Earlier today, Canonical has made official that a fully-featured Ubuntu sibling will arrive on mobile devices, hopefully, until the end of the year. Until then, developers and enthusiasts of all kinds get the chance to play with a minimalistic demo which will be made available for Android platforms. What is more important than pure dates and crumbles for birds has been already given in full, and today we are going to explore the options, potential and limitations of Ubuntu’s mobile OS.

Ubuntu for Phones: Features and Details Explained

Ubuntu for Phones is the treasure that we are all going to wait for in the last quarter of 2013. This is the full state project, which should be made available to the wide public on dedicated smartphones, just like Android and iOS are today.

Although built around the existing Android kernel and drivers, but without using Java’s Virtual Machine, Ubuntu’s mobile OS promises to make use of existing hardware like no other platform on the market. Built with both compatibility and performance principles in mind, Ubuntu Mobile OS will support ARM and x86 processors, while allowing developers to port existing Android application without much fuss.

Elegantly Designed

After using Android and iOS a while, I’ve found that although Google has the advantage of almost-limitless exploration and an opened mind for customization, it lacks the good design principles of Steve Jobs and the rapidness of interface, especially when pairing the OS with vendors such as Samsung, HTC or Motorola. Well, Ubuntu wishes to stray away those drawbacks, by designing a user interface easy to use and elegantly to explore.

Navigation in Ubuntu for Phone will be done mostly through swiping gestures, buttons and other hard elements like that being left on the second place. Just like in Windows 8, developers have taken advantage of screen edges when designing Ubuntu, each and every one of them being used in order to move faster and select content more rapidly. As a brief intro, here are the most important to know gestures:

• Favorite apps: to access a quick menu of your favorite applications simply swipe from the left edge and a bar will be revealed
• Running content: paging left or right from the homescreen will open a window of the most used applications, while a complete left-to-right swipe will bring all opened apps in the foreground.
• Most recent: following the trend, an identical swipe made from the right side will show the last app used, and repeating the gesture will reveal the application used before that and so on.
• Settings menu: Ubuntu’s settings menu can be brought-up simply by dragging the bottom edge up-top; here, a series of so called “controls” is found.

Brains, besides Beauty

Ubuntu for Phone comes with a fully-integrated search system, similar to the one created by Apple & Google. Using this feature, people will have the ability to find elements across all media, including the web, social services, contacts and the device itself. For instance, if one is looking for a person, Ubuntu will display results from email and phone contacts, alongside Facebook friends and Twitter followers; that’s unless it’s Tolkien the one queried!

Another remarkable item is the Lockscreen, which will automatically blend with the phone’s welcome screen and present useful information at the same time. As developers suggest, this information will not strictly resume to basic elements such as the number of missed calls or unread messages, but also to the amount of time slept or how far you’ve traveled – a feature possibly inspired by Google Now’s Cards.

A clever Notifications Center can also be found in Ubuntu, where users can reply to various conversations, deployed by Facebook, Twitter and even Mail clients, without actually accessing dedicated applications.

Moreover, all pictures taken with the upcoming mobile system will be automatically uploaded by the Gallery application onto Ubuntu’s cloud, using an individual Ubuntu One account. Using this account, owners will have the ability to access these file from other devices and other platforms, including iOS, Android and Windows.

Le coup de grâce comes as the advanced voice control feature, which will allow users to effectively open applications or issue commands. Briefly, thanks to Ubuntu’s HUD (head-up display) option introduced in 2012, owners can type or say the command they want to carry out instead of actually going through different menus for the same thing.

Ubuntu – Built for expansion

When Samsung started the Galaxy line, it chose the proper name for a suite of devices that were meant to sell all across the world, under various carriers and without strict limitations and fees for exclusivity in mind. Following the lines of the same principle, Ubuntu aims to win the support of the market by delivering itself in an appealing package for carriers and OEMs.

Firstly, Ubuntu will allow operators to customize the platform with their own services, content, applications and branding, without affecting compatibility with other applications. In other words, Ubuntu hopes to be seen as the first choice when it comes to vivid distinction between device makers, in a market where Android sells big for allowing vendors to create their own UI (whilst Microsoft permits little tweaks).

Moreover, the platform is compatible with both ARM and Intel x86 architectures, and due to the fact that the core system (kernel) is built around a typical Android Board Support Package, companies that make Android devices can adopt Ubuntu without much deviation.

