A new ‘Ubuntu for Android’ commercial has appeared online.
The 2 minute animated spot explains the key concepts behind the technology, which was first announced back in February, via irrelevant analogies.
“It’s not literally magic but it’s close.”
“Your quad core handset is a phone when it’s unplugged, but when you connect it to a monitor and keyboard and boom: you’ve got yourself a full Ubuntu-powered computer,” the narrator explains in the video.
“And since your PC is a phone you can make calls or sends texts from your desktop!”
The ad ends with the narrator jovially advising viewers to ‘get a Phone with Ubuntu for Android to start living a life less complicated’.
But… It’s Still Not available
Sadly Mr Happy Narrator Man leaves out one slightly important point: you can’t get a phone with Ubuntu for Android yet.
That’s not to say that the idea hasn’t been popular. It has. Crazily so.
Reams and reams of column pixels and social statuses have been given over to praise the concept since its announcement, and this cute animated ad with all its lighthearted sensibilities will only add to this.
Now, the part of me that likes to indulge in wild speculation wants to ask why this ad was released now when consumers can’t buy an Ubuntu for Android device, and no manufacturer or telecoms carrier has publicly announced plans to ship it?
Is its appearance a subtle prelude to a formal announcement? Is an Ubuphone finally in the offing?
Logical Joey says ‘probably not’.
It’s more likely that the ad was released to sustain and build on the awareness already generated for the technology. This pent-up demand could then be used by Canonical in negotiations with vendors interesting in rolling with it.
But for now this ad is just another tease at what might be – and no amount of cuteness can cushion the impatience generated by that.