14 DAY TRIAL // Canonical has released a new Ubuntu Touch version based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, along with all the flavors, on April 17.
Most of the Linux world has been focused on the Ubuntu 14.04 LTS launch, not to mention all the other Ubuntu builds that made an appearance, but the developers have also released a very exciting Ubuntu Touch version.
Canonical has been working on this version of Ubuntu for phones and tablets for more than a year and they've made a lot of progress, but they are not there yet. The company can't make a proper release alongside everyone else with the new Ubuntu Touch. It's a stable system, but it's not yet the quality they need for a proper release that will also get support.
“As part of the wider Ubuntu 14.04 release efforts the Ubuntu Touch team is proud to make the latest and greatest touch experience available to our enthusiast users and developers.”
“While this Ubuntu Touch release is still not a supported release, we feel it is important to hand out a relatively 'stable' build for wider testing and feedback while we are continuing with high velocity towards our going-to-market milestone late this summer. Also, while not product quality yet, this image is a big step forward feature-wise compared to our initial release done in October 2013, so we hope you will enjoy using this on your phone and tablet,” reads the official announcement.
Ubuntu Touch is not yet present on any handsets that you can buy, but the OS is being developed for a number of Nexus devices: Nexus 4 Phone (mako), Nexus 7 (2013) Tablet (flo), and Nexus 10 Tablet (manta).
Initially, Ubuntu Touch also worked on Galaxy Nexus Phone (maguro) and Nexus 7 (2012) Tablet (grouper), but the support for those devices has been dropped along the way.
Ubuntu Touch is also the playground for some of Canonical's own technologies. The mobile platform, unlike the desktop, uses the new display server Mir and Unity8.
The new Ubuntu Touch based on Ubuntu 14.04 features an overhauled home screen and scope experience, a new web container featuring the V8 javascript engine and chromium rendering, Qt 5.2, enablement stack from the Android 4.4 branch, and more.
Ubuntu Touch also comes with support for multiple sim cards and simultaneous calls, working app lifecycle support so you never run out of memory, geolocation support, initial alarm system, calendar and contact sync, and user notifications.
Canonical has set up a comprehensive Wiki to help users install Ubuntu Touch on their Nexus devices.