Secondly, Ubuntu will make advantage of the million of users of its desktop platform, by supporting phones as docking stations. Following the principles widely introduced by Motorola Atrix, high-end Ubuntu smartphones will have the possibility of becoming fully-featured PCs thanks to a docking mechanism, which is yet to be described.

Although designers have something USB-based in mind, they give free will to vendor minds and hope that laptop/phone solutions will spree endlessly. This expanding feature will only be available to high-end Ubuntu devices, described in the table below:

Last but not least, Ubuntu will take advantage of its existing tricks and unite the mobile, desktop and TV platform under the same roof. This way, the platform will co-exist across all systems and file transition will be easily made through the use of Ubuntu’s cloud.

What about Applications?

Ubuntu comes with a suite of integrated applications, such as mail, navigation, clock, camera, notes, texting and so on. Besides these few, developers have the possibility of creating unique titles, of porting applications right from Android or, with a little tinkering, of making native clients for web services.

Using HTML5 technology, services such as Facebook and Twitter can be easily converted into web application which can be mounted right on the homescreen, alongside native apps. Moreover, Ubuntu uses QML and frameworks like PhoneGap to allow easy porting of titles already found on other mobile platforms. Canonical’s CEO made a bolt statement by saying that games on Ubuntu for Phones will actually run by 15% faster than on other mobile platforms. He also cared to mention the following:

Ubuntu is well-established in terms of design excellence, community participation and partner adoption. That ecosystem is a natural fit for mobile devices

Perhaps the most interesting feature is that when developing the code, programmers may opt to build applications for every form of Ubuntu (desktop, mobile and TV), because the operating system will become a singular form, pretty much like Microsoft has combined Windows 8 with Windows Phone 8.

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Inspired by Ubuntu’s desktop version, MeeGo and even with a flavor of Windows 8, the mobile Ubuntu operating system can already be experienced on tweaked Android smartphones and starting with the upcoming year, people should expect full-state devices.

Ubuntu Mobile OS, by Canonical

In a market strongly dominated by Android and iOS, a third but proper competitor has yet to reveal itself, even though big names like Microsoft and RIM already exist. In the new wave, right alongside Tizen and Firefox, Ubuntu will have to struggle to become relevant and win some precious percentages.

Unlike most underdogs, Ubuntu is going to heavily bet on Android in order to get a head jump. As the CEO of Canonical presented, Ubuntu mobile OS (it’s not the final name, but we’ll call it so) will be supported by most Android vendors and platform-specific applications will be easily ported from Google’s OS.

Running on a Linux-based kernel, the long awaited mobile version of Ubuntu will embed a touch-optimized user interface which mostly relies on edge swipes instead of buttons for navigation, just like Windows 8 or, should we say the long buried MeeGo OS. Moreover, menu icons will feature an extended set of options and the system itself will also integrate voice recognized commands.

As for delivery, Canonical claims that any Android vendor can install the upcoming Ubuntu platform on their devices and although no carriers or names have been mentioned, the first, full-featured smartphones will arrive in 2014, possibly even at the end of this year. Until then, a demo experience can be previewed this year at CES, right on a tweaked Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

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Linux has never been known for its great gaming performance, but despite this, it’s very successful at operating system, having thousands of users worldwide. Also, a great advantage for Linux is the fact that they distribute Ubuntu for free, therefore, lots of people are attracted to this.

I must admit, I was skeptical about what games could be played on Linux without the use of an Emulator, but now I am convinced that if you are not a hardcore gamer, Linux OS would be a great operating system to use. It runs like clockwork, it’s by far more stable than Windows and it looks pretty damn cool!

Top 10 Linux Games

10. Second Life

If you are a fan of virtual reality games, Second Life is right down your alley. A place where you can live your life exactly as you wanted, and for some, a place to earn some extra cash from playing. here you are represented by your avatar and you live your virtual life just like you would your real one. Going to work, buying a house, getting married and so on. The place where you can be whoever you wanted to be in real life and never got to. The only question is: if you become a famous rockstar, would you be willing to go back to your normal and boring life?

9. H-Craft

This game reminds me of MusicRacer. A small and very winding track, where you race like mad. But this time, you do not play against your mp3’s, you race opponents. Although it doesn’t have ultra-realistic graphics, this stomach churning game doesn’t need it. I can honestly say you won’t even notice. Everything happens so quick, you can’t even tell.

