Ubuntu Snappy Leads Mobile Linux Migration to IoT
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 9:42 amThis week's announcement of an Internet of Things version of Canonical's lightweight Snappy build of Ubuntu Core is another sign that mobile Linux distros will find their biggest success not on phones but on embedded devices. Both the IoT- and almost identical cloud version of Snappy, which was announced last month, are based as much on Ubuntu Touch as Ubuntu Core.
Like Ubuntu Touch, the IoT version of Snappy is a lightweight version of Ubuntu, and will be similarly folded into the mainstream Ubuntu framework this April with Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet), which was just released in Alpha 2 form. Yet, it's even lighter than Touch, requiring a 600MHz CPU, 4GB of flash, and 128MB RAM. Only 40MB of the RAM is used by the system while the remainder is used for apps.
"This is the smallest, safest Ubuntu ever, on devices and on the cloud," wrote Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth in his blog announcement.
Mobile Linux shifts to IoT
Canonical and others pushing mobile Linux distros are not giving up on mobile devices, but they no longer appear to be the main priority. The first Ubuntu phone running Ubuntu Touch is now expected to arrive in early March in conjunction with Mobile World Congress, and Samsung finally pushed its first Tizen phone out the door last week with its modest, India-targeted Samsung Z.
Mozilla's hardware partners have been shipping Firefox OS phones since July 2013 in dozens of countries around the world, targeting the space between feature phones and low-end Android phones. Yet, Firefox OS does not appear to have made much of a dent in market share.
Meanwhile, Android continues to consume more of the mobile market, and Google has lowered Android's RAM requirement to play better on lower end devices. It has also launched its Android One line of budget smartphones to try to head off any invasions from below.
As the smartphone begins to look less attractive due to Android's continuing dominance and the growing saturation in affluent markets, embedded Internet of Things gizmos such as wearables, drones, home automation hubs, and smart TVs have emerged as easier targets for the mobile Linux contenders. Thanks largely to HTML5, Tizen and Firefox OS can still beat Android's performance on lower end hardware. Meanwhile, LG has squeezed the formerly mobile-oriented WebOS into a successful line of smart TVs, and Samsung is baking Tizen into all of its 2015 smart TV line.
In conjunction with the Z1 phone release, Samsung made its strongest commitment yet to Tizen, stating in a blog entry that the Z1, as well as Samsung's Tizen based smartwatches and cameras, represented "just the tip of the iceberg."
Many are frustrated with the delays and cautious rollouts on new mobile Linux phones. General embedded developers, however, should be excited by the prospect of several sophisticated, standardized development platforms that are ready to roll with app stores, enhanced security, and other benefits. And the mobile Linux backers must be heartened by the knowledge that they're entering embedded territories where mainstream Linux still dominates over the Linux-based Android -- and where they are on a more equal footing with Google, Apple, and Microsoft.
Like Ubuntu Touch, the IoT version of Snappy is a lightweight version of Ubuntu, and will be similarly folded into the mainstream Ubuntu framework this April with Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet), which was just released in Alpha 2 form. Yet, it's even lighter than Touch, requiring a 600MHz CPU, 4GB of flash, and 128MB RAM. Only 40MB of the RAM is used by the system while the remainder is used for apps.
"This is the smallest, safest Ubuntu ever, on devices and on the cloud," wrote Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth in his blog announcement.
Mobile Linux shifts to IoT
Canonical and others pushing mobile Linux distros are not giving up on mobile devices, but they no longer appear to be the main priority. The first Ubuntu phone running Ubuntu Touch is now expected to arrive in early March in conjunction with Mobile World Congress, and Samsung finally pushed its first Tizen phone out the door last week with its modest, India-targeted Samsung Z.
Mozilla's hardware partners have been shipping Firefox OS phones since July 2013 in dozens of countries around the world, targeting the space between feature phones and low-end Android phones. Yet, Firefox OS does not appear to have made much of a dent in market share.
Meanwhile, Android continues to consume more of the mobile market, and Google has lowered Android's RAM requirement to play better on lower end devices. It has also launched its Android One line of budget smartphones to try to head off any invasions from below.
As the smartphone begins to look less attractive due to Android's continuing dominance and the growing saturation in affluent markets, embedded Internet of Things gizmos such as wearables, drones, home automation hubs, and smart TVs have emerged as easier targets for the mobile Linux contenders. Thanks largely to HTML5, Tizen and Firefox OS can still beat Android's performance on lower end hardware. Meanwhile, LG has squeezed the formerly mobile-oriented WebOS into a successful line of smart TVs, and Samsung is baking Tizen into all of its 2015 smart TV line.
In conjunction with the Z1 phone release, Samsung made its strongest commitment yet to Tizen, stating in a blog entry that the Z1, as well as Samsung's Tizen based smartwatches and cameras, represented "just the tip of the iceberg."
Many are frustrated with the delays and cautious rollouts on new mobile Linux phones. General embedded developers, however, should be excited by the prospect of several sophisticated, standardized development platforms that are ready to roll with app stores, enhanced security, and other benefits. And the mobile Linux backers must be heartened by the knowledge that they're entering embedded territories where mainstream Linux still dominates over the Linux-based Android -- and where they are on a more equal footing with Google, Apple, and Microsoft.