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by laic 5227 days ago
This renders the Ubuntu for Android useless.
3 comments

It does? This is just ICS + a mouse/keyboard and an HDMI port for video. My Transformer is just like this, except on 2.3 instead of ICS. Its at best a phone on steroids and a very limiting OS. The Android browser is terrible for everyday use and you can't just install a linux package and do your thing. You're just using mobile apps on a big screen with a keyboard. Whoopdeedoo.

Ubuntu for Android is a full linux OS. Its not Android. Its a full distro in your pocket. That's powerful and compelling. My Transformer? Its a toy.

Your Transformer should hopefully be 3.2, the laptop-like devices they did with 2.x were not a pretty sight :-) While the browser on 3.2 could be better, I don't think it qualifies as horrible. But other than that, I couldn't agree more.

This discussion and the previous one about Ubuntu on Android prompted me to finish a blog post I'd written a while back on the subject: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3622729

No, for a couple of reasons.

1: Competition isn't useless, especially if they take slightly different angles.

2: This works with your existing phone. Ubuntu for Android requires a new handset.

3: It's available NOW.

This and Ubuntu for Android couldn't be more different... One is Android on a big screen and one is actually a desktop replacement...