Canonical tries bringing the full PC Ubuntu experience in a tablet

05 February, 2016
Remember the Ubuntu Edge? It was Canonical's quite ambitious endeavor to bring a full desktop-grade Ubuntu experience in a dockable mobile phone. Mind you, it all started and sadly failed in crowdfunding all the way back in 2013, way before Microsoft was even close to its strikingly similar Windows 10 Continuum experience. Now, well over two years later, the project appears to be still alive and kicking and more relevant than ever, as evident by Canonical's announcement of a brand new tablet that offers the PC dock experience.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • c{L
  • 07 Feb 2016

Only 2GB of RAM. Haven't used that little memory on a desktop system in over a decade.

Ubuntu has a chance to make something big here. Up the RAM to 8GB, and give us a completely open stack -- from the bootloader to the graphics drivers -- and you will see the resurgence of development in the FOSS community not seen since Nokia was doing the N900.

Personally, I would like to see a Fedora Gnome-shell based mobile device with a shim that allows running Android applications. Give it a minimum of 8GB of RAM and a removable battery. The phone becomes a VM running on much more powerful hardware. Process separation by VM allows for proper memory management in a way that stock Android cannot handle -- and you get compartmented apps as a security feature.

    • s
    • sr777
    • X}t
    • 07 Feb 2016

    ithehappy, 07 Feb 2016Good luck crating presentation or word document on your tab... moreIn fact I have created lot of word processing on my 7inch tablet. So I think it is possible to do the same on a 10inch.

    After all IPad Air 2 is a 10inch device. And Google's Pixel C is 10inch device which suppose to be an alternative to Microsoft's Surface lineup. All these devices have optional keyboards so they can be more productive on their own rather than connecting to a bigger screen.

      • i
      • ithehappy
      • X0W
      • 07 Feb 2016

      sr777, 05 Feb 2016It's tablet that has a 10inch display. It's already big eno... moreGood luck crating presentation or word document on your tablet. Lol.

        • R
        • Rolando
        • 61x
        • 06 Feb 2016

        Wish them the best, we need more OS competition in mobile market.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • 0Tw
          • 06 Feb 2016

          sr777, 05 Feb 2016It's tablet that has a 10inch display. It's already big eno... moreHave you used a netbook? Frustrating experience. 10 inch is too small for content production, great for content consumption. Canonical and Microsoft don't get it by trying to turn such small screens into productive behemoths or whatever ... they compeltey miss the point of a tablet (a big phone that makes better use of the big screen and that's it).

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • 0Tw
            • 06 Feb 2016

            Anonymous, 06 Feb 2016android will never be better, as long as java still there.It's not there anymore. Dalvik JIT compiler has been scrapped, now everything is pre compiled due to ART...

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              • AnonD-51393
              • 0TQ
              • 06 Feb 2016

              Anonymous, 05 Feb 2016It's useless with an ARM preocessor....Why? Linux apps are precompiled for many different architectures, including x86 and ARM.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • vfj
                • 06 Feb 2016

                Hitech, 05 Feb 2016Can't wait, android getting worse since lollipop, new &... moreandroid will never be better, as long as java still there.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • 3uW
                  • 05 Feb 2016

                  It's useless with an ARM preocessor....

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • Rq3
                    • 05 Feb 2016

                    Wish them the best, along with the rest Ubuntu community. And they should purge the intolerant elitists among their ranks.

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                      • AnonD-190634
                      • 6pe
                      • 05 Feb 2016

                      Awesome :! I want one :D

                        • M
                        • MdN8
                        • akv
                        • 05 Feb 2016

                        dftr, 05 Feb 2016What is the price?It's not revealed yet, could be around 250 Euro. You can read more here: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2016/02/bq-m10-ubuntu-tablet-everything-you-need-to-know

                          • H
                          • Hitech
                          • PA7
                          • 05 Feb 2016

                          Can't wait, android getting worse since lollipop, new & better OS are welcome

                            • s
                            • sr777
                            • X}t
                            • 05 Feb 2016

                            It's tablet that has a 10inch display. It's already big enough for most tasks.

                              Nice. The more the merrier. Microsoft has Continuum. Canonical has Convergence. if this kind of feature actually well received, I'm sure those big players will consider it.

                              In fact, Apple might have the basic already (apps that agnostic to screen sizes and resolutions, using Auto Layout). I'm sure they can figure it out when they need to.

                              Although Android has a lot of apps that kinda sucks on tablets. But for starter, I think they can do well too when they need to. Heck, like iOS and Windows 10 versions, Microsoft's Office apps layout are fit nicely on smartphones and tablets. So the office productivity already there.

                                • d
                                • dftr
                                • KAe
                                • 05 Feb 2016

                                What is the price?

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-5898
                                  • Nu7
                                  • 05 Feb 2016

                                  Hehe... technically skilled fans... I love linux eh...

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-69498
                                    • uWC
                                    • 05 Feb 2016

                                    canonical is the best example for consistency... they will never give up guess

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