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Ubuntu Touch for phones and tablets looks great (hands-on pictures)

The elegant new OS for phones and tablets from the people who make Ubuntu puts other Android-rivaling operating systems to shame.

Richard Trenholm
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Richard Trenholm
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BARCELONA, Spain--Ubuntu Touch is a new operating system for mobile devices, challenging Android and Apple's iOS with a combination of native and HTML5 apps. Launched at Mobile World Congress here, CNET went hands-on.
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Ubuntu Touch works the same on both phones and tablets. Here, we see it working on a Google Nexus 4 phone and Nexus 7 tablet.
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Ubuntu takes a bow at phone industry shindig MWC.
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Swipe in from the left to reveal a menu of your favorite apps.
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Swipe down from the top to reveal your messages -- and reply instantly, without opening an app.
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Swipe up from the bottom to reveal a menu of different options, depending on the app.
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The home screens compile your music, video, and other stuff on separate screens, saving you from having to open an app to browse your music, for example.
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Here's another home screen, showing your apps.
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Ubuntu Touch is expected to launch in October, in phones and tablets built by as-yet-unspecified manufacturers.

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