# Ubuntu phones, desktops, and tablets



## Orion525iT (Mar 6, 2011)

I have been a bit frustrated the state of car PCs. No good screens for true PC builds, lack of apps and compatibility for Android, useless Windows RT, and premium price for Windows 8.1 tablets.

Some of these issues are starting to shake out. I don't think true PC are ever really going to offer an easy solution. Windows RT is DOA. Microsoft has reduced licensing cost of Windows 8.1 on budget machines ($25 dollars vs original $75). More and more windows 8.1 options are available.

But there is the dark horse. The new Ubuntu OS. I have tried various Linux distros over the years, and have always left them in a fit of frustration. But maybe it is time to give it another whirl.

We all know Ubuntu and Linux are open source, which is great for the programming community. But I think the most interesting and exciting aspect of the latest Ubuntu OS is the app ecosystem. The ecosystem allows for the same app to be used across platforms. From phone to tablet to desktop, ARM or x86. That to me is huge. ARM processors are advancing, x86 processors are shrinking. I think there is a convergence on the horizon. Also, it seems that there are (for better or worse) some major players involved this time around.

So maybe, just maybe there is promise here. Maybe I am just getting my hopes up for no reason.


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## WinWiz (Sep 25, 2013)

Open Source isn't only good for developers it's also great for consumers.
I just played with intels low cost 7.5w 2ghz quadcore celeron n2920, don't count x86 out just yet!
If you didn't like linux before I doubt an app ecosystem will change that...
If you prefer the "protection of a closed garden" there is a big firm specializing in that.


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## Orion525iT (Mar 6, 2011)

WinWiz said:


> Open Source isn't only good for developers it's also great for consumers.
> I just played with intels low cost 7.5w 2ghz quadcore celeron n2920, don't count x86 out just yet!
> If you didn't like linux before I doubt an app ecosystem will change that...
> If you prefer the "protection of a closed garden" there is a big firm specializing in that.


Just read my own post, maybe I should clarify. ARM processors are advancing; adding more cores and becoming more powerful. x86 are shrinking; as in die size, architecture, and TDP. I do not count x86 out in any way. The 22nm SoC process (Haswell) has real promise in the tablet space. Future 17nm and 10nm processes will be game changing (3 years out on the road maps) in all respects. 

There was a time when the above was viewed as impossible.


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## NealfromNZ (Sep 3, 2013)

Did you try ride runner on windows ? In concept it's looking ok with my build. Proof will be after a couple of months of use.

Agree on rt. what a crock of .....


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## Fetus (Apr 14, 2011)

It's hard to say about Windows RT at the moment. There are rumours of removing either Windows Phone or Windows RT. As in, cheap tablets run the same OS as the phones, then having the "heavy" tablets and laptops / ultrabooks running full Windows. If they remove Windows Phone, RT will not die quick death...


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## Fetus (Apr 14, 2011)

But I am tempted to get a cheap Android phone and flash a Linux distro onto it for fun...


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

The only frustrating experience I had with LInux was trying to get my older Wacom tablet to work with it. For about 4 years I ran nothing but Linux (usually MInt). Now I have various boxes with different OS's..


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## WinWiz (Sep 25, 2013)

Orion525iT said:


> We all know Ubuntu and Linux are open source, which is great for the programming community. But I think the most interesting and exciting aspect of the latest Ubuntu OS is the app ecosystem. The ecosystem allows for the same app to be used across platforms. From phone to tablet to desktop, ARM or x86. That to me is huge. ARM processors are advancing, x86 processors are shrinking. I think there is a convergence on the horizon. Also, it seems that there are (for better or worse) some major players involved this time around.
> 
> So maybe, just maybe there is promise here. Maybe I am just getting my hopes up for no reason.


I just checked Ubuntus website. 
Ubuntu phone is already available for a very limited number of phones models. But sadly Ubuntu doesn't run both arm and x86 code... As I understand it ubuntu only encourage developers to write both x86 and arm versions of their apps...


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## Orion525iT (Mar 6, 2011)

WinWiz said:


> I just checked Ubuntus website.
> Ubuntu phone is already available for a very limited number of phones models. But sadly Ubuntu doesn't run both arm and x86 code... As I understand it ubuntu only encourage developers to write both x86 and arm versions of their apps...


My understanding is that the app is the same and scales to the platform. The underlying code and functionality is the same, but one is compiled for ARM and one for x86? However, it is claimed that the app, when written natively for Ubuntu, it is uploaded as a single app wether or not the device using it is ARM or x86.


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## Jericho941 (May 24, 2011)

How does ubuntu currenly apply to the car pc? I've been playing with a variation (lubuntu) on what was a previously unusable 2004 vintage p4 based system and like that it made it a functional pc/internet device again. I know there are some reasonably good media management apps, but are there applications that could replace a proprietary and expensive sound processor?

I love my alpine w900 and h100 processor, but the cost of a car pc plus a dsp isnt appealing enough for me to change for a small increase in sound control, like a couple more channels and more eq options.


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## WinWiz (Sep 25, 2013)

Orion525iT said:


> My understanding is that the app is the same and scales to the platform. The underlying code and functionality is the same, but one is compiled for ARM and one for x86? However, it is claimed that the app, when written natively for Ubuntu, it is uploaded as a single app wether or not the device using it is ARM or x86.


As far as I understand such an approach would make it impossible to write apps in native code, so performance would suffer.
Or some sort of hardware based emulation would be necessary.


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