8. Xonotic

If you ever wondered what would an Unreal Tournament, Halo and Half Life mixture look like, the answer is Xonotic. If you are a fan of multiplayer shooters, then you will love this game. Crazy weapons, great gameplay and very cool maps make it one of the best shooter games ever. It might not have the fancy graphics of other titles, but the gameplay is electrifying!

7. Cogs

One of the best puzzle games I have ever played comes by the name of Cogs. 3D Puzzles that require the greatest level of attention. I’ve been playing this game for quite some time now and the puzzles are extraordinary. I have never imagined a simple puzzle game could be so challenging! I highly recommend this game to anyone seeking a good challenge.

6. Savage 2

Combining Action games with RTS (Real Time Strategy) games and throwing a MMO into the mix is a killer combo. This is Savage 2, a MMORTS game, where the player sees the world in first person view and battling demons and monsters at every turn. The graphic of the game are those of a typical MMO game, nice but now out of the ordinary, with some sharp edges and unrefined textures, but the gameplay is awesome.

5. From Dust

Taking imagination to the next level, From Dust allows you to create a world and take care of it’s inhabitants any way you see fit. Giving you the power of gods, you are able to rise mountains, create volcanoes and do anything you wish! If you are looking for a game that lets you let your imagination run wild, From Dust is that game, without a doubt.

4. Arx Fatalis

The story of this Linux game takes place in the world called Arx. the hero must survive and become a champion of the Underworld, where many shadowy characters lurk. This First Person RPG has one of the best stories of all, and a great thing about this game: every decision you take, will have consequences later on (some going as deep as not letting you finish the game). A great “project” to take on.

3. Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Amnesia is a pretty scary game any way you look at it. The action takes place in a haunted castle, where you have to make your way through endless corridors and dark rooms in search of clues to find out what happened to you. As the story evolves, you find yourself in the middle of a horror story started by a cursed artefact you discovered. Oh, and did I mention, you are being followed by ghost and if you stay in the dark, you go insane.

2. Trine 2

A physics game full of magic and great puzzles. At first glance, you’d probably think this is a game for kids, for I assure you, it will seem more and more of a challenge when you start playing. With very nice graphics and fantastic levels, Trine 2 is a great game for any Linux OS user, and for Windows users alike.

1. Heroes of Newerth

What started as an Indie Game, now has gathered momentum and has become one of the best known games today. Heroes of Newerth is a action-strategy game, that closely resembles the well known Warcraft III map of DoTA, where players interact with other players via their heroes which they have to level up and buy gear for. A very challenging game with great graphics and very intensive gameplay.

Also, with the announcement from Valve that they are considering moving the Steam Platform to Linux, we will soon see more than 2000 well known names appear on the list. Gabe Newell, from Valve said that they are missing out because Steam is not available for Linux users, and because Windows 8 is a “catastrophe”, as he said, Steam is likely moving to the Linux platform.

Of course, there are lots of other great games that Linux OS users can enjoy. A more comprehensive list of games can be found at LGDB or PenguSpy. Also, here you can find lots of very cool free games!

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Linux on Android

You might have heard about this new project, one that promises even greater features on our much loved Android smartphones. Installing Linux on any Android device seems really cool and gives you access to lots of cool features and of course, all the productivity that Linux offers. This ambitious project was started by Zac Powell from XDA Developers and now has gathered momentum, with a bigger team that manages to push apps and updates every few days, and also language packs, so that anyone can use it on their smartphones.

What do they offer?

The team has managed to bring us the Debian Installer, Ubuntu Installer and Backtrack Installer (more information on this topic can be found on the XDA Forum), complete with programs and the possibility to install any Linux program that is not based on a PC architecture. Their progress can be monitored via their website: Linux On Android, where you can also download the latest updates and see additional information on the project. If you are interested in the project and you can give them some help, they also accept new members to the team or accept donations in the form of paid apps of the Play Market.

What do you need to run Linux?

If you are interested in trying out the Linux installer on your smartphone, know that the team has successfully managed to run it on a number of devices. A full list of supported devices can be found on their website. Keep in mind that if your device is not on the list, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it doesn’t work, they probably hadn’t had the chance to try it. If you are interested in trying out the Linux Build, here are some recommended tech specs:

• Root
• 1 GHz Processor
• SD card over 4 GB (for the full installer)

What they are trying to do here is amazing, apart from the obvious benefits of having Linux OS installed on your smartphone or tablet, the thing that impresses the most is that this team is closing the gap between smartphones and computers, uniting them under one banner, the Linux banner.

