Ubuntu Phone Goes Global, But the US is Limited to 2G Speeds

[iCrushDreams]

 

After a long wait, Ubuntu phones became a reali ty this year. But now Linux fans outside of Europe and China will be able to try out the newcomer OS for the very first time. Spanish smartphone maker BQ has announced that it is now shipping its Aquarius E5 Ubuntu smartphone across the world.

The E5 Ubuntu Edition has a fairly barebones set of specifications that matches its affordable €199.90 price tag. It has a 5-inch, 720 x 1280 display that'd be more at home on a top-tier smartphone from a few years ago. There's also 1GB of RAM, 16GB of memory (thankfully upgradable thanks to its microSD card slot), and a 1.7GHz, quad-core Mediatek chip.

Of course, the phone itself isn't what's exciting — it's about getting to use an Ubuntu phone. Canonical's long-gestating mobile OS sells itself on changing up the typical app-to-app user paradigm. Instead, it uses customizable "scopes" that bring in related content (like photos or videos) to a single homescreen. Instead of building self-contained apps, developers can simply plug in their services to a scope. That said, Ubuntu OS still faces a considerable uphill battle to try to make any gains after Android's massive head start

There's another thing to keep in mind before you drop over $200 on the E5. It will be largely useless on US carriers. The phone has no LTE, and its HSPA+ antennas essentially do not support the frequencies used by AT&T or T-Mobile. That means you'll be stuck on EDGE, which, in 2015, is close to having no mobile data at all. If you live outside the US, be sure to check to see if your carrier supports 900 and 2100MHz HSPA+ before you buy. Those of you who are stateside, however, will be better served waiting for Meizu to (hopefully) bring its higher-quality MX4 Ubuntu Edition to the states — it will work on AT&T and T-Mobile at 4G speeds.

I like the idea of a third competitor potentially entering the market to go along with Android and iOS, but I don't think that Ubuntu Phone will have any stand at all in the US at least until they can get 4G speeds at absolute minimum. At least they have a working product to show, but I don't think it makes much of any sense.

 

Source - http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/8/9121611/aquarius-b5-ubuntu-edition-available-worldwide

[Fatelinha]

Look kind of cool but the phone specs aren't that appealing to buy just because it has the Ubuntu OS

[iCrushDreams]

Look kind of cool but the phone specs aren't that appealing to buy just because it has the Ubuntu OS

Yeah, I don't see it being practical in its current stage. It's got a long way to go before it can be a worthy competitor in the mobile OS market, and it'll for sure be lacking in support for all sorts of services and apps that are widely available in the app store and the play store.

[NickTheMajin]

 

 

Limited to 2G Speeds

 

 

No thanks. 

[matwoodson]

LINUX MASTER RACE

[gastew15]

Yea.. I'd much rather stick to my current arm Linux with a shit load of a VM java stack on top that's much more mature and deployed called Android.

[Trik'Stari]

.....Why is it limited to 2G speeds? Is this because the Dev wasn't able to implement something, or because the existing market occupiers prevented them from supporting it?

 

If it's the latter, I would hope to see the FCC step in and tell them to fuck right off for it. If not, then....wtf?

[Dabombinable]

Lol, a phone that will work far better in Australia than the US.

[AlexGoesHigh]

.....Why is it limited to 2G speeds? Is this because the Dev wasn't able to implement something, or because the existing market occupiers prevented them from supporting it?

 

If it's the latter, I would hope to see the FCC step in and tell them to fuck right off for it. If not, then....wtf?

Limitations on the antenna chip used, has nothing to do with software or competitors, the manufacture just used a chip that doesn't support US bands, this is mostly because this phone was intended to be sold in Europe and Asia only originally. 

[Trik'Stari]

Limitations on the antenna chip used, has nothing to do with software or competitors, the manufacture just used a chip that doesn't support US bands, this is mostly because this phone was intended to be sold in Europe and Asia only originally. 

....then why in the hell would they release it in the US at all? Just seems nonsensical, like selling a right hand drive car (wrong side ) in the US.

[Guest Johnny5g]

yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh who needs 4g

[Swndlr]

Lol, a phone that will work far better in Australia than the US.

The world is full of firsts

[AlexGoesHigh]

....then why in the hell would they release it in the US at all? Just seems nonsensical, like selling a right hand drive car (wrong side ) in the US.

I'm sure is just so the hardcore linux fans can mess around with it and not have to deal with import fees.

[Sanctuary2808]

Lol, a phone that will work far better in Australia than the US.

 

Actually, by the end of next year it wouldn't work at all. Telstra plans on shutting down their 2G network by the end of 2016. The rest will probably follow soon after.

[Dabombinable]

Actually, by the end of next year it wouldn't work at all. Telstra plans on shutting down their 2G network by the end of 2016. The rest will probably follow soon after.

HSPA+ is a 3G standard. Australia still relies heavily on HSPA+ for coverage and internet. As for 2G, Telstra can go fuck themselves sideways for all I care, as long as Optus keeps their 2G network going I'll continue to use my Sony Ericsson K750i (originally an Optus phone-now unlocked, and it still connects to the internet even after 10 years). I loath being forced into an 'upgrade' which will see me having to choose between 1 phone with a shitty battery and reception over another with shitty battery and reception (easily a week on battery with the replacement I bought last year, and I get full reception in places that I've seen smart phones get nothing-plus its proven itself multiple times to be Nokia tough).

[OPSJono]

I like the idea of a third competitor potentially entering the market to go along with Android and iOS, but I don't think that Ubuntu Phone will have any stand at all in the US at least until they can get 4G speeds at absolute minimum. At least they have a working product to show, but I don't think it makes much of any sense.

 

Source - http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/8/9121611/aquarius-b5-ubuntu-edition-available-worldwide

 

There's already Windows Phone you know. Which has been just getting better and better over the last year or so.

 

I'm currently on WP, and I'm really happy with it.

 

I tried Ubuntu phone last year on a Nexus 4, and it was just slow/unresponsive at times, and the complete lack of real apps just made me go back to iOS.

The apps that were on iPhone, weren't real apps, they were just native wrappers for a HTML page.

 

Literally the facebook app was just the mobile website, but without a back function. So it was near-useless.

 

I'd love Ubuntu Touch to take off though.

[HarmFull]

It's a brick. No 3G is unacceptable these days. This phone is basically a dev platform for Ubuntu OS

[Dabombinable]

It's a brick. No 3G is unacceptable these days. This phone is basically a dev platform for Ubuntu OS

It has 3G, its just that most US telco don't operate theirs at the necessary frequencies.