Ubuntu-powered smartphones are expected by the end of the year

Android rival Ubuntu Touch takes a step closer to reality today as the first manufacturers commit to making Ubuntu-powered phones. The first mobile device manufacturers to greenlight Ubuntu phones are BQ in Spain and Meizu in China, who not only rhyme but also have plans for phones billed as “mid- to high-end” devices. They’ll be on sale this year.

Ubuntu, one of the most popular versions of the Linux open source operating system, is set to arrive on smartphones by the end of the year. Today, Canonical — the company that develops Ubuntu — announced partnerships with Spanish hardware designer bq and the Chinese mobile device company Meizu, saying that both would introduce phones over the next 10 months. The news is part of wider movement towards Linux phones across the world and particularly in Asia, where the open source OS can feed