To install the Linux OS on top of your Android OS, all you need to do is download the app from the Google Play Market and run it. After going through the wizard, you are all set. Now you can enjoy the full potential of the Linux OS directly on the screen of your smartphone!

The Ubuntu Developers Team

A second project (that has been covered more extensively in another post) that tries to close this gap is led by the Linux Ubuntu Team themselves. Ubuntu is loved by many, it has great graphics, multiple apps and it’s a very stable platform. Now, with the advances that smartphones are showing, the possibility or sunning a OS like Ubuntu on a pocket device has never been more realistic.

As you all know, Ubuntu was always free and it will be free forever. That is why it’s a very good idea to use it as a OS for your smartphone. The Ubuntu team are trying to install Ubuntu on any Android device and via a docking station, connect it to a computer monitor.

How to run it?

This is the best part of this project: with a simple USB and video cable, you can have Ubuntu up and running on any screen, from your smartphone. You will need a dual core device to run it, but nowadays smartphones come with even bigger processors than that.
I am amazed to see a full size computer fit in the palm of your hand, and when the project is completed, you can enjoy the benefits of Ubuntu anywhere you go. If you are interested in this project, you can get in touch with the Ubuntu Team, via their website, where you can also get much more information about this project.

Recommended specs:

• Dual Core Processor
• Docking station with USB and micro HDMI cables

All you have to do now is to try it out for yourself! The projects are up and running and with each passing day, they are getting closer and closer to their final state: a universal OS. Of course, this is far fetched, but it’s not hard to imagine a OS running on all our devices in the near future. Ubuntu has already been installed on tablets, so it won’t be long until it will be available for smartphones also.

As for the Ubuntu Team’s project, it is still in the development stage, but by the look of things, it won’t be long until you will be able to use your Android Smartphone as a computer with Ubuntu OS

[via] XDA Developers

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Guest post by Nick Sotos .

Ubuntu is currently rocking as a personal computer OS utility program. Owned and perfected by the South African entrepreneur, Mark Shuttleworth, it is currently distributed as free and open source software with free license to use, improve and distribute it at will. Its amazing features, speed and wonderful customization facilities will almost make a rookie want to climb the mountains with no gear at all. Such excitement confirms its unique performance compared to other major OS programs out there; which explain why it is sponsored by Canonical Ltd, a UK-based company.

Using Ubuntu is very simple and easy, but just like every other software program, it starts from installation. Installing this program is fun and is a simple, self explanatory process; click the link for download and directions: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download

Now that you have downloaded and installed Ubuntu, here are the six steps you need to take to super-charge its usage.

1. Customize panel

After installing Ubuntu, you will discover that it comes with two panels; a top panel and a bottom panel. If you are like me, you will want to customize and keep only one panel. If this is so, then you need to delete any of the panels you don’t want. I prefer using the top panel so I would delete the bottom panel. To do so, right-click on the panel you want to delete and select “Delete This Panel” from the displayed options.

You can also move the panel to the bottom, just right-click and select “Add to Panel”. Down the menu, you will see “Windows List”, select and click “Add”. Now you need to replace the Menu Bar. To do this, right-click on “Menu Bar” and select “Remove From Panel”. Go back to the panel, right-click and select Add to Panel. From the displayed options select “Main Menu” and click “Add”. From here you can choose items; Right-click on each item, like Firefox and others, and unselect the “Lock to Panel” option next to it. Then shift the added Main Menu to the far left by right-clicking on it and selecting Move.

2. Move window control buttons to the right

Once you launch Ubuntu, you may find the Minimize, Maximize and Close buttons to the left of the window. It is ideal to want them by the right instead. This can be down through the Application control window. Use Alt+F2 to bring up the “Run Application” window. Once it is up, type gconf-editor in the provided box and click “Run”. This will bring you to the Configuration Editor interface. Browse from apps to metacity and lastly general, look for “button_layout”; you will find this by the right panel. Change the value in the layout from close,minimize,maximize: to menu:minimize,maximize,close. When you are done press the Enter key on your keyboard.

3. Hide drive icons on the desktop

When you attach any removable drive to your PC, Ubuntu sees and creates an icon for that drive on your desktop. You can hide these icons through the Application control window. Again use the Alt+F2 to bring up the “Run Application” window. Type gconf-editor in the provided box and click “Run” for the Configuration Editor. Browse through apps, nautilus and finally desktop. From here unselect the “volume_visible” and close the window. While the drive icons will no longer appear on the desktop, all attached drives remain accessible from “Places”.

