14 DAY TRIAL // Making a mobile device act like a PC might seem like a thing of the future, but it's not. Ubuntu developers just showed how connecting a mouse to a tablet transforms the Ubuntu Touch into a desktop experience.
Some of the Ubuntu users will remember that developers showed a few months back that it was possible to have windows on the phone, just like you would have on a regular PC. Even of that feature might seem a little bit redundant on a mobile phone, it makes perfect sense if you know that Canonical is really pushing for convergence.
In fact, Mark Shuttleworth said just a couple of days ago that Canonical will launch a mobile device that's capable of acting like a PC when connected to a monitor, mouse, and keyboard. He didn't name the hardware partner, but he seems to be pretty sure that it's going to happen and soon. Now, from the looks of it, the convergence model is actually much closer than people realize. Ubuntu devs just presented a tablet that changes its desktop after connecting to a mouse.
Convergence is happening, now
We used to talk about convergence as if it was something that could be achieved, but it won't happen anytime soon. Ubuntu developers have just shown us, during one of the sessions at the Ubuntu Online Summit, that they are already pretty far on their way to make this concept a reality.
The session called UOS 15.05 Unity 8 Demo was a very informative presentation. One of the devs showed how he can make his Ubuntu-powered tablet transform into a PC (really early work and not final by any means) just by connecting a mouse. He could move windows around and interact with the items, which is already pretty advanced stuff. The idea is that if you connect that tablet to a dock and a monitor, you would be able to actually get a desktop-like experience.
You can watch the entire video below. If you want to skip directly to that demo, skip to 13.15 into the video. Enjoy!
