14 DAY TRIAL // Although Mozilla’s Boot2Gecko operating system is nothing new, Canonical’s Ubuntu platform for mobile phones is definitely something innovative.
Well, it appears that Canonical’s Ubuntu attracted the eyes of major players in the smartphone market.
The folks over at IloveUbuntu report that AT&T might be interested in offering customers Ubuntu-powered phones next year.
During the Consumer Electronics Show 2013 (CES), the carrier displayed a large banner, which mentioned that it monitored other platforms for mobile phones, such as Boot2Gecko, also known as Firefox OS, and Ubuntu.
Even though this is not a confirmation per se that AT&T will launch Ubuntu phones next year, it’s nice to know that major carriers are already interested in these new platforms.
If AT&T, along with other important brands in the market, decides to get involved in the Ubuntu project, Canonical might have a much easier job with the adoption of the platform at global level.
The first devices running Ubuntu will be released in late 2013 or early 2014, which is why Canonical is now trying to attract developers into building as many apps as possible by the time its smartphones go on sale.
We can’t say the same thing about Firefox OS, which will make its entrance on the market sometime this year. The bad news is that the first Firefox-based smartphones will only be launched in Brazil and possibly in other South American countries.
Mozilla has already announced that it has tested its operating system in Brazil and has made all its research on this market, which is why it will only release Firefox-powered devices in this country first.
Given the fact that the entire platform is built on HTML5, it will be easier for developers to make their applications available in Firefox, Android, iOS or even desktop, at the same time.
We will hear more on Firefox and Ubuntu platforms for mobile phones in the next couple of months, so stay tuned for more updates on the matter.
