Remember Ubuntu for phones? The project to put Canonical’s Ubuntu operating system on mobile devices was first announced two years ago, and in that time we saw it get tested on Nexus hardware and be part of an unsuccessful funding campaign. One thing we didn’t see, though, was a proper Ubuntu phone release. That’ll finally change soon.
Canonical announced today that the BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition will launch in Europe in the coming weeks. It’ll be sold online through a series of flash sales, the first of which will be announced within a week. Pricing for the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition will be set at 169.90 Euros ($193 USD).
So what kind of specs does the first Ubuntu phone have? We’re looking at a 4.5-inch 960x540 display, 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek processor, 8-megapixel rear and 5-megapixel front cameras, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of storage. The device is dual SIM and will ship unlocked.
Obviously the specs aren’t crazy high-end, but for 170 Euros/$193 USD, I don’t think anyone would expect them to be. The big deal here is that Ubuntu for phones is finally shipping to the public, which is something that I’m sure Canonical is pretty excited about after all of the effort that’s gone into the Ubuntu for phones project so far.
Unfortunately, BQ doesn’t currently have any plans to sell the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition outside of Europe. Canonical has said that it’s still working on a U.S. strategy and that it’s using these flash sales as a way to target early adopters.
So what do you think of Ubuntu for phones? Are you interested in giving the software a try now that it’s finally shipping to consumers?