There’ll be a further foretaste of the Ubuntu OS for smartphones with effect from 21st February according to a report on German IT news website Heise since Ubuntu developer Canonical wants to publish its Touch Developer Preview of the mobile operating system then. It is aimed at developers so they can test their applocations with it, as well as users who like to experiment. Besides images for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and LG Nexus 4 smartphones, Canonical also wants to publish the sources with which the operating system can be ported to other smartphones.
An Ubuntu for smartphones wiki page is already online, but will only be filled with additional content on 21st February. Anyone visiting the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona from 25th February can also see the Ubuntu OS on smartphones at the Canonical stand (81D30) in Hall 8.1.
Using Ubuntu for smartphones is heavily based on swipe gestures and dispenses with the usual Android home, back and menu buttons. The final version is provisionally scheduled to ship in the autumn, as was recently announced by Canonical’s founder Mark Shuttleworth.