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Ubuntu Cellphones

"Invite-Only" Ubuntu Mobile-Powered Meizu UX4 Goes On Sale 51

Posted by samzenpus from the try-again dept.
Mickeycaskill writes: Chinese manufacturer Meizu and Ubuntu developer Canonical have released the MX4 smartphone, but prospective owners will have to 'earn' an opportunity to buy the phone by playing an interactive origami game. Players are limited to three chances per day and this is the only way to buy the smartphone as it will no go on wider sale at a later date. The MX4 is the third Ubuntu Mobile smartphone to be released, following the BQ Aquaris E4.5 and E5 devices.
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"Invite-Only" Ubuntu Mobile-Powered Meizu UX4 Goes On Sale More

"Invite-Only" Ubuntu Mobile-Powered Meizu UX4 Goes On Sale

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  • Useless article, faulty summary (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Editors, how about some editing? And a link to the meat of the matter?

    • Gotta agree - a link to the actual site that, you know, *sells* the damned things would be nice...

      • Re:Useless article, faulty summary (Score:5, Funny)

        by Registered Coward v2 ( 447531 ) on Wednesday June 24, 2015 @02:16PM (#49979369)

        Gotta agree - a link to the actual site that, you know, *sells* the damned things would be nice...

        It's OOS - if you want a link that's not provided write it yourself...

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Holi ( 250190 )
        prospective owners will have to 'earn' an opportunity to buy the phone by playing an interactive origami game. Players are limited to three chances per day and this is the only way to buy the smartphone as it will no go on wider sale at a later date

        It's in the summary, but maybe a link to the game you have to play to win an invite.

      • Re:Useless article, faulty summary (Score:4, Informative)

        by ourlovecanlastforeve ( 795111 ) on Wednesday June 24, 2015 @03:24PM (#49979983)

        You wouldn't want it if you had it.

        Ubuntu's mobile OS has all the same problems as FirefoxOS:

        It has zero native apps but pretends to have lots of "apps" which are actually just icons that link to mobile websites.

        The OS itself is a confusion of UI elements and interactions that require one to spend more time navigating the OS than using it.

        • The OS itself is a confusion of UI elements and interactions that require one to spend more time navigating the OS than using it.

          That's the classic problem. I don't want an OS to be noticeable - if I see your transition as anything other than "expected", you're doing it wrong. The job of the OS should be to get the fuck out of the way and let me use my device. So far - for me at least - that leaves me at OSX/iOS by default (although they still manage to intrude, they're getting even better with age).

          I feel the same way about *NIX window managers - if you have to "use" them on a regular basis, they're doing it wrong.

        • It has zero native apps but pretends to have lots of "apps" which are actually just icons that link to mobile websites.

          Wait, it cannot run all the various OSS that the desktop version runs? What's the fucking point?

          I thought it was all about trying to get more command line level control into a phone, to make it easier to do serious things.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by sad_ ( 7868 )

            No worries, you can install a terminal 'app' and then you have access to a linux shell, start python and apt-get install stuff till you drop.

            • On Android in general, some variants of Android, or UbuntuOS? Because that's interesting.

              I assume a ton of OSS is C++, so it can just be (or has been) recompiled* for ARM7

              *I'm rusty on recompiling on a different chipset; vis-a-vis recompiling C or C++ code.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by sad_ ( 7868 )

                "On Android in general, some variants of Android, or UbuntuOS? Because that's interesting.
                I assume a ton of OSS is C++, so it can just be (or has been) recompiled* for ARM7"

                I was talking about the ubuntu phone with 'ubuntu touch' on it.
                it is just a core ubuntu system, apt is enabled with the ubuntu ARM repositories.

    • Here's a link [slashdot.org] that talks about the MX4 (or is it UX4? The article is unclear).

  • Interesting how Android handsets strive to look like a iPhones while iOS strives to look like Android.
  • Sailfish OS [wikipedia.org]?
  • Ubuntu hacked a Motorola Atrix so it ran Android when you used it like a phone, but plug it into a dock and suddenly it became a full blown Linux desktop. That's a concept ripe with potential. Doesn't have to be Android of course, but just the idea that it's a phone when you carry it around but you can use it as a computer too with a dock with some ports on it.

    I'm kind of surprised that Microsoft haven't done something like that yet with an Atom powered phone. As for Ubuntu, I hope for their sake they are

    • Microsoft is probably better off just sticking to what they do well, the surface and its derivatives. Their phones have always been less desirable and they can never seem to come out with a product that people actually enjoy using. They do well with their tablets and should stick to keeping those up-to-date with the latest tech.

    • Ubuntu hacked a Motorola Atrix so it ran Android when you used it like a phone, but plug it into a dock and suddenly it became a full blown Linux desktop.

      Ubuntu hacked...? I seem to recall that being a feature that was implemented by Motorola.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DrXym ( 126579 )
        The Atrix had a dock which turned the Android phone into an Android tablet. Ubuntu hacked it [youtube.com] so when you docked the phone it became a proper Linux desktop. How they did it I don't know, but I assume there was some virtualization going on.

        • The Atrix had a dock which turned the Android phone into an Android tablet.

