Usable Ubuntu Phone is Imminent

When we first saw Ubuntu Phone, the concept looked nice but one couldn't help but wonder if it would have any real chance on the market should it take another year or so to become available to the general public (and each passing day making it harder anda harder to compete with iOS and Android). Now, Canonical shows us it's really pressing the fast forward button on the Ubuntu Phone, and it hopes to have it in a fully workable state by month's end - where "workable" means, it will be enough to be usable as a daily device.

This means:

• You can make and receive phone calls
• You can make and receive sms messages
• You can browse the web on 3g data
• You can browse the web on wifi
• You can switch between wifi and 3g data
• The proximity sensore dims the screen when you lift the phone to talk on it
• You can import contacts from somewhere, and you can add and edit contacts
• When you update your phone your user data is retained, even if updating with phablet-flash

Looks like Ubuntu Phone might be joining the mobile party sooner than expected... and as long as its webapps work alongisde Firefox OS web apps (we don't need any more fragmentation heading to the "web devices" do we?)... I think it may really have a fighting chance, at least for all those not currently satisfied with the existing platforms.