4. Enable media playback

By default, Ubuntu is a completely free OS with no initial configuration for proprietary media formats. To configure these media properties, double click on a media file, like an mp3 folder. As soon as the default player comes up with a “Search for suitable plugin?” window, click on the “Search” button and then on Install and on Confirm buttons. These will download and install the software. Then restart the player after the installation and use.

5. Manually mount a USB Drive

By default, Ubuntu mounts all attached USB devices automatically. However, if for any reason this doesn’t happen automatically, you can do it manually by following these steps. Browse through Applications>Accessories>Terminal. Create a mount point, usb, by entering sudo mkdir/media/usb followed by sudofdisk -1 which will search for the plugged USB. If for instance you are looking to mount a drive say, /dev/sdb l, then enter sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /media/usb -o uid=1000,gid=100,utf8,dmask=027,fmask=137; if the drive is formatted with FAT16 or FAT32 or sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdb1 /media/usb; if the drive is formatted with NTFS system.

6. Install extra fonts

For personal reasons, some people prefer the Windows True Type fonts to the default font type that come with Ubuntu. You can get these font features without giving up the cool features of Ubuntu. Just browse through applications, to accessories and finally to Terminal, type sudo apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer in the terminal. Browse through System, Preferences, Appearance and then to Fonts. From here you can pick fonts and size to customize for window title.

Being reluctant as expected while getting a freeware software program, Ubuntu rookies will have noticed that the freeware concept behind Ubuntu is not due to inefficiency but based on the philosophy of extending humanity towards others.

This was a guest post by Nick Sotos. He is the owner of blog offering coupons and promo codes for outdoor merchants such as Rocky Mountain Trail Coupon. Also, you can find Reviews and Tips for outdoor activities and equipment.

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Ubuntu for Android, Unifying the Powers of Two Operating Systems

Instead of developing an Ubuntu-like app that could only be a reminder of the Ubuntu environment or a new mobile OS, Canonical team decided to use the growing popularity of Android and add new features on top of it. They merged the users’ experience with both platforms and joined together the Ubuntu architecture with Android 2.3 Gingerbread (maybe they’ll scale that up to Ice Cream Sandwich, too). Consequently, the two operating systems work well together allowing smartphone owners to fully enjoy the functionality of their handsets and get something extra.

“Thanks to tight integration with the Android service layer, the transition between the two environments is seamless, making it easy to access the phone’s services from the desktop when docked,”

explains the official website, but what’s really behind the advertisement text?

Double Functionality

An Android smartphone that has Ubuntu installed still has the same environment as any Android phone, with the same applications and delivering the same experience. The magic begins when the smartphone is plugged into the HDMI dock of a PC and then it turns out that the smartphone could become the desktop. While the user enjoys the newly found functionality he or she can still make phone calls, send SMS (for free, if you like). Now, the Ubuntu on Android allows extra functionality on a bigger screen than the smartphone’s display, including access to office software, emails, not to mention the convenience of the attached keyboard.

The Main Features

Let’s filter the main features to look for the main advantages. When you give your Android smartphone the power of Ubuntu, you’ll get:

• full web productivity, which means the multi-tab, multi-window browsing experience, delivered by the support for Chrome and Firefox
• unified contacts, that translates into the same address book displayed on the desktop as the one found on the mobile. To give it an extra edge, the teams behind the new Ubuntu experience, allowed users to access the Twitter and Facebook profiles much easier
• calendar coordination is a feature that makes the coordination between Android calendar and Ubuntu to be a useful organizational tool
• messaging and calls are easy to access from the desktop with Ubuntu’s notifications
• synchronized settings like the alarm clock, suddenly work on both environments
• photo manipulation benefits from a larger screen even though the pictures were captured by smartphone’s camera

The question on everybody’s mouths is this – so, when will it be released? I need it, now! Hold your horses, you won’t have to wait for too long. Canonical announced that they will officially launch Ubuntu for Android at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which will take place next week.

A few Drawbacks

We don’t like it but we have to tell you: for now, Ubuntu for Android only has limited availability. First, you have to have a smartphone with HDMI out, then the smartphone has to be quite powerful. In order to get the full experience, the handset needs a dual- or even a quad-core processor with at least 512 MB of memory. To be completely honest, Ubuntu is made for the latest smartphones, with the top of the high end features, if not for the next generation smartphones we are only rumoring about now.

