14 DAY TRIAL // BQ and Canonical announced the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition yesterday, which will available for purchase very soon, but only in Europe. The rest of the world will have to wait, but there is good news. The United States haven't been forgotten and plans are in motion to have a hardware partner for those territories as well.
Canonical announced a while ago that BQ and Meizu are the first two companies that will sell Ubuntu-powered phones, but only Europe and China are covered. It's true that Meizu has an international store and other territories might have access, and it's possible that some retailers from other parts of the world will want to buy Ubuntu phones from Meizu and offer them to markets that would not have access to it otherwise, but it's not a done deal.
The community has been asking about a US launch for an Ubuntu phone, but the company has been quiet about it. It's not clear whether one of the existent partners will open their gates to the US, but you can rest assured that Canonical is working on this problem and it's an important issue for them to solve.
You can get Ubuntu for phones right now, no matter where you are
Anyone who has a Nexus 4 device can download and install Ubuntu for phones on it. There are still a few places where you can buy one, and there is a very big second-hand market out there. It's actually a cheap phone and it will provide users with the complete Ubuntu experience.
During a conference call with Canonical and BQ, the question about the US availability come up, which was to be expected. Cristian Parrino, VP of Mobile at Canonical, didn't provide an answer, but he did say that "plans are in motion," which means that the company is actively looking to cover the US market as well.
You can find more details about the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition in our initial report.