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As you guys already know that Canonical has been working on mobile convergence from quite sometime now. Recently I was invited to the Ubuntu tablet press release and saw true convergence being done with new tablet (BQ Aquaris M10 Ubuntu edition) and phone (I think it was Nexus 4), and it was quite satisfactory that how things are going in the right direction.
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Ubuntu Touch 1.0 stable version hands-on video review on Nexus 4 phone and Nexus 7 Tablet

Canonical has released Ubuntu 13.10 desktop and first stable version of Ubuntu Touch for phones & tablets. Ubuntu Touch user interface is aimed to offer the simple solution than other mobile OS like Android, according to canonical. The OS is fairly cool, though. You swipe on the edges of the phone to bring up the app launcher, visit your home screen, multitask, and view menus instead of hardware buttons. The home screen is a bit different than what you see on iOS and Android, showing your open apps along the top and your shortcuts on the bottom. Most of the Canonical's energy has gone into the first stable release of Ubuntu Touch than desktop but some rumors mentioned Canonical didn't ignored Ubuntu desktop. We are constantly testing Ubuntu touch on Nexus devices, After installing first stable release on Nexus 4 we can say you should give a try if you own Nexus 4 but on Nexus 7 Ubuntu Touch stuck with any application, anytime, zero results with this tablet. With Nexus 7 it can be Mir display problem but I couldn't figure out problem.
It runs smooth and fast on Nexus 4 without any problems. I can say at this stage you shouldn't expect this OS to compete with Android since it is first stable release and I am pretty happy with this release (But only on Nexus 4 device).

It is pretty easy to install on Nexus devices, You can follow guide here. For other devices you have to do some hacks and other stuff in order to run Ubuntu Touch, well it is not really easy to install on other devices if you are not developer/expert. You can see other supported devices list and their Ubuntu Touch status here. There is still no news on the release of first device that will come pre-installed with Ubuntu Touch OS, but we shouldn't expect them to appear before early-2014 at least. I can say Ubuntu Touch is stable but off-course it isn't finished yet, till now it's core apps completed 87% out of 100 percent. Battery life with Ubuntu Touch isn't great, it drains battery more quickly than Android.

What is available:
  • Animated lock screen (works perfectly)
  • Web browser (Perfect, also play flash videos but not smooth as expected)
  • Camera (On Nexus 4 front + back with flash works perfectly)
  • Contacts, Dialer, Friends (Online accounts)
  • Gallery (To categorize images)
  • Messaging
  • Update Manager
  • File Manager (Only able to open video files)
  • Shorts (RSS App)
  • Stock Ticker (App)
  • Calculator, Calendar, Clock, Notes (Apps)
  • Music Player (With basic controls)
  • Terminal
  • Files can be transfer via usb cable (only tested under Ubuntu desktop)
  • Sudoku and Dropping Letters Games.
  • Facebook (Much better)
  • Many other applications can be installed with just one click via More Suggestions.
  • Enable/Disable dash plugins.

What left:
  • Twitter App (It is available as webapp but not as expected)
  • Software Manager
  • Video Player (But videos can be played via file manager)
  • Dock Mode (HDMI desktop mode)
  • Ubuntuone (App)
  • File Manager (Lack of features)
  • Email client
  • And many more things are missing.

Question: Should you install it on your device?
At the end I can say at this stage Ubuntu Touch isn't for end users (for daily use) but more for manufacturers and carriers. If you want try it on your device.

Video: Ubuntu Touch on Nexus 4 Phone


Video: Ubuntu Touch on Nexus 7 Tablet


Screenshots

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