Canonical reveal the Ubuntu tablet

Canonical have today announced the latest edition to the Ubuntufamily – Ubuntu tablet. The creators of the award-winning Linux-based desktop OS, Ubuntu, revealed on the Ubuntu website that they would be announcing a tablet only hours before it happened. Rumours and speculation of what code base it would take struck up and now it has arrived, those questions have indeed been answered.

Most interestingly, the tablet is based on the code used in Ubuntu’s Phone OS, known asUbuntu Touch, optimised for touch screen devices. Canonical have also announced that, despite there being no vendors ready for launch to take the OS and install it on their shipping devices, there will be a download available for Nexus 7 and 10 users by Thursday.

As a result of using the Ubuntu Touch code with tablet tweaks, physical buttons are surplus on Ubuntu Tablet. Instead, gestures are used to browse and use the device. For instance, swiping edges can reveal the notification area, as well as pull in tabs for comments, or even other apps for application switching in multitasking mode. Lead designer for Ubuntu tablet, Oren Horev, said the user interface “fits perfectly between Phone and PC,” and that “we shift from tablet to PC very smoothly in convergence devices.”

Convergence devices sounds familiar – of course, a key feature on Ubuntu Touch (for Phones) is convergence. Or, as we know it, docking the mobile device to a desktop to use the full desktop experience on that computer. Much like Ubuntu for phones, though, Canonical have made it very clear that only devices with excellent specifications will be able to take advantage of the convergence mode, the details for which are available in the nifty table below.

Ubuntu Touch Convergence Specs ~ Tablets (Minimum Recommended)

Unlike many tablets on the market, Ubuntu for tablets is enhanced to support multiple users having their own user account – much like on desktop operating systems. Users will be able to sign in with their password when they come to unlock the device making user switching that bit easier.

Multitasking and app switching on Ubuntu for tablet is very much akin to that in Windows 8 on the touch screen, whereby apps are dragged in from the side to be switched. One interesting feature of note is that of resizing apps on the fly. Tablet-orientated applications are displayed natively and phone-orientated apps are displayed as an aside, with the possibility of being able to resize as necessary.

Finally, Ubuntu Touch supports devices from 6” to 20”, making it available for small tablets right up to touch-screen laptops, if need be, and also meaning that tweaks won’t need to be made for larger tablets, as has happened with some versions of Android.

So, I hear cries of “When can I get my hands on Ubuntu for tablet?” and the short answer is Thursday! The source code (for compiling and making an image for your own device) will become available, as will images for the Google Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 (ready to install), which also happens to be the same day Ubuntu Touch for phones arrives, with source code and Nexus images again. That’s Thursday 21st February for everything Ubuntu Touch.

While you wait feverishly for that day to come around, check out Canonical’s trailer forUbuntu Touch for tablets below.