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Ubuntu OS smartphones tapped for late 2013

The open-source OS for PCs and TVs is making its way to the smaller screen. Look for the first phones to arrive in about a year.

Headshot of Jessica Dolcourt
Headshot of Jessica Dolcourt
Jessica Dolcourt VP, Content Operations and Commerce, CNET Group and CNET Labs
Jessica is a passionate content strategist and team leader across the CNET family of brands. She leads a number of teams, including commerce, performance optimization and the copy desk. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on the iPhone and Samsung devices. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began her leadership role managing CNET's How To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones to home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick in the UK.
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Ubuntu for smartphones
The open-source Ubuntu OS will come to a smartphone near you next year. Ubuntu

Ubuntu OS, long a favorite open-source platform for computing, is getting ready to move to the smaller smartphone screen.

Related stories:

Ubuntu-run smartphones will using the same drivers as Android smartphones, a boon to developers, but will also run well on entry-level smartphones, the organization says. Ubuntu for phones eschews Java in favor of native code.

In fact, Ubuntu's Web site pushes HTML5 and native code apps, a benefit for developers who can create a single app for both the desktop and the PC.

The OS favors swiping gestures to reveal navigation strips and overview pages, similar to RIM's BlackBerry OS 10 and to the short-lived Web OS for Palm. Navigation is on the back burner, revealing and hiding with a tap.

Ubuntu OS for smartphones
Ubuntu for smartphones will rely on gesture navigation. Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Canonical, a company dedicated to commercializing the open-source Ubuntu operating system, backs the project. The Ubuntu Web site states that its smartphones will be "ready for retail" in the fourth quarter of 2013.

We'll get some hands-on time with Ubuntu for smartphones at CES.

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