Ubuntu OS is finally ready to go head-to-head with Android, iOS and the rest of the mobile OS crowd as the BQ Aquarius E4.5 Ubuntu Edition is today launching in Europe.

The device is built around a 4.5-inch display with qHD resolution and a screen density of 244ppi. Under the hood, there’s a MediaTek chipset with a 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard storage that can be expanded up to an additional 32GB using a microSD card. There’s also a 2150mAh battery, 3G connectivity and two SIM card slots.

But the most interesting feature of the phone is of course not the hardware. Ubuntu’s mobile operating system has long been in development and after 2 years and a failed attempt at a crowd-funded smartphone, Canonical is now ready. The OS features swipe-based navigation as well as the ability to run web-based apps just like native apps.

The BQ Aquarius E4.5 should be available within the day for €170.

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Canonical recently announced the latest release of its operating system for desktops and servers – Ubuntu 14.04.

Dubbed as the LTS release (Long Term Support), the OS will be providing updates to this version up to 5 years making it one of the most stable, reliable, secure and cost-effective solutions for machines intended for consumers and businesses.

The update will bring improvements to the Unity UI, offering slicker UI experience as well as the addition of tools required for businesses such as remote delivery of applications, compatibility with Windows file formats, browser-based cloud solutions and Libre-Office.

The operating system now also supports higher DPI displays and tablets. Moreover, it will now provide support for desktops and laptops with multi-touch trackpadss and touchscreens.

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS as well as Ubuntu 14.04 Kylin – the China-specific version of the OS is now available for downlaod from the company's website.

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Canonical’s Edge smartphone as well as its Ubuntu Mobile operating system have both failed to make it mainstream since their unveiling last year. But this time around, the company seems serious on making a break.

It’s CEO Mark Shuttleworth has announced today the first two manufacturers that will help Canonical bring its Ubuntu smartphone into the market. The Chinese brand Meizu and Spanish manufacturer BQ will be the first to release Ubuntu smartphones sometime this year.

There are no definite details about the phones’ specs, availability and pricing, but according to Shuttleworth, Canonical chose Meizu and BQ to be their initial partners due to their expertise in penetrating emerging markets with phones with targeted features and specs. He also added that more established manufacturers are expected to come on board by 2015.

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Spanish smartphone maker Geeksphone has now given us more details about the dual-boot Geeksphone Revolution that was first announced a few weeks ago just around the time its Blackphone was announced.

The Revolution will have a 4.7-inch display with qHD resolution, a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM and an 8MP camera at the back with flash. The smartphone will run an unspecified version of Android as its base OS and an “alternative OS” on the side.

According to Geeksphone, the “alternative” OS it’s referring to pertains to “any community supported OS” so Windows Phone and iOS are definitely out in the running. Which leaves us with either Firefox OS and maybe to a certain extent Ubuntu Mobile as the most logical choices for an alternative OS.

As always, there’s still no information on pricing and availability but we’ll probably get more info in the coming weeks, even as close as next month at MWC.

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After its Edge Smartphone crowd-funding campaign failed to meet its target, Canonical’s QA community coordinator hinted that its mobile operating system might be distributed as a downloadable installer by October. However, we failed to see the release of this installer and we haven’t heard from the company since.

Yesterday, the company’s CEO Mark Shuttleworth announced that it has finally found a partner manufacturer that will bear its Ubuntu Touch Mobile OS. According to Shuttleworth the OS will ship with high-end smartphones next year.

However, the company’s CEO is not naming this manufacturing partner yet. He also added that Canonical is now talking to four more smartphone makers in hopes to take the OS more mainstream.

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Although Canonical’s super smartphone – the Ubuntu Edge didn’t meet its quite ambitious indiegogo goal, its new operating system for mobile devices is at least stepping up to meet its goals as well as consumer expectations.

Initially unveiled at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Spain, Ubuntu Touch Mobile OS is compatible with a number of Nexus-branded devices including the Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 10 and the Galaxy Nexus. According to the announcement made by Canonical, the operating system will initially be compatible with Google’s Nexus line come next month with other devices to be supported by the end of the year or early 2014.

The company’s QA community coordinator Nicholas Skaggs also added that the company’s goal is to bring about a downloadable installer of Touch by October 17 and will launch alongside the latest version of Ubuntu for desktop – the Ubuntu Linux 13.10.

There’s no information yet about the details of the installation, but we’re expecting more details to be revealed as we approach the launch date on October 17.

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Canonical’s quite ambitious crowdfunded campaign for its Ubuntu Edge Super phone has finally ended. Unfortunately, the campaign fell a little short of its $32 million goal. After its 30-day run, the company’s Indiegogo campaign ended with almost a $20 million deficit.

Initially, the campaign started out strong, amassing over $2 million during its first hours. However, as the final date approached, it seemed more and more that Canonical won’t meet its target for the campaign as the amount started to plateau near the $8-10 million mark before the end of the campaign.

Related Article: Ubuntu Launches $32M Crowdfunding Campaign for Edge Smartphone

Fortunately, Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth has revealed that several manufacturers have approached him showing interest with the device. So for those who backed up the project, there’s still a chance to get the phone into production. However, if in case the phone gets backed by a major manufacturer, we should expect changes on the specifications and maybe even design of the phone.

Nevertheless, we’ll just have to wait if the Edge smartphone would come into reality in the future.

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