But, technology is moving fast and very soon what is now considered to be expensive and exquisite, tomorrow will be common and mundane. In the future, Canonical has big plans for Ubuntu, and as previously shown, it is not unlikely to see the next Ubuntu especially designed for the tablet users. From the consumer’s point of view, their move to enhance Android’s versatility is to be considered a much smarter move than the one to confront Android and iOS.

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Ubuntu for Tablets and Smartphones, Just a Geeky Dream?

Although attempts were made to use Ubuntu on phones and tablets, we haven’t got an official release of this OS for mobiles. I saw it run on the Galaxy Tab and it did pretty good and on some smartphones, but it’s quite hard to install and customize on these devices.

But now, it seems the wait is over: Canonical wants to launch Ubuntu straight to the top, right besides Windows Mobile, Apple iOS and Android some time in 2014, with the coming of version 14.04 LTS of Ubuntu, a long time to wait but it has a lot of ground to catch up.

The company announced that the release of this OS that could be integrated with ARM processors, thus making Ubuntu a mobile OS for us to enjoy.

“It’s important for us to reach out to our community on these platforms. So, we’ll embrace the challenge of how to use Ubuntu on smartphones, tablets, and smart screens”

Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth told Vaughan-Nichols.  So there it is: it’s official!

Ubuntu to Unify Smartphones and Tablets

Unlike Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, Canonical will not offer its own smarphones, but then again, neither did Google in the beginning. Mark Shuttleworth also promised an “uniform update service” through Ubuntu’s One service, thus reducing the possibility of fragmentation, a problem that has occurred with other mobile OS’s such as Android. Another bug the guys at Canonical will have to iron out, is the power management setting, that caused some problems for the 11.04 version, but with 2 more years ahead of them, they will surely find a solution to this issue.

But, until we get to 2014 and the release of Ubuntu 14.04, we could have a look at what has been already done with Ubuntu on the mobile market with some hard work from the Linux OS aficionados, and with help from hardware developers, the progress made promises some cool gadgets in the future, as Shuttleworth suggested:

“Our engagement with the PC market will help bring the results of this work to a huge audience – partnerships with the likes of Dell, HP, Asus, Lenovo, Acer, IBM, Vodafone and more are a gateway to users who want continuous, connected, cross-device computing”

We did get a preview of what Ubuntu could be for media devices, with Ubuntu Unity, an OS capable of unifying all gadgets under one single OS and User Interface, although it has integrated software. To become a player such as Apple and Android, it will need an App Store, keeping this in mind, I’d say this project has a high chance of success. The progress far Ubuntu has to be staggering and the applications awesome. The OS looks great and it will work like a charm.

Battle of the Tablet and Smartphone OS: Android, iOS, Windows Phone and … Ubuntu ?

Although Linux OS is in a disadvantage before iOS, Windows Mobile and Android, due to its lack of applications, not yet being a mainstream OS (it falls under the category of “geek OS”), the biggest problem it faces is the lack of manufacturers willing to invest in Ubuntu powered mobile devices. This was exactly the same problem why Linux didn’t succeed in the first place. Not because the operating system was not as great as Windows or Mac, but because they lacked distribution channels and marketing power.

One of these manufacturers did take a stab in the dark and tried to make Ubuntu powered gadgets, and until now they did a pretty
good job. Despite the fact we don’t see them at any corner, GizChina is trying to integrate these tablets and with some software and hardware upgrades it will certainly succeed.

GizChina has showed us not one, but two tablets running the Ubuntu OS, one with 10” capacitive display and the other with a 9.7” display, both running on the Intel 1.66GHz Atom CPU, 1 Gb DDR memory and an awesome 16GB SSD for storage. We saw then that the Ubuntu OS could handle mobile technology such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi; video cameras capacities and so, an official version of this OS could be a great idea. Also, some Linux lovers installed Ubuntu on tablets and smartphones already, but the integration needs lots of tweaks, and the process itself is laborious, only done by the really gifted geeks.

An Upcoming Battle?

Now, let’s skip forward a couple of years: Microsoft has released Windows 8, maybe some major updates for Windows Mobile 7 and even Windows Mobile 8, Android are announcing their new OS, better than Ice Cream Sandwich (with an equally odd name), Apple have perfected iOS 6 and planing the for the future. The hardware market is full of quad core cell phones and maybe even six or eight core with lots of GB in the DDR3 memory, how will this newcomer in the world of mobile OS’s cope with these mammoths?

The next years will be a continuous battle for Canonical to bring a working, user friendly OS for the users, but, if they succeed, I think people will enjoy and use them. I know I will!

