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Re: Canonical branded phone?

 

I suspect that supporting Ubuntu on Nexus devices is likely the best path
in the short-term.

Though, having said that, it appears that vanilla AOSP doesn't even work on
5X and 6P anymore:

https://twitter.com/CopperheadOS/status/772592323112869888

On Wed, Sep 7, 2016 at 1:53 PM, Mitchell Reese <dev@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

>
>
> On Thursday, 8 September 2016 4:47:42 AM AEST, Bob Summerwill <
> bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Are OEMs not queuing up to ship devices running Touch?
>>>>
>>>
>> I suspect that the answer to that is "no".
>>
>> If, as seems likely, both BQ and Meizu have no immediate plans to ship
>> further Ubuntu Touch devices then that likely means that it is not
>> economically beneficial to them to do so.   That certainly isn't an
>> appealing market for other OEMs to join.    Canonical would likely be
>> pouring their money down the drain with such a device.
>>
>> Mozilla went through a very similar journey with Firefox OS, though with
>> way more devices and way more traction.   They ended up giving up on the
>> device side, and focusing on just community ports, and on application of
>> the OS to new (non-mobile) markets.
>>
>> Mobile is a tough, tough market to compete with.    Commodity Android
>> devices are very, very compelling to the mass market.    Mobile Linux is a
>> really niche.   See the troubles Jolla have experienced too.     Even
>> Samsung are struggling to make any kind of impact with Tizen - though that
>> likely has more to do with their own internal politics than any lack of
>> resourcing or ability to sell large volumes.
>>
>> My personal feeling is that mobile is now "mature", and uninteresting,
>> like
>> the PC market.   Who really cares if you have an ASUS or an Acer or a HP
>> or
>> whatever.    They have razor-thin markets and little differentiation.    I
>> think that is where mobile is getting to be, with Android as the Windows,
>> and iOS as the Mac.    So iOS is premium and profitable, "because Apple",
>> but Android is the de-facto standard, commodity and unprofitable.     That
>> is a really unappealing place to try to build a third platform.
>>
>> Android has utterly skewed manufacturing too, to my understanding, so that
>> if you want to get a SoC now, you are going to get Android bootloaders and
>> drivers on it.   As blobs.   And you're just going to have to suck that
>> up.
>>    Want X11 drivers?   No way.
>>
>> Tizen is the only mobile Linux which hasn't just made the pragmatic choice
>> of avoiding the issue by using Hybris.   For everybody else, Android has
>> become the de-facto HAL :-)
>>
>> So yeah... I have an MX5 Pro as my daily driver and love it.   MX4 before
>> that.    But I don't have much hope of any future Ubuntu Touch mobile
>> devices.    I think we're likely walking dead, but just haven't stopped
>> walking yet.
>>
>> So maybe Jolla and Tizen are the "last men standing" in this space?    For
>> mobile profile, at least.    Tablets are a different story.   Ditto IoT
>> and
>> Ubuntu Snappy Core.
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 7, 2016 at 10:49 AM, mark <j.m.holmes@xxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> +1
>>>
>>> The same thought had crossed my mind. Touch seems to be reaching the
>>> point
>>> of maturity where something of the Edge's specs might come to fruition.
>>> It
>>> would be a winner, imho.
>>>
>>> Are OEMs not queuing up to ship devices running Touch?
>>>
>>> m
>>>
>>> On 07/09/16 14:32, Art wrote:
>>>
>>> Question.......
>>>
>>> I read all the comments, and I am now curious.....
>>>
>>> What is to stop Canonical from releasing their own branded phones right
>>> now?? Just because the current 'offering' isn't Canonical branded, Is
>>> there
>>> anything that prevents them from selling a Canonical branded phone later
>>> on??
>>>
>>> After all, now we know that a linux based phone actually works, what is
>>> to
>>> stop Canonical (or even myself) from seeking out an independent phone
>>> OEM,
>>> buying them in bulk and rebranding them, complete with the linux software
>>> already installed?
>>>
>>> Great list all, I hope to see the linux phone succeed! It's about time we
>>> take back control of our own phones and block all the 'features' that rob
>>> us of our privacy!!
>>>
>>> Art
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 09/05/2016 10:49 AM, Krzysztof Tataradziński wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi
>>>
>>> Did anyone from Canonical considered to 'simply' develop phone themselves
>>> alone, order it in factory and sell with Canonical brand?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-phone
>>> Post to     : ubuntu-phone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-phone
>>> More help   : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Hmmm. Disagree - thanfully. Otherwise, whats the point? Similar arguments
> when Microsoft was still a thing - why compete?
>
> The thing about Ubuntu is it's also a desktop system - and has the
> potential to be much more. Will be interesting to see where this goes, but
> I'm backing Canonical.
> M
>
>
> --
> Sent using Dekko from my Ubuntu device
>
>
> --
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-phone
> Post to     : ubuntu-phone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-phone
> More help   : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>



-- 
bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

References