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Canonical, which likes to describe its Ubuntu distribution as "Linux for human beings", is looking to follow its users beyond the PC and onto mobile devices. As promised last fall, it has introduced Ubuntu for Android, though in the medium term, it is expected to release a full mobile platform of its own.

For now, Ubuntu for Android will be demonstrated at next week's Mobile World Congress on a concept device, bringing the full desktop PC experience to the smartphone user. It is not a full OS port, but an Android extension, offering a way for a smartphone to run a full desktop session on a computer monitor or TV set. On the mobile gadget, data and apps are managed as usual, but when the device is docked to a screen and keyboard, Ubuntu for Android launches a full desktop version of the Linux system, with full apps and the Ubuntu Unity user interface.

"The processors at the heart of smartphones are approaching the power of low end laptop processors, so we use the horsepower to power a desktop experience," said Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth. "If you link your phone to a computer monitor and keyboard, then the phone can drive a full desktop session." Connectivity for the display is via the phone itself, or Wi-Fi.

Canonical will market its software to operators and OEMs, enabling them to preinstall it and then position their devices as alternatives to PCs, and expects some to have done so by the end of this year. This should be particularly appealing to enterprises which are increasingly shifting functions to mobile gadgets, and want to reduce spend on traditional PCs. "The handset manufacturers have had this longstanding view that the desktop of the future is the phone, but they struggled to get the balance right," Shuttleworth told Techworld.

That idea is not new - many firms have grappled with the challenge of balancing full mobility with enduring demand for full-sized screens and keyboards, from Intel's 2003 'personal server' initiative or even Palm's LifeDrive, through virtualization systems like that of Citrix. But while those approaches enabled content and apps to be carried about on portable gadgets and displayed on any nearby monitor, Ubuntu provides a full desktop experience too, with a UI which crosses over the screens, and without a drag on performance.

Canonical's statement says: "Ubuntu for Android justifies the cost to enterprise customers of upgrading to higher bandwidth 4G connections and contracts. Cloud apps like Google Docs work best with a full desktop, and shine with the lower latency of LTE. Network operators can deliver their own branded applications and services as part of the Ubuntu desktop."

The software will work on any version of Android, though it will require a dual-core ARM processor at 1GHz or higher, plus USB and either HDMI or built-in video support. Canonical has created a bridge to allow Ubuntu and Android processes to exchange data, though Shuttleworth said: "We are depending on the fact that Android and Ubuntu are both Linux." The code will also be available to end users, but installing it will require expertise.

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