Free software in mobile is not just Android and it's not just Linux. GNU too is part of this revolution, as Ubuntu Edge [1] helped prove. Meizu [2], a hardware platform which is believed to be Ubuntu's first phone, incorporates a lot of the Free software stack, enabling developers to port desktop applications to phones (just like in Maemo, MeeGo, and Jolla's Sailfish OS).
This technological dreamscape is actually closer than you think. Canonical (the company behind Ubuntu Linux) made a valiant effort with the indiegogo campaign for Ubuntu Edge. With its Ubuntu Touch interface, Canonical will finally make this all a reality. The same interface between tablet, phone, and desktop will also help users easily sync data between their devices.
Information about the first official Ubuntu phone has been spotted on a Chinese website, making Meizu the first hardware partner for Canonical.
According to the website in question, Meizu will come to CES 2014 with the first Ubuntu phone, probably using its newly announced Meizu MX3 platform.
"The beauty of webOS is that it provides so much freedom and is so simple to use," said In-kyu Lee, senior vice president and head of the company's TV division. "Consumers will find navigating, exploring and switching between different forms of content on webOS a truly enjoyable, not frustrating, experience."
LG hasn't yet taken the stage for its CES keynote, but the company's Korea division has already revealed the webOS TV. Palm's mobile operating system has been resurrected as a TV interface that focuses on ease of use. And LG is putting its weight behind the effort: webOS will be used on over 70 percent of the company's 2014 Smart TV lineup. webOS on the TV is very different from what you remember on mobile phones. It's now based around three new features: simple connection, simple switching, and simple discovery.
Firefox OS widened its horizons today. Panasonic says it’s using it in a smart TV, and Via Technologies pledged to support it on new embedded form factors.
At CES 2014 in Las Vegas today, Mozilla announced its plans for Firefox OS this year. Having launched Firefox OS for smartphones in 2013, the company has now partnered with Panasonic to bring its operating system to TVs, and also detailed the progress that has been made around the tablet and desktop versions.
VIA and Mozilla already have out Firefox OS for the APC Paper and APC Rock. The APC Paper is a $99 VIA ARM Cortex-A9 800MHz with 512MB DDR3 desktop computer that's built inside a recycled cardboard box. Rock The APC Rock is basically the same VIA ARM Cortex-A9 512MB development board but without the recycled cardboard case and costs $20 USD less. These are VIA's first two Firefox OS supported ARM devices but other products powered by Mozilla's operating system are expected.
Mozilla's Firefox Web browser once was limited to just desktop and notebook computers running on top of existing operating systems, but that's no longer the case. In a series of announcements today at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Mozilla announced new Firefox OS efforts to bring the open-source browser operating system to TVs, tablets and even desktop PCs.