Verizon signs on to advisory group for Ubuntu mobile OS

Verizon Wireless joins the Carrier Advisory Group for one of the hopefuls for the No. 3 OS slot behind Android and iOS.

Edward Moyer Senior Editor

Edward Moyer is a senior editor at CNET and a many-year veteran of the writing and editing world. He enjoys taking sentences apart and putting them back together. He also likes making them from scratch. ¶ For nearly a quarter of a century, he's edited and written stories about various aspects of the technology world, from the US National Security Agency's controversial spying techniques to historic NASA space missions to 3D-printed works of fine art. Before that, he wrote about movies, musicians, artists and subcultures.

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Edward Moyer

July 11, 2013 1:43 p.m. PT

2 min read

Ubuntu on the smartphone. Ubuntu/Canonical

Verizon Wireless has joined the Carrier Advisory Group for the Ubuntu mobile operating system, a runner in the race to be the No. 3 mobile OS behind Google's Android and Apple's iOS.

Ubuntu developer Canonical announced Verizon's move in a blog post Thursday.

The Ubuntu Carrier Advisory Group "lets mobile operators shape Ubuntu's mobile strategy," Canonical says on a page devoted to the CAG. "Members receive advance confidential briefings and provide us with industry insight to ensure that Ubuntu meets their needs...Members of the CAG have the opportunity to be a launch partner and gain the right to ship Ubuntu in markets they serve."

The Ubuntu Touch OS won CNET Reviews' best of show award at this year's Mobile World Congress event, one of the premier showcases for smartphones and other mobile technologies. (You can read CNET's hands-on with the OS here.)

Still, plaudits aside, the competition for the third slot in mobile operating systems is intense. And what's more, as CNET News' Roger Cheng has noted, a lack of industry support may mean that such an OS could have a difficult time gaining traction.

Verizon, however, has given a vote of confidence. The Canonical blog post quotes Samir Vaidya, from Verizon's Device Technology team: "Verizon Wireless is joining Ubuntu's Carrier Advisory Group to participate in technology discussions around this new platform, which has the ability to bring new and exciting features to developers and ultimately, customers."