> Ubuntu has already been adapted to run on chipsets using the ARM and Intel x86 architectures relevant for mobile devices, with the core system based around a typical Android Board Support Package (BSP). So chipset vendors and hardware manufacturers do not need to invest in or maintain new hardware support packages for Ubuntu on smartphones. In short, if you already make handsets that run Android, the work needed to adopt Ubuntu will be trivial.
Also I think since kernel 3.3 Android uses the exact same kernel as other Linux distros. The Android kernel got merged with the normal Linux kernel. So I don't see why it would be a problem for them to use the same kernel.
There has been a lot of great ARM work lately in mainline too but there are still quite a few drivers missing that you can't even get docs for (even with signing NDAs) so the drivers for mainline get written based on the BSP-ish kernel drivers which aren't always written the best.
It was mentioned in the keynote video, towards the very end ~21:00.
"As already teased and promised, today Canonical is taking the wraps off the mobile version of Ubuntu, which is built around the existing Android kernel and drivers, but doesn't use a Java Virtual Machine and promises to use "the full power of the phone.""
http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/2/3827922/ubuntu-phone-os-ann...
I got confused with all the simultaneous news articles so sorry about the "it says" part.
Where did you see that? Are you sure you're not confusing it with the "Ubuntu for Android" project? That is a different project from this.
I don't think an Ubuntu phone will have anything to do with Android. It's its own OS, and you won't see it on all phones or anything like that - just on the "Ubuntu phones" that will be shipping starting with 2014. They might port it to some existing hardware like Galaxy Nexus for demo purposes, though, the way Mozilla did with Firefox OS on Galaxy S2.