Back in July we reported that the people at Ubuntu, the open-source operating system alternative to Windows or Apple, had launched a crowd-funding campaign (via Indiegogo.com) to create a new mobile phone called the Ubuntu Edge. This phone would showcase the newly developed Ubuntu phone OS and dual-boot into Ubuntu mobile OS and Android plus converting into a full desktop PC when you connect it to a monitor / keyboard.
The launch day saw a hugely eager uptake with over $3.3 million raised and everything looked positive. However their target figure is an eye-popping $32 million which was the subject of some incredulous e-mails here at CoolSmartPhone. Based on analytical data sourced from previous Kickstarter projects OpenAnalytics, a consulting company that specializes in statistical computing, has predicted that the campaign will fall short of their target by a wide margin.
Their anaylsis suggests they will raise $18 million, significantly lower than what they are aiming for.
What happens if the $32 million isn’t raised? According to the man in charge the Ubuntu Edge won’t happen.
“If we don’t reach our target there won’t be an Ubuntu Edge,” Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, told The Guardian. “We greatly appreciate every bit of support we receive during the 30 days. The funding target takes into account the large cost of manufacturing a high-end smartphone.”
So how are they doing? As of 11am today they are on $9,099,625, approximately 28.4% of their goal with only 13 days left. Hmm…
[edit] Have a look here for the latest.
Do they have any hope? Should they have any hope or is the market getting too crowded with start-ups desperately attempting to usurp Androids crown? Let us know in the comments section below.
Edge comes with Android, I wouldn’t have pledged if it didn’t.
I think part of the problem is (no disrespect) media sites talking about it as an Ubuntu OS phone which it isn’t.
To me those figures seem indicative of the proportion of people ‘in the know’ about this. I don’t think enough people really care about what their smartphone OS is and what it does to get enough support for this.
Bizarrely, I think this could have really taken off if it were focused toward businesses, but then you wouldn’t have got the individual backers.
I’m another backer of this, and I knew that there’d be less than a 50% chance of it coming to fruition when I backed it. I also think too few people tend to look at crowdsourcing sites, or trust them fully yet to back this level of project.
I think it’s a great idea but it will take some kind of miracle to reach 32 million. Still, at least I’ll get my money back if it fails 🙂
The thing that has surprised me the most about this whole campaign is the cynicism and negativity in 90% of the articles written about it. Yes, it’s a long shot but it’s an interesting idea that just might work really well.
it’s simple. why would i invest in a device i have no clue how it looks like and how it works!! where’s the “image” of the ROM i can install on my current android phone? like that i (or about any other user) can test it and provide feedback.
but this solution ubuntu is chosing is a simple no-go for me. 800+ dollars and then i don’t like it? come on… and this coming from ubuntu – a FREE OS for nearly any computer….
Great article, not mentioning the crowd-sourcing site they have their project on, or providing a link to the thing that the articles main focus is.
To be fair though, it takes all of 5 seconds to Google it for yourself. Not everything posted here is meant to be an ‘article’ as such, just some views on what’s currently happening. That said, it’s fairly good practice to provide the sources.
Also, the post was updated with a link as soon as it was pointed out it was missing.
It didn’t take all of 5 seconds to Google, as the article implied it was a Kickstarter project.