sales of traditional computers. Whereas Apple created a whole new device platform in the iPad and iPhone, Microsoft is trying to merge the two markets back together... while at the same time relying on the computing profits to keep their overall margins up. Meanwhile Google and Canonical would happily cannibalize any revenue from desktops for the much greater potential in mobile.

yread 15y ago

So what do you do when the phone rings and you're doing something uninterruptible on the PC?

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
cbr 15y ago
Ideally: pick the phone out of the dock and answer it. Your desktop session will pause until you return the phone to this (or another) dock. If what you're doing on the desktop is so important you can't pause it, don't take the call.
- papalalu 15y ago
  that doesn't seem ideal if the phonecall is about what you're doing on the desktop.
recoiledsnake 15y ago
Take the call via a bluetooth headset?
- yread 15y ago
  So instead of a notebook and phone you're going to have a phone, notebook, keyboard, mouse, headset and a screen. Also in case you've an external DVD drive that is burning a disc and somebody calls you, you'll throw it out and start again? I'm getting old
swang 15y ago
Hit answer on the phone and it goes to speakerphone or to your Bluetooth

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

orbitingpluto 15y ago

Reminds me of doing the Debian chroot on the Nokia N8x0. That's been around for quite awhile. It's nice to be able to apt-get whatever you need. It's prohibitively slow to use on a device from 2007 though and overclocking is a bit risky and drains the battery quickly. (Maybe I'm a dinosaur, but I still use one of these things rather than the brand new 1.2 GHz dual core Android phone sitting next to it in my bag.) I don't really see this panning out unless Ubuntu runs on the mobile screen as well. I'd also hope that the curated experience can be replaced with, well, anything else. Ubuntu is increasingly becoming a forced experience and reconfiguring things is a waste of time. Configuring something to how you want to use it is also a lot more educational than trying to figure out where to disable the new configuration.

freehunter 15y ago
I use a chroot on my Touchpad to run Ubuntu with LXDE. It's... workable, but no where near "desktop" quality. The lack of a mouse kills it, and LXDE isn't really touch optimized. It's really nice to have around when there are apps you need to use that are run better (or easier) from a GUI, and the dual core 1.5Ghz processor with 1GB of RAM is sufficient to keep it running without hiccup (until I load Eclipse). With some low-end (or ARM) optimization, Ubuntu would rock the mobile productivity world.
- orbitingpluto 15y ago
  Have you tried eclim for 'mobile' development? http://eclim.org/ http://eclim.org/ Having a decent soft/hard keyboard is highly recommended. I played with this after having to push out an update connecting with VNC through an SSH tunnel to use Eclipse using the n810. It took ten times as long as it should have to fix two lines of code and build.
  - freehunter 15y ago
    That's interesting, hadn't seen it before. I do use Vim on my laptop, but the HP webOS keyboard has some funky modifier keys. I'm not sure if it would work properly. Oh well that's the beauty of free software, I'll download and give it a shot. Thanks!

mrb 15y ago

You could push the ease-of-use even further with wireless HDMI, A2DP, and Bluetooth HIDs. Imagine: sit at a desk, without your phone even leaving your pocket. The wireless HDMI monitor, Bluetooth keyboard, and Bluetooth A2DP speakers automatically pair up with your phone. You just start using the device, eg. show a video to your friends, or start working. Stand up and leave. The phone unpairs itself from the monitor/speakers/keyboard, free to be used by the next person. (If security is a concern, make this less automatic, eg. make the pairing require pressing a button on the phone.) I have been waiting for precisely that concept to take off for years, namely using your cellphone as your portable computer.

freehunter 15y ago
But with all that running, you won't be working for longer than an hour or two. I really like the Palm/HP Touchstone charger, and I wish wireless charging would take off. It'd be nice to just sit in my cube while all my devices charge in a 3' radius of my desk. Why are there no wireless-charging mice?
- mrb 15y ago
  True. Wireless HDMI is currently too power hungry for cellphones.
- timdorr 15y ago
  MIT has a wireless tech that appeared to work with that range: http://blog.ted.com/2009/08/25/wireless_electr/ http://blog.ted.com/2009/08/25/wireless_electr/
morsch 15y ago
To me, that seems like a lot of trouble to share a relatively trivial amount of hardware. Hardware which is optimised for different, fairly specific circumstances, incidently.
- mrb 15y ago
  It's not sharing the device's hardware that matters, but the device's data. All your data is either on the phone (pictures, etc), or available through the phone which is always on and always authenticated to the "cloud" (Android Gmail contacts, emails, etc). The future of computing is either that (using your cellphone as a computer), or putting 100% of your data on the cloud (so you can access it from any device). But the former has the advantage that data can be cached on the device (pictures, contacts), therefore it does not require permanent Internet access so you can work even when offline.

