T he first smartphone to be powered by the open
source Ubuntu operating system will arrive at
retail in Europe beginning on Monday, Feb. 9.
The Aquaris E4.5 will be offered to early adopters
via a series of "flash sales" across the continent.
The unlocked phone will retail for 169.90 euros,
or roughly US$195, without the need for a
contract.
This unique launch strategy was conceived as a
way for the developers to gauge demand and
respond to early feedback before offering the
phone to a wider audience.
The phone's Linux-based operating system was
developed by UK-based Canonical , while the
handsets were developed and produced by BQ, a
technology firm based in Spain that already has
produced an Android variant of the hardware.
This is the second attempt to bring the handset
to market. Previously, an online crowdfunding
campaign failed to generate enough interest and
fell short of the campaign goals. Although that
prior effort was unsuccessful, the developers of
the operating system believe there is an
untapped market for an affordable handset.
"The launch of the first Ubuntu smartphones is a
significant milestone," said Jane Silber, CEO of
Canonical.
"The new experience we deliver for users, as well
as the opportunities for differentiation for
manufacturers and operators, are a compelling
and much-needed change from what is available
today," Silber added.
Open Source Handset
The Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition is aimed at the
midrange handset market in Europe. It features
a 4.5 inch screen, dual SIM support, a front
facing 5 megapixel camera, and an 8 megapixel
rear facing camera.
While the Ubuntu OS can run apps written in
either the HTML5 web programming language or
its own native QML code, the user interface is
built around Canonical's Scopes technology.
This is designed to emulate a swipe-based card
system that is similar to the Google now personal
assistant. Canonical noted that these are a
reinvention of the mobile UI that is intended to
present the most important digital life services
to the handset user. These include such services
as social, web, photos, music and local services
-- and each is placed directly on the screen.
However, as a mobile UI this could actually play
against Ubuntu's strengths as a desktop
platform.
"To encourage a third party ecosystem they've
built the experience around HTML5," noted Ian
Fogg, senior director and head of the mobile and
telecoms team at IHS Screen Digest.
For the Aquaris E4.5 "Canonical has partnered
with a small device maker, which produced a low
end smartphone with a modest processor," Fogg
told LinuxInsider. "That is very different from
what is typically offered to the savvy users of
Linux on the desktops. Canonical, with its
handset OS is moving in a very different
direction."
Mid-Level Play
The Aquaris E4.5's greatest strength is its price.
Though that alone may not be enough to generate
the early buzz to make the handset a smash hit.
"This is a middle-level smartphone aimed at
customers who want to be part of the free OS
segment," added Roger Enter, principal analyst
at Recon Analytics.
"The problem is that there are not a lot of apps
for it yet, which is a problem that for a long
time plagued the Linux/Ubuntu world too," Entner
told LinuxInsider. "Now they have a basic set but
the same problem will haunt them in smartphones.
"It [won't be] a game changer unless a very large
operator would put massive support behind it at
the expense of Apple/iPhone and Google/Android
right at the time when operators have completely
pulled back from that," Entner added.
Market Saturation
Even with the relatively attractive price point,
the Aquaris E4.5 could still face numerous
problems, not the least of which is that the
marketplace for smartphones remains highly
contested, with scarce opportunities for the
smaller players.
"The smartphone market is extremely
competitive," said Fogg. "Everyone from
BlackBerry to Microsoft is struggling to make
headway in the market, and a giant like
Microsoft has much larger resources than a
company like Canonical.
"So it will be harder for Canonical to break into
the market," Fogg stressed.
"This is another entrant in the smartphone race,"
added telecommunications industry analyst Jeff
Kagan .
"The leaders are Apple with iPhone and Google
with Android like the Samsung Galaxy," Kagan
told LinuxInsider. "They have close to 90 percent
market share between the two of them. Microsoft
Nokia is number three -- and they only have
single digit market share."
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