NEWS TECH:Canonical CEO: Expect an Ubuntu phone in early 2014

Despite the failure of the ambitious and record-breaking Ubuntu Edge crowdfunding campaign, Canonical's Jane Silber says the future is ripe for innovation.

 
 

The Ubuntu Edge, a convergence device that would have dual-booted Android and Linux OSes for both a mobile and desktop experience, failed to meet its funding goal of $32 million.

(Credit: Rich Trenholm/CBS Interactive)

The Ubuntu Edge may have bitten the dust this morning -- coming in a whopping $19 million short of its crowdfunding goal. But Canonical, the team behind the Linux-based operating system, is dead set on continuing to push the boundaries of mobile technology, specifically the ambitious concept of convergence that would have given Edge users the ability to swap between an Android mobile OS and a fully capable desktop-enabled Linux one.

While the device won't be getting made -- all Indiegogo supporters will be getting full refunds -- Canonical CEO Jane Silber outlined plans for the company to bring an Ubuntu phone to market in early 2014.

"I think the full Ubuntu convergence experience will not be in the first round of Ubuntu phones, which we're targeting for the first quarter 2014," Silber told CNET. "Just phones, not a full converged plug-into-your-monitor device," she added, stressing, "I think convergence is the future. It may take many forms."

The failure of the campaign didn't come as much of a surprise; many estimates had claimed weeks ago that the Edge wasn't going to meet its goal by any stretch of the imagination. But Silber and Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth were still holding out due to some behind-doors talks with partner manufacturers that were becoming increasingly interested in making the idea happen.

"We were in heavy industry conversations to try and do everything we could to increase the chances," Silber said, noting that it was never going to be one single $20 million donor who would have shifted the scales. Rather, the manufacturers' interest was what let Canonical begin pushing the Edge price downward over the course of the campaign. A final-ditch effort then may have involved a massive price drop to try to spur a huge spike in pledges. But it didn't come through.