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I want to change my desktop from this:

to this:

While I go on about ‘how to‘, I will also point out why to do these changes. Before I start, let me tell you about the applications you will get with Stock ‘Ubuntu’ and their drawbacks.

1. Gwibber

My heartfelt apologies to Gwibber team, but I personally don’t like their interface one bit. Hence, all the advantages of having a Gwibber service running in background and indicator telling the number of tweets/DM, goes in vain. If anyone can bear with the interface then it indeed is a social network client well integrated with Unity interface (using indicator api).

Alternative: My alternative in this guide is ‘Hotot‘. I prefer it over Gwibber because of 2 reasons:

a) It has a neater interface.
b) I use Facebook as web client instead of desktop

You can get ‘Hotot’ by writing these commands in terminal:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:hotot-team
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install hotot

If you want to remove Gwibber, then write these commands:

$ sudo apt-get remove gwibber gwibber-service

To remove Gwibber from indicator applet follow this command

$ sudo rm -rf /usr/share/indicators/messages/applications/gwibber*

2. Evolution

It is decent enough desktop email client, also well integrated with ‘Ubuntu’, but I found it lagging at times and giving errors while fetching mails for Google imap server. Another problem with the Evolution was its clunky interface.

Alternative: In this guide, alternative Email client is going to be Thunderbird. Ubuntu is going for Thunderbird + Lightning for Oneric (next release of Ubuntu). The reasons for this choice are:

a) Nice UI
b) Fast and responsive

You can get ‘Thunderbird’ by writing these commands in terminal:

$ sudo apt-get install thunderbird xul-ext-lightning xul-ext-gdata-provider xul-ext-calendar-timezones thunderbird-globalmenu thunderbird-gnome-support

You will also need an extension if you want the notifications to be shown properly in unity indicator. You can get it by following these steps:

a) Download ‘Thunderbird Indicator’ from this link http://launchpad.net/libnotify-mozilla/1.1/1.1/+download/thunderbird-indicator-1.1.xpi  (Don’t open this link in Firefox. It will try to install it as extension there. Instead right click on it and save the link)
b) Run this command in terminal

$ sudo apt-get install libnotify-bin

3. Movie Player

As much as I appreciate Cannonical for building such a beautiful OS, I abhor them for choice of applications that come in default with Ubuntu. Same goes for Movie Player. It is the application which I dislike most among all pre-installed ones.

Alternative: VLC is the best alternative when it comes to Linux.

You can get it by writing these commands:

$ sudo apt-get install vlc

4. Banshee

I always thought Rhythmbox was better as compared to Banshee and it was beyond me, why Canonical made such a change. So to replace I began my search for an alternative media organizer / player. Then I stumbled on Clementine. Its amazing media player/organizer and comes with integration to Ubuntu indicators.

You can get it by typing following in terminal:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:riccetn/clementine
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install clementine

Other applications that you need for this guide:

1. Avant Window Navigator: No doubt you have Unity, but I have found that its not sufficient at times. Moving your pointer to the left of the screen can be troublesome. Unity with AWN can be an excellent combination. AWN has lots of applets like ‘menu applet’,'weather applet’ etc. which I found useful.

You can get Avant Window Navigator by writing this code in terminal:

$ sudo apt-get install avant-window-navigator

2. Guake terminal: If you are geeky enough and like terminal, there is no better alternative than Guake terminal. Its a drop-down terminal which shows itself when you press a hot-key. It can be real life saver if you are doing something and need to check terminal on occasion.

You can get it by writing this command:

$ sudo apt-get install guake

These were the applications that would make your life a little easy and make your Linux experience more enjoyable. In my next post I will write about how to customize your Ubuntu install to a degree where it looks like the one in screenshot.

PS: I have not tested all the scripts/commands that I have written here, they are mostly out of my memory. If any of them doesn’t work please tell me in the comments I will update them with the correct ones.

© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2011. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The post Customize Your Ubuntu to Optimize Your Productivity. appeared first on Technology Personalized.

We shall find the pros and cons of Ubuntu 11.04 vis-a-vis Windows 7.

