Ubuntu 2-in-1

The mobile revolution may have put computers in our pockets, but we've also ended up with all kinds of different-sized devices -- you may well be walking round with a phone, a tablet and a laptop in your bag before you sit down at your desktop PC. The new BQ Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition goes someway to solving that, as it's a tablet that also works as a laptop and a desktop.

Built by Spanish company BQ, the 10-inch M10 is the first tablet to use the Ubuntu operating system. It joins the Ubuntu Editions of the Aquaris E4.5 and E5 HD smartphones and the MX4 smartphone built by China's Meizu.

Ubuntu is a long-established open-source operating system originally for computers, beloved among developers and tinkerers looking for an alternative to Windows or Macs. But in recent years, Canonical, the British company behind Ubuntu, has expanded the operating system so it works in other devices, from phones to drones. The unique selling point is that the same software underpins phones, tablets and computers, unlike, say, Apple's mobile devices and computers, which have similar-looking but very different software.

The advantage of this converged approach is that the tablet can also essentially become a laptop or a desktop computer just by plugging in a monitor via the HDMI port or connecting a keyboard and mouse via Bluetooth. The interface changes from a touch-friendly tablet interface to a desktop interface for use with keyboard and mouse. Apps go from full-screen to floating windows you can resize and move around, just like you see on Windows and Mac computers.