The firm behind the much anticipated Ubuntu Edge has been forced to abandon the smartphone project after it failed to meet an ambitious $32 million crowdfunding target on Thursday.
The Ubuntu Edge, a hybrid smartphone-PC device that was designed to run on Ubuntu's open source software as well as Google's Android, had generated substantial interest among tech enthusiasts.
The crowdfunding effort raised $12.8 million, but fell nearly $19.2 million short of its aim. It did, however, beat the previous record for the most money pledged via crowdfunding of $10.2 million.
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Canonical, the company which was developing the phone, said there were some positive takeaways from the crowdfunding drive, which was hosted on the website Indiegogo.
"If you watch the reaction to the product and the speed at which pledges were made, and the fact we broke records, it proves the need and desire for a device like this," Jane Silber, Canonical's CEO told CNBC.
Silber said the project was the first of its kind and this may have put off potential investors.
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