New Ad for Ubuntu for Android Arrives, But Where's the Beef?

If you've been waiting for Ubuntu for Android, it still isn't here yet, but you can take in a promotional video for it, available here. As Mark Shuttleworth has made clear, Canonical is moving quickly ahead with its plans to bring Ubuntu to platforms going well beyond just desktop computers. Smartphones are a key platform that Canonical is targeting with Ubuntu, and the company was very vocal about Ubuntu for Android at Mobile World Congress earlier this year. So why is a video that is essentially an ad for Ubuntu for Android appearing when you still can't get a smartphone with it running?

As we covered here, hacks have already placed Ubuntu on Android smartphones, but many users want to get a phone that simply has it preloaded. The latest video ad says "get a Phone with Ubuntu for Android to start living a life less complicated." But you can't get one.

The text that comes with the new video says: “Ubuntu for Android enables high-end Android handsets to run Ubuntu, the world's favorite free PC desktop operating system. So users get the Android they know on the move, but when they connect their phone to a monitor, mouse and keyboard, it becomes a PC.”

Without a doubt, we'll see Ubuntu for Android take shape. In this post, Mark Shuttleworth made clear that it will arrive: 

"This isn’t the 'Ubuntu Phone.' The phone experience here is pure Android. This announcement is playing to a different story, which is the convergence of multiple different form factors into one most-personal device. Naturally, the most personal device is the phone, so we want to get all of these different personalities – phone, tablet and desktop – into the phone. When you need a desktop, you connect up to a screen and a keyboard. When you need a tablet, you dock to some very elegant glass. Just for fun, we’ve integrated the Ubuntu TV experience too – so this isn’t just a desktop in your pocket, it’s a media centre too."

You've got to hand it to Canonical for priming the pump. Now let's see the phones. 

Image Courtesy of Canonical.