Uk based Canonical launches second Ubuntu based BQ Aquaris E5 HD smartphone; to go on sale in mid June 2015
The UK- based computer software company Canonical in partnership with Spanish manufacturer BQ has announced the second Ubuntu smartphone, Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Edition. Canonical said that the Aquaris E5 HD will be available for sale from mid June 2015.
The Aquaris E5 brings many improvements to the table compared to its older sibling.  For starters it will have a 5 inch IPS HD display at a resolution of 720×1280 compared to 4.5 inch in the earlier version.
On the insides, it will use the same Mediatek 1.3 ghz Quad-core chip with Cortex-A7 CPU and runs on 1GB RAM.  However, the phone has more in built storage capacity 16GB to the E4.5 HD’s 8GB. There’s a 13 MP camera with dual-LED flash on the back, and a 5 MP front snapper for selfies. Also unlike the E4.5, it has a two dual-SIM slot which enables the user to switch between different operators.
Canonical said that the Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu will be available at a price of EUR 199.90 ($220 or Rs. 12,770.00) in retail market. As per the reports, the phone will only be available for purchase in the European Union and only from BQ’s online store. Canonical company would be giving neck to neck competition to Motorola with such aggressive pricing. Moreover, the firm is going against the Android OS which dominates the entire mobile OS market.
This edition of the smartphone is already available in Android version. Canonical plans to sell the devices which would work on both the platforms as a smartphone as well as a Personal Computer.
The hardware details of this smartphone is yet to be released.
Chinese smartphone company known as Meizu is also launching the Ubuntu OS-powered phone, Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition for the European market which would sell the phone outside China for the first time. They have priced the smartphone at EUR 299.99 ($330 Rs. 19,150.00).
It remains to be seen how Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Edition fares in the market without 4G/LTE and worldwide release.
