BQ’s new Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition – the smartphone that puts content and services at your fingertips

• First Ubuntu smartphones available in the coming days with BQ on the Aquaris E4.5

• Ubuntu’s Scopes introduce a new mobile experience for users, a smarter ecosystem dynamic for developers, and unprecedented differentiation opportunities for device manufacturers and mobile carriers

• Operators in Europe, including 3 Sweden, amena.com, giffgaff, and Portugal Telecom are all offering SIM bundles at purchase.

9th February 2015, London and Madrid: The world’s first Ubuntu phone – the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition – will be available across Europe from BQ.com through a series of Flash Sales over the coming weeks. The BQ Ubuntu smartphone, which puts content at the heart of the experience, is the perfect balance between price and specifications and will cost 169.90 Euros. The date, time and URL for the first Flash Sale will be announced through @Ubuntu and @bqreaders on Twitter as well as Ubuntu G+ and Ubuntu Facebook within the next week.

Jane Silber, CEO at Canonical comments; “The launch of the first Ubuntu smartphones is a significant milestone.  The new experience we deliver for users, as well as the opportunities for differentiation for manufacturers and operators, are a compelling and much-needed change from what is available today. We’re excited that a rising star like BQ has recognised this opportunity and is helping us make it a reality.”

The Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition’s slim design and 4.5 inch screen are perfect to experience Ubuntu’s edge interactions and Scopes. Scopes are a reinvention of the mobile UI, presenting a new way to rapidly and visually access the most important digital life services – music, social, web, local services, photos etc – directly on the home screen. The richness and unfragmented experience delivered by Ubuntu Scopes are a world away from burying content and services inside multiple apps in an icon grid – reversing the industry’s hackneyed status quo.

“Ubuntu presents users with an entirely different way to engage with their devices – Scopes guide you to content you want – in the same way you think about it – to deliver a smooth, engaging experience,” says Cristian Parrino, VP Mobile at Canonical. “For developers, Scopes are a much simpler and more valuable way to build mobile experiences than apps – significantly changing ecosystem dynamics.”

As any kind of content can be presented via Scopes – they provide developers an easy path for their creations to be integral to the device experience. It is simple to create new Scopes via an easy to use UI toolkit with much lower development and maintenance costs than traditional apps. Canonical and BQ have worked with a host of partners to ensure that there is a wealth of interesting, relevant and dynamic content available at launch, with more content partners to follow.

Alberto Mendez, CEO at BQ comments; “Ubuntu is a totally different concept in mobile operating systems and we are proud of the fact that our customers will get to enjoy it before anyone else in the world. At BQ we support diversity in operating systems because it brings positive benefits for the technology sector and also for the user, who has the freedom to choose.”

The Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition is dual SIM and completely unlocked so consumers can use it with their current network. Operators such as 3 Sweden, amena.com in Spain, giffgaff in the UK and Portugal Telecom are offering SIM bundles at purchase, exclusively from the BQ website, for buyers in those regions.

The sleek, 8GB Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition comes in black. It features a five megapixel front camera and eight megapixel rear camera with autofocus and dual flash and full HD (1080p) for super-sharp video. The rear camera is also equipped with high-quality BSI sensors and a Largan lens. It features a MediaTek Quad Core Cortex A7 processor running at up to 1.3 GHz and 1GB RAM for a faster experience.

For more information please visit: www.ubuntu.com.

-Ends-

Supporting Quotes:

Jesus Noguera, Head of Marketing, at amena.com, says; “As the smartphones market in Spain continues to experience massive growth, we’re excited about Ubuntu and the new opportunities it brings for differentiation to our handset offerings.”

Mike Fairman, CEO of giffgaff, the UK’s leading PAYG network says: “Ubuntu is a fresh new option for our valued and engaged users and we are pleased to offer our competitive goodybags to customers purchasing the Ubuntu Edition device direct from BQ.”

Bruno Santos, head of devices at PT Portugal, says; “As the smartphone industry continues to experience massive growth, we’re excited about Ubuntu and the new opportunities for differentiation and adding value to both end-users and operators.”

Enrique Borras, CEO, at Fiabee, says; “We’ve developed HTLM5 applications for other mobile platforms, which have proven successful among users. It’s been really easy to get those apps ready for Ubuntu because it supports mainstream HTML5.”

Scott Sedlik, General Manager & Vice President EMEA, INRIX says; “INRIX data will provide users of the world’s first Ubuntu smartphone with instant access to real-time traffic intelligence via Canonical’s revolutionary Scopes system. Users will enjoy the most accurate traffic incident information, as well as have access to live traffic camera feeds and off-street parking locations and live parking availability. With INRIX traffic intelligence easily accessible from the home screen, users will be empowered to reach their destinations more quickly and efficiently, saving time, fuel and frustration.”

Dave Cook, CDO, at TimeOut, says; “We’re excited to see Ubuntu phones arrive in the market. With a completely new approach to content delivery, it is bucking the app trend, making the first steps to bringing a new phone to market possible.”

Mike Zarrilli, Vice President of International The Weather Channel says; “The Weather Channel’s partnership with Ubuntu supports our mission to strive to reach users wherever they are, regardless of platform, to deliver the content that they want to consume, whenever they want to consume it.”

Ian Hogarth, CEO atSongkick says; “Scopes are a great user experience for fans who don’t want to miss their favourite artists live.”

“Scopes are an excellent way for us to quickly create a user experience for Ubuntu phone, allowing users to access our content on their new mobile phone without heavily investing in development and maintenance.” Carlos Relloso, CDO de Prisa Noticias. 

About BQ

BQ is a Spanish consumer electronics and software development company. It is one of the main European technology players, with a presence in more than 40 countries. It operates in the sector of multimedia devices, 3D printing and educational robotics and is one of the companies most committed to the DIY and open source philosophy.

About Canonical

Canonical produces Ubuntu, the leading open-source platform for cloud, personal computing and next-generation devices.

Ubuntu introduces a new mobile experience for phone users, a smarter ecosystem dynamic for developers, and unprecedented differentiation opportunities for carriers and device manufacturers. Ubuntu ships on millions of PCs annually, aimed at education, government and enterprise markets.  Ubuntu also enables next-generation devices at the heart of the internet of things.

Ubuntu is used in 80% of production OpenStack cloud deployments worldwide. Canonical’s scale-out expertise and orchestration technology enable software-defined-networks and storage, providing the platform of choice for network equipment providers and operators.