Mark Shuttleworth, the Founder of Canonical, the company behind Ubunta Linux, has revealed that Ubuntu will announce its expansion from its open source operating system (OS) into smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Florida which begins today.
Shuttleworth has mentioned that their short term plans are to make Ubuntu 12.04, the next long term support (LTS) of their Linux distribution, as stable as possible and to give the Unity desktop interface its final polish for both home and business Linux desktop users. As part of its long terms goals, Canonical will then be expanding into all computing platforms including tablets, smartphones and smart TVs.
Shuttleworth says that “This is a natural expansion of our idea as Ubuntu as Linux for human beings. As people have moved from desktop to new form factors for computing, it‘s important for us to reach out to to community on these platforms. So, we‘ll embrace the challenge of how to use Ubuntu on smartphones, tablets and smart-screens.”
With the upcoming move into the mobile sector the company is targeting Google’s Android OS as a potential rival to give Android partners an alternative choice since Google’s acquisition of Motorola.
Shuttleworth also commented that while the tablet sector is significantly dominated by Google Android and Apple iOS, there is an opportunity for “disruptive elements” such as Ubuntu and Microsoft Windows to establish themselves as a competitive force in the market.
Source: ZDNet