Yesterday, Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu Linux distribution launched the Ubuntu phone. The Ubuntu Edge (brand name), aims to be “… the next generation of personal computing: smartphone and desktop PC in one state-of-the-art device”. The company is using the Indiegogo crowd funding platform to raise the $32 million its needs to bring this device to market.
Earlier this year the company launched Ubuntu for Phone and Ubuntu for Tablets. The new OS for mobile devices aims at turning high-end mobile devices into a fully functional PCs when connected to a HDMI display. However, it seems that phone manufacturers are not too keen on investing in a new high-end devices running a new operating system. So the company has turned to the power of crowd-funding to realize the dream device – a phone running Ubuntu with specs that dwarfs all others.
In the car industry, Formula 1 provides a commercial testbed for cutting-edge technologies. The Ubuntu Edge project aims to do the same for the mobile phone industry — to provide a low-volume, high-technology platform, crowd-funded by enthusiasts and mobile computing professionals. A pioneering project that accelerates the adoption of new technologies and drives them down into the mainstream.
This beautifully crafted smartphone is a proving ground for the most advanced mobile technologies on the horizon, a showpiece for true mobile innovation. And at the heart of it all is convergence: connect to any monitor and this Ubuntu phone transforms into an Ubuntu PC, with a fully integrated desktop OS and shared access to all files. – Source.
With these lofty ambitions for its phone in mind, Canonical is going all out when it comes to the specifications. The list below is an early target of technical specifications.
- Dual boot Ubuntu mobile OS and Android
- Fully integrated Ubuntu desktop PC when docked
- Fastest multi-core CPU, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage
- 4.5in 1,280 x 720 HD sapphire crystal display
- 8mp low-light rear camera, 2mp front camera
- Dual-LTE, dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4, NFC
- GPS, accelerometer, gyro, proximity sensor, compass, barometer
- Stereo speakers with HD audio, dual-mic recording, Active Noise Cancellation
- MHL connector, 3.5mm jack
- Silicon-anode Li-Ion battery
- 64 x 9 x 124mm
At the time of writing this article the campaign has raised $3,430,588 of their $32,000,000 goal. The amount raised is about 11 percent of their campaign goal with 30 days left before the end of the fund-raiser. The campaign has had 7274 backers, with the vast majority of those backers buying out the $600 funding option. This option gets them the Ubuntu Edge for a price of $600, while those joining late will get the phone for $830.
The phone has an estimated delivery period of May 2014.
It should be noted that if this crowd-funding campaign is successful, it will be largest crowd-funded project in history. It would have beaten current record holder OUYA at $8,596,474.