Canonical engineer demoes Ubuntu for Android’s convergence abilities

By now you’ve definitely heard of Ubuntu for Android and the Ubuntu Edge’s ability to run as both a smartphone and a full-fledged computer once you connect it to a monitor. But how well does it manage to do both? To answer that, Canonical’s Victor Palau has uploaded a video that shows him using the Ubuntu desktop on a monitor connected to an LG Nexus 4 that’s running Ubuntu for Android.

The video shows Palau checking Gmail, installing software, using the almighty terminal, and flipping through workspaces on a monitor. Interestingly, he uses the phone as a mouse touchpad to navigate the desktop and triggers a keyboard on the phone screen. Essentially, Palau demonstrates how you can use the Ubuntu desktop without having to connect a keyboard or mouse. Palau says he’s been using Ubuntu for Android on the Nexus 4 as his main phone for about 2 months and that it runs pretty well. Check the video out below:

Although the interface is a bit laggy and you can witness the low frame rates, it looks quite cool. This is probably because the Nexus 4 doesn’t quite match up to the great specs the Ubuntu Edge will come with, and the fact that Ubuntu for Android is still in its early testing phases.

Canonical’s premise for Ubuntu on mobile is simple: one device for both your full-fledged computing and smartphone needs. The Ubuntu Edge, which will become a reality if Canonical’s crowdfunding campaign reaches its record $32 million goal, has some pretty awesome specs for this purpose. It is going to have at least 4GB of RAM, and Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth recently said on reddit that they were in talks with major silicon manufacturers to see “what part has the best chance of crossing the PC / phone gap”. 

The phone will run both Android and Ubuntu, and will let you choose which operating system you want to load on boot. If you boot into Android and plug in a cable to a monitor, you’ll have an option to launch Ubuntu as Ubuntu for Android. 

A docked phone turns into a full-fledged desktop OS

For the display, the company is opting for a safe 4.5-inch screen size with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, which it deems is perfect for the gesture-heavy UI of Ubuntu mobile. The display will be protected not by Gorilla Glass or Dragontrail. Instead, Canonical will be shoving pure sapphire crystal on to the handset. To top things off, it will have 128GB of internal storage space, an LTE chip that supports two LTE bands, and an MHL port.

Other features include an 8-megapixel camera on the back, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, Bluetooth 4, NFC, and Wi-Fi. All of this will be kept alive by a Silicon-anode Li-Ion battery with an unspecified capacity.