The Ubuntu Touch platform is currently based on Ubuntu 15.04, but it looks like the developers are preparing to move to Ubuntu Snappy, a decision that could open some incredible, new and exciting avenues for the platform, like competing with products such as the Raspberry Pi 2.

Canonical has big plans for the mobile version of the Ubuntu system, which is currently based on Ubuntu 15.04. The developers are not just contented to push out one update after another; they are also working to improve the entire system. From what has been revealed until now, Ubuntu Snappy Core will play an important part in the future of Canonical, and it will become the base for all of their products and that includes the mobile version.

The convergence plan of Canonical aims to bring all the platforms under the same umbrella, meaning that at some point in the future everything in their portfolio will eventually run Ubuntu Snappy Core, in one form or another, whether it's a phone or the desktop.

Ubuntu Touch is moving to Ubuntu Snappy Core

An Ubuntu user asked on the mailing lists if the developers have considered adding a USB GPIO breakout board to the phone. This would give developers access to all the cool stuff in the phones like the sensors for example and provide them with a development platform that would be much more powerful than the current Raspberry Pi 2, for example. It's not an impossible scenario, and it's not all that far-fetched. After all, there is already an Ubuntu Core version for the Raspberry Pi 2.

"You should take a look at Ubuntu snappy then ... it will replace the underlying system on the phone within the next few months (latest by April release, likely a lot earlier) and is already used for drones and robotics today ... with that re-using a phone as a "robot-brain" will be a breeze," wrote Ubuntu developer Oliver Grawert.

There you go, Ubuntu Touch based on Ubuntu Snappy Core and with the power to do much more than just being a phone. It could act like a Raspberry Pi on steroids.