Ubuntu Mobile Developer Preview for Nexus 4, Galaxy Nexus to be Released on Feb 21
Canonical today announced that the developer preview of its Ubuntu mobile operating system will be available for the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 on Feb. 21.
Ubuntu, of course, is one of the more popular Linux distributions. Its move to the mobile space “marks the start of a new era for Ubuntu,” Canonical said in its press release, brining one code base to mobile, tablet, desktop and TV experiences.
Canonical stresses that this is a developer preview and not finalized code, so you probably won’t be running this as your daily driver just yet.
The first phone designed for Ubuntu will come out this October, but Canonical is making sure to get the operating system into developers’ hands early to secure as many apps as possible before that date.
Canonical has published a Preview SDK and App Design Guides to allow developers to create applications for the full range of Ubuntu platforms. The toolkit provides a range of documented templates to enable native applications to be created quickly and easily. The App Design Guides explain how these templates can be used to design and build beautiful and usable apps. Blackberry Touch developers will be familiar with the Qt/QML environment, which supports rich native touch apps. Developers will not need to cross-compile or package applications differently for phone, tablet, PC and TV. One platform serves all four, a single application binary can do the same.
On Ubuntu, native and web or HTML5 applications sit as equal citizens and so those developers already developing HTML5 applications will easily gain support for Ubuntu.
“This release marks the threshold of wider engagement – both with industry and community.” says Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu. “For developers, contributors and partners, there is now a coherent experience that warrants attention. The cleanest, most stylish mobile interface around.”
Availability:
- Go to wiki.ubuntu.com/TouchInstallProcess to download Touch Developer Preview of Ubuntu from Thursday 21st February.
- Go to developer.ubuntu.com to download the SDK to develop applications for Ubuntu.
- Go to http://design.ubuntu.com/apps to read the Apps Design Guide giving advice about designing and building beautiful and usable apps for Ubuntu on the phone.
- Visit Canonical at Mobile World Congress: Booth Number: 81D30, App Planet Hall 8.1.