Before Your Eyes: Windows & Linux come together

[BkS]

Probably many of you will have seen A LOT of coverage from CES 2013 regarding Linux news. Particularly news surround Ubuntu phone, and Android development.

I'm many of you were surprised to see what NVidia had in store though. Yes, I am talking Project Shield.

What really fascinates me about the device is it's ability to change the way we game forever, because we have these two ecosystems, the tablet/phone running on Android and then the PC/Console ecosystems, which then have their own ecosystems within them. So bringing the best of Android, and the best of Windows, i.e. Gaming, and then molding them into this portable network device, is just something quite amazing.

The world of opportunities this opens up is just so vast. It's not new technology, it's existing technology that has been rethought by a company who know graphics and gaming well and furthermore, IS A HARDWARE MANUFACTURER. That's the key! If you have the ability to make something great, why not use it?

Here's a video for anyone who hasn't seen what I'm on about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOHNmzz1gYo

I see gaming performance being even faster when the full Steam client for Linux is finally released and all the games are ported over.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

I can see how this may be for some people .. but I only game occasional on an Xbox, and not when I'm mobile.

Actually I'm not even sure this market exists any more .. phones are powerful enough for mobile gaming now, and are killing off dedicated mobile gaming platforms.

In that video, he says you'll no longer need to carry a joypad for your phone .. no, but now you'd be carrying 2 expensive devices that effectively do the same thing .. I just don't get it.

.

[BkS]

In that video, he says you'll no longer need to carry a joypad for your phone .. no, but now you'd be carrying 2 expensive devices that effectively do the same thing .. I just don't get it.

Exactly, this is where I kind of scratch my head because phones are now at the point where we can load full working desktops (Ubuntu For Android / Ubuntu Phone).

The downside to this joypad hybrid is that if you've not got an internet connection, you're limited to the games you've installed locally and by the storage capacity of that device.

It's cool that it's running Tegra 4 chips, I watched the keynote for that and it comes with a 4G SDR as well as the 72 GPU cores, and 4x A15 Cortex CPUs, but why the hell would we buy that over say a next-gen Android couple with the next generation of project butter and Tegra4 chips? I mean, that in itself is one VERY powerful device, that will probably be inexpensive and do just exactly the same thing, minus having a physical controller in your hand.

It's the same for phones, they're getting bigger and more powerful, this device basically becomes rendered useless. IMO, all your paying for is the I/O interface and the bloody controller.

[Toonman]

I must have missed some news here BKS! Ihad bad man flue for weeks but have been trying tonkeep in touch with the Ubuntu/Andriod thingy. I thought it was just in development not actually up and running!

Can you shed any more light on it?

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Nope don't get all excited .. neither Ubuntu for Android or Ubuntu on Android (aka. Ubuntu for phones) have any hardware actually running them that you can buy yet.

In fact since they announced Ubuntu "on" Android, it's somewhat unclear if they will continue Ubuntu "for" Android .. or whether it's a replacement.

http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android
and
http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/phone

[BkS]

Nope don't get all excited .. neither Ubuntu for Android or Ubuntu on Android (aka. Ubuntu for phones) have any hardware actually running them that you can buy yet.

In fact since they announced Ubuntu "on" Android, it's somewhat unclear if they will continue Ubuntu "for" Android .. or whether it's a replacement.

http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android
and
http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/phone

Ubuntu phone isn't Ubuntu "on" Android though. Android runs from a Java runtime enviroment on top of the kernel, Ubuntu is using the Unity environment on top of the kernel exactly like the desktop version. The titles you saw are actually the "unity lenses."

Where did you get that it's running on Android?

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

There are now 2 projects Ubuntu for Android .. and Ubuntu on Android phones (aka. Ubuntu Phones) which completely replaces Android.

[BkS]

There are now 2 projects Ubuntu for Android .. and Ubuntu on Android phones (aka. Ubuntu Phones) which completely replaces Android.

It's not Ubuntu ON Android! 

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Jeez dude  .. it was originally called Ubuntu on Android Smartphones .. I didnt say it ran ON Android.

[BkS]

Sorry man haha. I just like getting my point across in my usual Scottish ways. 

But like I said, Ubuntu Phone doesn't run in a virtual Java machine, it sits directly on top of the kernel using the Unity Environment.

I've also noticed a lot of "web-based" gaming sites are now adopting the "Unity player." I've seen it on some games for Android which use the Unity3D environment as well.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

I covered it the day it was announced:
http://linuxforums.org.uk/index.php?topic=10614.msg80224#msg80224

and that clearly states its a REPLACEMENT for Android .. and NOT Ubuntu for Android

[BkS]

I know, and that's what I've been trying to say to you...

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Show me where I said it RAN on Android, and not just referred to it (as it was originally referred to) as "Ubuntu on Android (Smartphones)"

I can't help it if Canonical use confusing names .. erm, and you're easily confused

You said:-

Where did you get that it's running on Android?

I hadn't said that anywhere  .. so you're under arrest for false accusation

.