 bless my family, but knowledge of technology is not one of their strong suits). In the spirit of a die-hard technophile, I put aside my differences as long as I could and dove into the thing with the enthusiasm of a lifelong kid that just loves to play with his toys. After some initial wonder, my experience became less than satisfactory. It went from bad to worse to infuriating. The Surface is really nice from the outside, but once I dove into its guts, I became wholly disappointed with the machine. I won’t go into a Microsoft bashing rant here, but suffice to say I wouldn’t buy another tablet made by them on pain of death or dismemberment.
The Ubuntu tablet looks like a refreshing change of pace from the above. It’s open source (yes Canonical has its proprietary stuff going on, but for the most part…) and therefore eons beyond the locked-down world of Microsoft’s making. For example, once I set up the Surface replete with password and user account I had to log in my “Microsoft” account to access some functionality (using my Hotmail login). I cocked an eyebrow, but thought: what the heck? It’s probably just linking to my hotmail account as an option. Nope. The tablet immediately took my initial setup, username and all, threw it out, and used my hotmail account login as my default tablet’s login, irrevocably marrying the two in what looks to me very, very suspicious switchery. Also, a Buy Office 365 Now! Pop-up pops up in your notifications with the appropriately annoying sound daily until you rip it out by uninstalling the “program.” Thank you, but I like my hardware out of the box without commercials. I’m fairly certain Ubuntu will be less draconian in its marketing practices.
Now, let’s talk the “C” word for a second. Convergence. Much has been bandied about concerning this next frontier of portable computing. Thus far, companies have claimed, in a marketing attempt to secure the prize of “first in,” to have converged their devices. To my knowledge, no one really has. Kind of like cold fusion, it’s been a bunch of tall tales designed to add credibility and dominance (and marketing buzz) to tech companies rather than actual technological advancement. All such claims have eventually crumbled under scrutiny and usually the stories slink back to the dark recesses of PR from whence they were born. But it seems that a champion has finally emerged and Canonical is quietly claiming the prize with this tablet. The threshold of convergence lies in the ability of a device to act as a full-fledged PC (changing the onboard UI to one of a robust, standard desktop environment used by the OS) once outfitted with the proper hardware: mouse, keyboard, display. To my knowledge, the Ubuntu tablet does just that. Once the mouse, keyboard and, optionally, a larger screen are connected (the keyboard and mouse have to be connected via Bluetooth here, but more on that later), the Ubuntu Touch interface found on the tablet (and phone), turns from “scopes” interface into the familiar Unity desktop. If the hardware can handle the the actual demands of a full Unity desktop, then convergence here we come!
I do have my reservations about converging a tablet, however. I don’t know if it is enough to get your average user off of the mainstream sauce, as it doesn’t immediately scream something new and useful that buyers will be tearing down storefronts to get at. But upon further examination, it looks pretty handy. Picture a job that requires on-site computing away from an office. You bring the tablet down, do whatever work is necessary—making notes, writing reports, taking pictures etc. You can then head back to the office and without having to rely on the tired old way of uploading those docs, you slam the tablet into a dock that’s connected to a bigger display and hammer away at the data with typical mouse and keyboard. Suddenly, the picture starts to look a lot more compelling. We’re not talking phones here, but this kind of behavior with an Ubuntu phone makes this even more interesting. I can’t think of all use cases here, but I’m hard pressed to argue that convergence would be a bad thing. Also, the ability of the device to be able to run full applications that are used with the regular flavor of the OS makes this even more compelling of an idea. Running the full version of LibreOffice, for instance, on the tablet would be extremely useful, if the tablet’s hardware is capable of such. I’ve heard that LibreOffice can run comfortably on a Raspberry Pi 3, so I’m not that worried. Expand this to the whole of software that linux has to offer and you have a winner on your hands. Other hardware, thus far, relies on either a wholly walled off “app store” or specific versions of software made for that device. Not exactly all that appealing. The only argument against this being less than useful would be the proliferation of web-apps like the aforementioned Office 356. But web apps haven’t exactly caught digital fire like some predicted they would, and we may never see the domination of such considering the limitations of browsers and internet connections as they stand today *cough* telecoms! *cough*.
Now, back to my Bluetooth reservations. I find it a rather odd choice on the part of BQ to go this direction for mouse keyboard connectivity. While it may prove to be the option of the future, it’s not exactly friendly to the now of peripherals; how many people do you know that just have Bluetooth keyboards and mice lying around? That being said, I did some research on prices for said peripherals and they’re not all that expensive. Couple that with the idea that you can just “pair” them with the tablet without the fuss of dongles and cords and this might just be a stroke of genius. Even if this spells a kind of pain the ass now, I’d be surprised if we don’t see this sort of thing taking off with more and more hardware going forward.
Let’s face it, supporting GNU/Linux is good for the greater ecosystem. People may disagree to a fault about Canonical’s motives, but anything Linux is better than the monopoly that is Microsoft, the outrageously overpriced hardware and walled in prison that is Apple, and the ever-increasingly-creepy nature that is Google. In light of the benefits of an Ubuntu tablet, along with the “curious” factor figured in, the scales definitely tip in the direction of “buy.” If only my checking account would tip in the same direction, I’d be able to scoop one up upon launch. I do promise, however, that once I get one in due time, I’ll tinker with the thing and drop a review here so you can all see how the experiment went.
The FHD version and the HD are going for €299 and €259 respectively (about $340 and $295 US).
Currently, there is a launch special going on where you can get a cover and screen protector with your pre-order for free.
Deliveries are to begin the second half of April.
Update:BQ has apparently pushed back the date of release. Their target puts the release in mid or late May. Apparently the infowebs had their streams crossed (don’t cross the streams!). The BQ Reader is currently shipping for pre-orders. Not in May as erroneously guesstimated by yours truly.
This is very intriguing hardware, and after some full ‘hands on’ it will be useful to know how Ubuntu is married to the open source hostile Mali GPU. A lot of developer bad language is directed rightfully at MediaTek.
BTW the Ubuntu web page doesn’t mention networking – is it 802.11ac? Guess those of us wanting an Ethernet option will be stuck with a damnable USB(2 or 3?) adapter.
Hotmail account? Oh, the humanity …..
Besides tablets from BQ – Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition (HD and Full HD, MediaTek processor), there are alternative products from MJ Technology – Ubuntu/Windows Warrior Series (Full HD, Intel processor). Further information available on MJ Technology Facebook Page.
I’m a big fan of the concept of convergence – not only for the transforming aspect, but as a better-designed core code too (which is the clever part, afaic).
I am worried about apps though. Canonical blithely suggested that the whole Linux canon would be available. To date however, I’ve only seen the ‘legacy apps’ LibreOffice Writer & Calc, and Gimp in action, and I wonder if the transition of them to Unity8 isn’t the easy process we’ve been led to believe. (Maybe the Snap thing will make it happen faster, I don’t know, I’m not a techie).
Nice article! I got my shipping confirmation yesterday, so looking forward to trying this out soon.
Does this run Unity 8? Honestly, that’s the thing I’m most excited about! I’d definitely consider it if it runs Unity 8.
I am a huge fan of convergence, in fact I remember talking about a universal device back in the day when people still used PDA’s. However, this device is not convergence…merely a step in the right direction..but ultimately falling short. To be truly converged you have to be able to pair down the number of devices you rely on to maintain your workflow, the BQ does not eliminate my cell phone, laptop and not even close to my desktop.
Here is what I want, give me a device that has