• Even though Ubuntu is evolving over a period of years as an open source OS, it was not much successful in desktop line with some exception in deployment in servers and embedded systems. As Ubuntu is free software, you are free to use and distribute. You can customize the OS to the maximum possible extent. The only cost involved in procuring Ubuntu OS is your download time from the site. On the other hand, Windows 7 is to be purchased and there is no chance for customization.
• Comparatively, the boot time with Ubuntu is quicker than Window 7. Ubuntu is faster on both old and new hardware whereas Windows 7 is faster than Vista on old hardware.
• While Ubuntu can detect some hardware peripherals automatically, for some you need to work with command line which will be a tedious process. Almost all device manufacturers will issue a drivers CD, so working with Windows 7 is easy and at the same, Windows 7 has not completely resolved driver issues.
• Coming to multimedia, DVD playing capacity will not come with Ubuntu. It has to be installed separately. Windows 7 fares better with Media Center with its ability to organize pictures, audio and video files.
• For software applications you need to download applications in the lines of iPhone to perform certain operations on Ubuntu. You can download these applications from Osalt. Ubuntu offers Open office for word processing and Gimp, photo editing software. These are open source software. Ubuntu handles mail through ‘Evolution’ client. It is difficult to install Skype or Google Earth by average users in Ubuntu. It has to improve in this aspect. With Windows 7 you need to purchase MS Office or you can install free software, Open Office or Gimp. Outlook works as email client in Windows 7. Windows 7 comes with windows live messenger and Internet Explorer 8.
• Ubuntu comes with Ubuntu software center to add and remove applications. Ubuntu fares well with ‘Cloud Computing’. ‘Ubuntu One Service’ is the free cloud storage offered by Ubuntu. You can save files up to 2 GB on Ubuntu one service. The service is integrated with OS. More space can be availed by pay plans. It is possible to share files which are on cloud storage. User interface of Ubuntu has to improve a lot. It lags behind Mac and Windows. Even though it will be entertaining to use Ubuntu by checking the new stuff released frequently, it is not a stable OS for production purposes. On the other hand, Windows 7 fares well as production software.
• While the learning curve is more with Ubuntu than Windows 7, it offers great security closer to 100% whereas there are so many security issues to be fixed on Windows 7.

Ubuntu 11.1 aka Oneiric Ocelot will be released on 13 October 2011 and would not include the classic GNOME desktop as a fall back to Unity, unlike Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal. Instead, 11.10 will include a 2D version of Unity as a fallback for computers that lack the hardware resources for the Compiz-based 3D version.

© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2011. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The post Ubuntu 11.10 vs Windows 7 – Who Wins? appeared first on Technology Personalized.

Angry Birds has taken everyone by storm as a great comic game puzzler leaving children and adults outrageously addicted to it. It is all about a host of cute flightless birds intending to destroy all the egg-stealing pigs with a slingshot. The aim is to recover all the nest-stolen eggs by the evil herd of pigs who take shelter in certain structures made of glass, wood, stone, and some other materials. Using a catapult, you have to launch the birds to blow away these hide-outs and pigs, keeping in mind to have some of the birds available along the end of the game. With every level, you earn points and will be rated using starts from zero to three.

This game has gained so much appreciation that it has all that it takes to make for an entertaining addictive game puzzler. Well, it is no wonder that it is getting all the attention from the time it was released for the Apple’s iOS in December 2009. Since then, it has seen many upgrades to its original versions. It was brought to suit many platforms, first on iPhone, then on Android and now for all of its Windows users. Though there is still no sign of an exclusive Linux version of the game, all those Ubuntu users need not worry as there is another way out. You can install the game via Wine and play the addictive game all over again.

A Wine is a compatibility layer translating Windows system calls to Linux native calls, thus allowing those Windows applications to run on your Linux Software. Wine thus gives us the chance to run Windows-only games to run on Linux too. There are upgrades to Wine as well. If you choose to install the new version, there are two methods -

1. Using the Wine PPA – A straightforward way to install on your Ubuntu.
2. Compiling Wine from Source – Though many consider it is unnecessary, but it comes when the PPA repository gets delayed while new updates are done.

Now, you are good to go to install the Rovio’s Angry Birds on Ubuntu. Here is the step-by-step procedure to install and play it on Ubuntu -

1. Buy and Download the Angry Birds for Ubuntu.
2. Extract the file to get the contents you have downloaded on Ubuntu. Some files are to be copied to a particular location.
3. Install Wine PPA on your Ubuntu.
4. Then run your Angry Birds through Wine like any other Windows Application to start the game.

You can buy it for just $4.99 (worth your money) from Intel web store and load it onto your Ubuntu.

© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2011. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The post Rovio’s Angry Birds – Adapted in Ubuntu appeared first on Technology Personalized.