Canonical ,in partnership with Spain's BQ , is all set to release its first Ubuntu-based smartphone named Aquaris E4.5. The smartphone is currently running on Android 4.4 KitKat OS, and will now be released in a new Ubuntu OS for phones.
The BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition will be available across Europe in the 'coming weeks' through a flash sales system, which has proven to be successful for handset makers in India lately. The smartphone is priced at Rs. 12,000. Both Canonical and BQ have not yet mentioned the handset's availability details outside the European region as of now.
The smartphone features a 4.5-inch qHD (540x960 pixels) resolution display with pixel density of 240ppi. Powered by a quad-core MediaTek processor (Cortex-A7) clocked at 1.3GHz, the handset includes a Mali 400 GPU for handling the graphics, coupled with 1GB of RAM.
The smartphone also have a 8-megapixel rear camera with dual-LED flash and a BSI sensor, apart from a 5-megapixel front-facing camera for video chats. Both the cameras feature interpolation or picture-stitching technology that allows users to take 13-megapixel images with the rear camera, and 8-megapixel images with the front-facing camera. Featuring 8GB of inbuilt storage with microSD card expandability (up to 32GB card), the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition also houses Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G (HSPA+), GPS/ A-GPS, Micro-USB with OTG, and FM radio connectivity features.
The BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition measures 137x67x9mm, weighs 123 grams, is powered by a 2150mAh Li-Po battery and will be available in Black colour variant only. The Ubuntu OS for phones run native apps or HTML5 apps. The company has tied up with major developers to ensure Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, Evernote and Amazonapps are available at launch.