          No. The Atrix had a dock that provided a desktop that used a modified Ubuntu.

          The Atrix 4G was one of the first Motorola devices to ship with its Webtop platform. When the phone is placed into its HD Multimedia Dock or Laptop Dock accessories, the user can access an Ubuntu-based desktop featuring access to the phone and its applications via the Mobile View'application, integration of Android notifications into the desktop, multimedia playback through Entertainment Center, file management through Nautilus, and the Firefox web browser (along with support for Prism for the site-specific browsers used on Webtop mode).[19]

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Holi ( 250190 )
          What are you smoking? The Atrix came, from Motorola, with Webtop, a version of Ubuntu. It was a desktop when you plugged it into the dock accessory.

          "The Atrix 4G was one of the first Motorola devices to ship with its Webtop platform. When the phone is placed into its HD Multimedia Dock or Laptop Dock accessories, the user can access an Ubuntu-based desktop featuring access to the phone and its applications via the Mobile View'application, integration of Android notifications into the desktop, multimedia

          • Now if only they hadn't crippled it then told those who were asking them to dial down the security to go away.

      • It seems they are referring to "Ubuntu for Android" now that they've provided a link to what they are referring to.

    • Ubuntu hacked a Motorola Atrix so it ran Android when you used it like a phone, but plug it into a dock and suddenly it became a full blown Linux desktop. That's a concept ripe with potential. Doesn't have to be Android of course, but just the idea that it's a phone when you carry it around but you can use it as a computer too with a dock with some ports on it.

      Bzzzt, wrong. Motorola is the one that implemented the modified Ubuntu desktop when docking the Atrix. It was not Canonical that did that.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DrXym ( 126579 )

        Bzzzt, wrong. Motorola is the one that implemented the modified Ubuntu desktop when docking the Atrix. It was not Canonical that did that.

        Bzzt, wrong. Canonical did [extremetech.com] although Motorola may have licenced what they produced or cooperated.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by harrkev ( 623093 )

      I don't get it. How the HELL can Canonical ever call this a success? The phones are not going on sale to the general public. How many units does it take to make back the NRE?? Well, if you are intentionally limiting the units, it may take a hell of a lot. What is up with this business move?

      • To get people to look at advertisements embedded in the origami game, I guess. The "energy mechanic" limiting players to three tries per day is a classic move for mobile free-to-play games.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Holi ( 250190 )
      That wasn't a hack. That was a selling feature. The hack (which had nothing to do with Ubuntu btw, it was done by some guy on the XDA boards.) was to enable the linux desktop without the dock accessory.

    • Ubuntu hacked a Motorola Atrix so it ran Android when you used it like a phone, but plug it into a dock and suddenly it became a full blown Linux desktop. That's a concept ripe with potential. Doesn't have to be Android of course, but just the idea that it's a phone when you carry it around but you can use it as a computer too with a dock with some ports on it.

      Why? We're rapidly reaching the point where for the cost of the dock/monitor/keyboard/etc the additional uncharge for the processor and network card is basically zero. Combine that with cloud-storage (or even phone-storage if you have to) and you have a much simpler, more flexible solution that's usable independently.

    • I'm kind of surprised that Microsoft haven't done something like that yet with an Atom powered phone.

      They are. It's called Continuum and allows one to plug and pray mice, keyboards and external screens into one's Windows 10 phone.

  • https://insights.ubuntu.com/20... [ubuntu.com]

    but the link to the Meizu website provided there is broken right now: http://www.meizu.com/en/ubuntu... [meizu.com]

  • Not until tomorrow.. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    "The Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition will sell for €300 (roughly $336), and while we don’t know how many invitations will be available to start, it seems that some will be up for grabs on a daily basis. The link to the origami wall on the Meizu website goes live on June 25."

    http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/meizu-mx4-ubuntu-edition-news/

  • "prospective owners will have to 'earn' an opportunity to buy the phone by playing an interactive origami game. Players are limited to three chances per day and this is the only way to buy the smartphone as it will no go on wider sale at a later date"

    I think i'll pass, from the sounds of it, there will be very few made, so 1 no accessories (no cases, no screen protectors, yada yada yada), 2 extremely limited support (think weeks if something goes wrong and you have to get warranty service). 3, it's 1 of

    • I suspect said sale is designed simply to create buzz, that Canonical is making a phone OS that "real" people (and not just geeks) want. Maybe having respectable numbers sold would get the bigger Chinese manufacturers or even Uncle Sammy interested? It's the tried and sometimes true strategy of guerilla marketing. Or maybe we can compare it to the thousands of fan-fic writers and film makers hoping to get picked up by a big name agent/publisher/studio, etc and be the next 50 Shades of Gray?

  • This sounds like a really bad phone. You have to complete a puzzle game to show you can figure out really obtuse interfaces and make due with paper whenever necessary? Speaks a lot toward the quality of implementation on this phone.

  • So this is the third iteration of Ubuntu phone this year. Still not for sale in the US.

    I'm waiting for the 5th-10th iteration, when there is something of value. Maybe,

    Oh and sold in the US would be nice.

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