spinchange 15y ago

Is this going to be available to end users to install themselves, or is Canonical holding out for handset makers to respond to this and partner with them? Sadly, since so many of the big Android guys are also in bed with or paying some kind of extortion to Microsoft, I would expect there to be some amount of pressure and possibly economic incentives for the big Android ODMs to NOT to ship this. Beyond that, is any carrier going to be interested in offering subs Ubuntu? (Idk, maybe?) Put this into the hands of end users first even if it's a "sloppy" / hack-ish install. That's the way to get it out there.

spiralpolitik 15y ago

Its the obvious extension of the current model. Kudos to Canonical for giving it a go. I was expecting Apple or MS to move in this direction and I seem to recall a POC/patent application/Mock up from a few years back showing an iMac with a removable iPhone/iPod as the home directory. Maybe I'm misremembering.

aremie 15y ago

Finally an OS company has seen and grasped this big business opportunity. This could mean a big boom in Ubuntu users. A win for linux.

dfc 15y ago

Does anyone know who coined the "inside of every X there is a Y trying to come out"?

CWIZO 15y ago

So this isn't something I can actually buy if I understand this correctly, right?

cs702 15y ago

I can see this working really well for younger users, non-power-users, and non-techies who want to carry around their desktop environment and whose needs are met by web apps like Google Docs. I can also see its potential in developing countries where many people have a phone and a TV but not a PC. The medium-term goal is sort of obvious: Ubuntu running on the phone with the ability to display Unity on its own tiny screen or on larger external displays and allowing the user to interact with it via touch or via external input devices like keyboards, mice, etc.

lhnn 15y ago

Shut up and take my money. This is what I've been dreaming of since I got my smartphone. Why should I even have a netbook for general purpose computing? I want to go anywhere with my MID (mobile internet device).

diminish 15y ago
feel the same. i am using an ubuntu laptop for a long time, and my 2 android phones tablets running ubuntu is like a mobility dream... i am excited.

raarky 15y ago

Just curious. What happens if the phone rings and you rip it out of the dock?

ez77 15y ago

It sounds great, but I'm confused: Are they planning to give this away as a free download? They seem to be targeting manufacturers only.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

schpet 15y ago

Video of ubuntu for android in use: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUXUjjg9qQ0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUXUjjg9qQ0

corysama 15y ago

And, with the "Cotton Candy" Android-on-a-thumbdrive, your next desktop could hang on your key chain. http://www.tomshardware.com/news/fxi-tech-cotton-candy-usb-exynos-computer,14471.html http://www.tomshardware.com/news/fxi-tech-cotton-candy-usb-e... http://www.tomshardware.com/news/fxi-android-ubuntu-arm-angry-birds,14035.html http://www.tomshardware.com/news/fxi-android-ubuntu-arm-angr...

verelo 15y ago

I think this is a great step in the right direction, and we've already observed a compression of devices recently. Consider the Laptop, Desktop & phone. Who still uses a desktop? Its really just a matter of time until we compress the laptop and phone, we're a long way off in my opinion (in terms of actually usable hardware) but once we have the power and portable input devices (i think one could already structure an argument to say we have them) i don't know what would hold it back. Good to see we're headed in a sensible direction.

headbiznatch 15y ago

I never got my jet pack, but I DID get my handheld supercomputer. I love this. I love the idea of it and the 7 year old in me who had his world rocked by that TI-99/4A is stoked. I just can't be upset at any aspect of this - our computing dreams just keep coming true.

test23452 15y ago

Cheap office computer costs 200-350$. Why would you buy a phone for 1000$ to replace it? It doesn't even run Windows. It will work only after 10 years when devices get cheaper, and only if they put x86 in it. Another problem is that phones are stolen much more often than Cs.

rhygar 15y ago

This is cool from a gee whiz/novelty standpoint, but in practice this will have very poor usability. Why? Good touch apps have terrible UI for keyboard & mouse interaction. For example swiping, pinch to zoom, etc. Many apps use a swipe to the left or right to perform and action. How would this work with a mouse?

recusancy 15y ago
There are plenty of touch mice.
Lewisham 15y ago
This isn't what they're proposing. What they're saying is that Android will be on the touchscreen, and Ubuntu will available on the main screen. Presumably, Ubuntu apps will be given access to Android's data store and events, but Ubuntu apps won't run on the touchscreen, and vice versa.

translated 15y ago

Linux for human beings for Android?

mitakas 15y ago

There is a video, showing the functionality. [0] Now I begin to understand why Canonical made those recent changes. The Ubuntu part of it seems kinda slow, but smartphones are going to get faster. [1] [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUXUjjg9qQ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUXUjjg9qQ0 [1] http://www.anandtech.com/show/5559/qualcomm-snapdragon-s4-krait-performance-preview-msm8960-adreno-225-benchmarks http://www.anandtech.com/show/5559/qualcomm-snapdragon-s4-kr...

