Did you hear, did you hear? Canonical, the ambitious team behind popular Linux distribution Ubuntu, is launching a smartphone, and is trying to raise money to fund its production and distribution on Indiegogo.
Asking for $32 million, the Ubuntu Edge represents one of the largest ever crowdfunding campaigns, and things were looking look for a while. The company seemed well on its way to raising the scratch and then some, but after eight days the early adopters waned and, as the early bird prices rose past the $700 mark (the first buyers were only charged $600, then $625, then $650) it appeared people were tired of the prospect.
Canonical’s project promises to combine Ubuntu Mobile, Ubuntu Desktop and Android into one device. With the most modern specs we’ve seen in a smartphone — 4GB of RAM, 128GB internal storage, a sapphire glass screen and a Silicon-anode Li-ion battery — the company wants this to not only replace your current smartphone but your laptop as well.
Canonical just dropped the Edge’s price to $695 from $730, but there is dwindling time for them to raise the funds required to go through with production; they say that if the goal isn’t met, nothing will proceed.
We’ve taken a look at Ubuntu for mobile on the Galaxy Nexus, which was being shown at CES this year, and found it to be extremely responsive and attractive. The only untold story is that of apps, which are built using web standards like HTML5, Javascript and CSS.
There are 14 days left in the campaign, so if you were thinking of picking up an Ubuntu Edge, now would be a good time.
