Ubuntu Phone, Tablet Developer Preview Released

The initial Ubuntu Phone/Tablet Developer Preview images for the Google Nexus 4, 7, and 10 devices are now available for those wanting to try out this touch-optimized version of Ubuntu Linux.

On Tuesday was the Ubuntu Touch/Phone/Tablet announcement and a promise to release initial developer preview images on Thursday. Canonical delivered and these images are available for the select Google phone/tablets normally using the Android operating system. This release comes ahead of Canonical's appearance in a few days at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Those wanting to install this unpolished Ubuntu Touch platform for the Google Nexus series of devices can get the installation details and other data from the Ubuntu Touch Wiki.

This is still a very primitive version of Ubuntu Touch with a polished form ready for vendors not coming until Ubuntu 13.10 with the first Ubuntu phones likely not arriving until H1'2014.

For those that follow me on Twitter know that I'm already in the promise of benchmarking Ubuntu on the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 (possibly a Nexus 4 too if there's sufficient interest). This will also include comparing Ubuntu 13.04 to other non-Google/Nexus ARM hardware too. The first of these benchmarks will likely be out next week.