Canonical announces "Anbox Cloud" that can run Android services in the cloud

Canonical is best known for Ubuntu Linux, as Ubuntu has the advantage in the cloud as the virtual machine (VM) OS used by many. But now Canonical is about to start a new business. It is "Anbox Cloud" that builds an "Android" application platform on an Ubuntu-based cloud. In addition to cloud gaming, enterprise workplace applications, software testing, mobile device virtualization, etc. are envisioned as use cases.

When you hear Android, everyone thinks of the OS on their smartphones, not the cloud. Still, both users and independent software vendors (ISVs) want to take advantage of demanding Android applications on larger smartphones, such as high-end games.

These new approaches to demanding apps, such as games, depend on the widespread adoption of 4G LTE, the ultimate on track of 5G, and the momentum of edge computing. These technological advances will enable smartphones to deliver rich gaming and specialized applications in areas such as manufacturing, retail, logistics, transportation, and healthcare. However, using these apps on tablets and smartphones has one major drawback. It lacks the power of processors and graphics to run high-end applications. That's where Anbox Cloud comes in.

Anbox Cloud allows developers to develop graphics-intensive, memory-intensive mobile games and other applications. Such applications can scale to a large number of users while still achieving the responsiveness and ultra-low latency that gamers demand. Instead of downloading the game, it runs the Android game in SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) mode. It also provides protected content distribution channels for ISVs.

Canonical explains that Anbox Cloud is based on a variety of the company's technologies. Anbox Cloud runs containerized Android apps on the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS kernel. Containerization is done by an isolated and secure "LXD" system container. These containers are much lighter than VMs. For Anbox Cloud service providers, this means more than double the density of applications compared to running Android apps on VMs.

MAAS (Metal-as-a-Service) is used for remote infrastructure provisioning. Canonical's open source DevOps tool, Juju, provides automated tools that make deployment and management easier and lower operating costs. If you need technical support to run Anbox Cloud and its components, Ubuntu Advantage support is available. This will provide continuous support and security updates for up to 10 years.