 "Ubuntu mobile OS ported to Sony Xperia Tablet Z")
Despite the recent failure of the Ubuntu Edge crowdfunding campaign, developers are still doing some neat things with Ubuntu mobile. Over at XDA Developers, some aspiring developers have managed to port the operating system on to the Sony Xperia Tablet Z. However, the developer does warn that it is a very experimental port of the OS, and encourages members to make backups before trying it out.
Installation of Ubuntu mobile to the Tablet Z seems to be simple enough, with the developer describing it as being akin to installing CyanogenMod. It requires users to go into fastboot and flash an image file. After this, users have to reboot into recovery mode from where they can simply flash the Ubuntu image like any other ROM. The developer has even gone as far as giving instructions for how to set up a dual-boot Android/Ubuntu system. Check out the video demonstrating Ubuntu mobile on the Tablet Z:
Despite it being an experimental and still-in-development port, almost everything from Ubuntu mobile seems to be working. That isn’t to say that there aren’t any issues, however. The camera app apparently crashes when started, and is only useable after about a minute. Other features such as Wi-Fi, rotation and apps seem to be working fine.
Ubuntu mobile is quite different from the operating systems reigning the market right now, owing in no small part to its gesture-based interface. Swiping from the left edge of the screen gives access to a column of your commonly-used apps.
Swiping from the right edge lets you multitask between your opened apps. Swiping from the bottom edge brings up the contextual menu for the app, and swiping from the top edge brings down the notification centre, with different screens for different notifications. Because of this interface design, the operating system doesn’t need any hardware buttons save for the power and volume buttons.
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