JoelSutherland 15y ago

I know this is Ubuntu on Android, but all I can think of is Windows 8. Doesn't this seem like an inevitability for Microsoft? Intel even has x86 mobile chips on the way.

ilaksh 15y ago

Yesterday on reddit headline was something like "I can't believe you can play Grand Theft Auto on a _phone_" and my response was "I can't believe we call them phones, they are powerful pocket computers that just happen to have the ability to send and receive phone calls" I wonder when they are going to come out with portable OLED display sheets and ultralight paper-based keyboards.

reactor 15y ago

To see in action, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUXUjjg9qQ0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUXUjjg9qQ0

tmzt 15y ago

This is pretty cool, but it's an OEM-driven product, dependent on the phone maker to enable it. For over a year I 've been working on a port of X to Android as an application, running as a non-privileged user, displaying to a surface allocated through the Android Java API. The port is at http://github.com/tmzt/androix http://github.com/tmzt/androix along with build instructions. (see the readme)

charlieok 15y ago

So it doesn't seem like I can actually run this right now. Am I missing the link to actually get it and set it up? If there isn't one, why are they making an announcement?

rodolphoarruda 15y ago

Look at the place I live: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvUXFav7aDk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvUXFav7aDk You do not want to "have everything" with you in your mobile while you are in a public place. I have a notebook and an iPad, and, of course, my 4 year old shitty Compaq laptop I take outside when I have meetings. I keep my files inside a truecrypt file vault just in case.

ajasmin 15y ago

Can I only use Ubuntu when the phone is connected to a large monitor? Even having access to some command line packages on the phone would be a big improvement over the minimal busybox stuff that comes with Android.

modev 15y ago

I'll love to test this out as soon as possible. Getting my Android phone to try it out. ;)

chj 15y ago

Ubuntu is the future of open computing. Look what apple does to their OS X and what Microsoft is going to do with their windows.

LnxPrgr3 15y ago

Did I just come out of a 40-day coma? What month is this? "Android was designed for touch only, and has its hands full winning the tablet wars." Be careful. I think Steve Jobs might've patented the reality distortion field. "The Ubuntu desktop sets the standard for ease of use." Compared to what? "And imagine TVs that become home PCs when you dock your phone: perfect for the emerging market where LTE will be the normal way for new users to connect to the Internet." Great. My home connection's going to come with a 4GB monthly cap now too? In a lot of ways this is actually a neat idea, and I could see something close to this catching on. I see a few problems though: * As fast as my laptop is, I still sometimes wish it had a faster CPU, a better GPU, and more RAM. Modern phones are still around an order of magnitude slower and have a fraction of the RAM. They're not exactly desktop replacements. * 64GB is an impressive amount of storage for a cell phone. It's pretty weak for a laptop. * "The Cloud" is an order of magnitude or two slower than my local disk, and my local disk doesn't have a monthly data transfer limit. * Normal people have no clue what Ubuntu is, and they're not exactly adopting it in droves, even without having to buy new hardware to support it. So… neat idea, but I don't see this getting off the ground. If it does, though, I see a lot more idle sword fighting in my future.

bane 15y ago

Reminds me of this from 2011 http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/motorola-atrix-4g-hd-multimedia-dock-and-laptop-dock-hands-on/ http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/motorola-atrix-4g-hd-mult.... Which I think is awesome.

erikpukinskis 15y ago

I could've done without the goatse reference, Canonical.

lnanek 15y ago

I admit, this would get me to bite the bullet if integrated with one of the existing laptop dock solutions for Android phones such as the Motorola Atrix 4G Lapdock or the ASUS Transformer Prime. Ubuntu is enough for me to do everything I need a computer for, except for some rare book keeping that has to be done over a VPN only supported on Windows/Mac. Instead of bringing my phone and laptop on all trips I'd just have my phone and laptop dock. The laptop docks seem much lighter and having the same stored data and same wireless data connection without tethering would be handy.

arisAlexis 15y ago

still waiting for ubuntu car what taking them so long...