In December 2016, a bunch of worried folks using various Ubuntu-based devices started an “Ubuntu Crickets” riot to force Canonical to reveal its upcoming plans for new Ubuntu Phone and Ubuntu Touch models/versions.
It didn’t take long, and Canonical’s Pat McGowan joined the discussion earlier to inform the concerned community about general progress. Long story short, as many have already guessed, it would appear that there are no plans for an OTA-15 update of the Ubuntu Touch mobile operating system, for now.
“We do not plan to land any features to the current stable PPA, although we will provide security updates as they are available for example for the webrowser/oxide,” said Pat McGowan in the mailing list statement, where he also confirmed the fact that there won’t be any new Ubuntu Phone models released until there’s a Snap image.
Unity 8 to be the default shell in Ubuntu
At the moment, Canonical’s focus will be on the LTS (Long Term Support) version of Ubuntu Linux, 16.04 a.k.a. Xenial Xerus, which is used as a base for Ubuntu Snappy Core 16, as well as on the next-generation Unity 8 session on classic desktop, which will become the default user interface of future Ubuntu releases (probably after 18.04 LTS).
Also today, Canonical’s Amrisha dropped the big news that the company will be present at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 to showcase their latest IoT and cloud innovations. However, they didn’t reveal anything of what it will be unveiled at their booth located in Hall P3, but instead asked the community what they’re excited about.
Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 is taking place between February 27 and March 2, as usual, in the Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Spain. Canonical are giving away 10 tickets to those who’s answers rock, just make sure to use the #UbuntuAtMWC hashtag when tweeting your excitement about Ubuntu at MWC. Good luck!
