Ubuntu to Become Official Reference OS for China
Ubuntu will become the official reference operating system for China.
The country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is teaming up with Canonical, the company responsible for creating Ubuntu to create a variant of the software known as Kylin.
Kylin will serve as a reference point for local hardware and software developers and a Raring Ringtail-based build is expected to be released in April. The OS is expected to bring Chinese calendars, character input methods and quick access to relevant music services to users in the nation.
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Kylin is also expected to integrate Baidu mapping, mass transit information, Taobao shopping, and a common slate of photo editing and system tools from WPS.
This move appears to be an attempt by the Chinese government to continue to grow itself and break away from closed operating systems that are currently controlled by Americans.
The Ubuntu smartphone OS is expected to make its debut in the fall of this year, according to YouMobile.org, which also stated that the software will attract people who love open source gadgets. The OS will be highly customizable overall.
Ubuntu is a London-based operating system.
Canonical's founder, Mark Shuttleworth, recently stated that the Ubuntu Phone OS has been designed from the ground up to offer a "crisper, sharper" experience on low-end phones.
He expects many low-end devices to adopt the software, which has the ability to be in "lean mode," allowing it to run well on devices with lesser specifications.
The minimum specs for the software to run on will be an A9 ARM processor and 1GB RAM.
The software's "heavy mode" will be designed for high-end hardware and Shuttleworth's goal with it is to achieve a "less complex" user experience than that of the competition.
