We Have A New Contender!

Yesterday, in a very Apple-like virtual keynote, the founder of Ubuntu, Mark Shuttleworth, unveiled the plans to bring the popular operating system to the world of smartphones. It is certainly an uphill battle for them against the current crop of Apple and Android offerings... but it does look pretty good.

Scheduled to arrive sometime in 2014, the Ubuntu phone could very well be a game changer for the mobile arena. The best thing that can happen to end users would be to have more options, right?. Although, some feel it is too little, too late. Alex Williams over at Techcrunch wrote an article titled "The Ubuntu Phone OS Doesn't Stand A Chance" which, despite me disagreeing with it, is worth a read. Mr. Williams is tying the success of the Ubuntu phone with the Ubuntu name, which has been going down in popularity, and I don't think that's fair. Yes, the Ubuntu phone is technically a PC, meaning any software you can install on the Ubuntu desktop version, you can also install on mobile. He is assuming since the desktop OS is falling out of favor with users that the phone will fail. But why? Honestly, I would love to have all the programs on my computer also on my phone. Why isn't that an end point we are trying to reach? The Ubuntu phone looks like the first stepping stone in that direction.

Their aim is to make it a seamless transition to go from your smartphone to your computer (assuming you were running Ubuntu), and this is something that can't currently be accomplished with iOS or Android. And it's not a touchscreen issue, it's a UI issue. Each one is quite different from its counterpart. Everything, from the main screen to menu options are different on each device. Ubuntu is just trying to make a unified experience, to which I applaud them for the effort.

Apple has the Mac computer line and iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, etc.), and Google has Android and... Chromebooks? The UI on those devices are so different on so many levels, and each device has it own store to download apps. Apple Appstore for iOS, Mac Appstore for Mac's, Google Play for Android, and the Chrome Webstore for Chromebooks. At least the Appstore's for iOS and Mac are consolidated within iTunes, whereas Google Play and the Chrome webstore are separate and look nothing alike! Yes, there are many apps that you can download for your desktop as well as your mobile device, but the developers have to code the app in (at least) 2 different languages to have that happen. With the Ubuntu phone... if it works on the desktop... it will work on the phone. And that is cool.

Is this a winning strategy for the folks at Ubuntu? Considering the Ubuntu phone still has a long way to go before it is ready... it's too early to tell. Android was a bit late out of the gate to race against Apple, and with Blackberry falling farther and farther behind... a third choice is a good thing. But it will take a Goliath to bring down either Apple or Google, and I don't believe that is going to happen. The Ubuntu phone may have to be happy just to settle into third place. Oh wait... I forgot about Windows Phone. So yeah, Ubuntu may have to settle for third place. Honestly, I've seen more people with flip phones than I have with a Windows Phone, so I don't think it will be much of a challenge to surpass Microsoft's offering with a quality product.

Ubuntu will have a booth out at CES next week, so we can expect to get some more information in the very near future.