Ubuntu’s Open Source OS Announced for October

Linux is planning to invade the smartphone market through one of its biggest players, Ubuntu. Linux has been on the rise over the past few years and this year it may finally find a way into the handheld devices market. It is no secret that the open source platform has had a major role to play in the creation and development of the Android OS but now the world gets to see the Ubuntu OS. According to reports, developers are going to get the new Ubuntu OS without much delay and can start working on it.

The reports further stated that smartphones running on Ubuntu aren’t too far down in the pipeline. In what may be termed to be a surprising development, the new phones are going to hit the markets before the end of the year. More specifically, the phones are going to be launched in October in two of the biggest smartphone markets before going into wide distribution. That gives developers not much time to get the apps and other features ready.

As far as the specs are concerned, the Ubuntu phones are pretty similar to the recently launched BlackBerry Z10. The absence of buttons is the notable features, enabling users to operate the phone by touching the screen. Also, the emphasis is on gestures rather than pressing and typing, hence it is guaranteed to draw comparisons with Research in Motion’s latest handset. However, there is no word yet on who is going to make the phones.

October may seem like not too far off but one should keep in mind that the next versions of the iOS and Android OS will hit the market well before then. Once the market gets crowded, the Ubuntu OS is going to have a hard time finding its niche, leaving the market to the big players to capture. That is, unless the users add enough great features to make the OS up to par with the leading operating systems.

[Image via le-libriste]