Ubuntu for Android

The Canonical company developed and submitted at the beginning of 2012 the program system of Ubuntu for Android using which smartphones on the Android platform will be able to perform full-scale "desktops" with an output to the computer monitor or the TV. New software works as addition for the Android operating system, generating a full-size desktop on the basis of a graphic cover of Ubuntu Unity.

"The processors used in smartphones approach on power chips for notebooks of an elementary grade, so why not to use it to turn the smartphone into the full-fledged computer — the founder of Canonical Mark Shuttleworth said. — Now for this purpose will be to connect the monitor and the keyboard to the smartphone enough".

Canonical hopes that a system will be purchased by operators and smartphone manufacturers to offer them as an alternative to the PC. "Mobile phone manufacturers state for a long time that the smartphone is the following round of evolution of the computer, and now these statements will find real sense" — Shattlvort believes.

According to him, thanks to an innovation of the organization will be able to issue instead of computers to new employees only the smartphone which can use both methods. Like thin clients, new approach would allow the organizations to cut down expenses due to failure from the PC. But, unlike thin clients, the smartphone will not be needs a server framework of virtualization.

When using the smartphone in the mode of a desktop it is possible to get access to all data on the device — to contacts, messages, etc. On the smartphone it will be possible to hold the applications necessary for work on the big screen, and with ease to use cloud services. The smartphone computer will be able to be connected to the Internet through network of mobile communication or Wi-Fi. When using the monitor it will still be possible to do phone calls — via Skype or other similar systems.

Software works at any version of Android, but requires the ARM dual-core processor with clock rate not less than a gigahertz. On the smartphone it is necessary to have HDMI port for connection of the monitor and USB for a mouse and the keyboard. In many ARM chips there are built-in means of support of a video output, Shattlvort notes.

The previous attempts to implement a possibility of execution of full-fledged dekstop on smartphones, for example undertaken by Citrix company, relied on virtualization which, according to the founder of Canonical, negatively affects high-speed performance. Ubuntu for Android differs in the fact that has direct access to OS kernel. "We used that fact, as Android, and Ubuntu are dialects of Linux" — Shattlvort noted. When the smartphone needs to be turned into the computer, the core just starts a number of additional processes which provide "desktop" functionality. Canonical did a lot of work for creation of "bridge" between processes of Ubuntu and Android that allowed to copy easily data between two systems.

Canonical calculates that Ubuntu for Android will appear in smartphones by the end of the year though for today it is unknown whether tests software someone from producers of devices. A system is available to loading by end users, but its installation will demand considerable technical qualification. Therefore the company tries to interest operators and suppliers of smartphones that those began to preset software on devices of the senior class.

• Computerworld source