Windows 10 for Phones May Lose Smartphone-PC Convergence Race To Ubuntu

Ubuntu for Phone

Microsoft announced at the Build 2015 Developers Conference that Windows 10 phones will be launched later this year and it will have the Continuum feature, which enables it to become a full PC when it gets connected to a monitor. But Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu linux operating system, might get ahead of the competition.

Canonical has already come up with such feature with the Ubuntu Edge phone. The device reportedly has the feature to boot either to Ubuntu OS or Android and gives users the same experience PC experience when connected to a larger display.

Unfortunately, it never made it to the market.

To continue this effort, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth announced that they plan to release an Ubuntu phone with smartphone-PC convergence features later this year, PCWorld reported.

Shuttleworth discussed in his Ubuntu Online Summit keynote about how Ubuntu phone's application platform recognizes various displays, from smartphones to desktop, and automatically resizes to it.

He also mentioned that Microsoft's announcement of the smartphone-PC convergence which validates the ideas Ubuntu has been talking about a few years back.

However, this doesn't mean that Canonical is already leading the convergence race. Both Microsoft and Canonical haven't given exact dates as to when actual units for their respective smartphone-PC convergence concept will be released.

It was earlier reported that Microsoft has a flagship phone, with the codename "Cityman," to come out with Continuum for Windows 10 phones. It's a device with a 5.7-inch sceen, an octa-core processor, 20-megapixel camera and 3GB RAM. A lower end version, codename "Talkman," is said to have the same premium specs but with a smaller 5.2-inch display and a six-core processor.

Meanwhile, the only Ubuntu phone that's ever been released by Canonical was the BQ Aquaris that was only made available in Europe and retails for €169.90. The device has a 4.5-inch display 1 GB RAM, 8 GB storage, a quad-core processor, and an 8-megapixel camera.  

Canonical did sign a partnership with Meizu (in February of 2014) and a prototype of the MX4  with an Ubuntu OS was showcased at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) last March. 

Compared to the Aquaris, the MX4 has a bigger 5.36-inch screen, at least 16GB storage, 2GB RAM, and a 20-megapixel rear camera. The Android version of the Meizu MX4 was already launched back in September 2014

If Canonical finally chooses the MX4, it will be the first Ubuntu phone to be released for the global market. However, the exact release date has yet to be announced.

"And, while I enjoy the race," said Shuttleworth in his keynote, "I also like to win. And I bet you do too. And so it will be lovely for us to drive free software first into the convergence world."