I've used Ubuntu on the desktop since 2004 so this is an exciting development. From the video and screenshots the design is really polished and the UI/UX well-thought-out. I really want to see this succeed but have doubts. The mobile market is already crowded with competition from Apple and Android, not to mention second-tier players (Microsoft, Blackberry) gunning for a larger slice of the pie.
Even if Ubuntu achieves a modicum of success, their entry into the market means yet another platform that mobile developers must target (I'm not counting web apps since those can be supported equally with minimum effort across platforms). It's a wonder that Ubuntu chose to create another binary mobile development platform instead of adopting Java (leveraging the skills of existing Android devs) and calling it good enough.
Without Android API the skills of existing Android developers (well, the platform-specific part) are irrelevant.
Java otherwise is a lackluster language with VM that still has 64K bytecode segments in 21st century, owned by a particular corporation seemingly intent on driving it into the ground. There is no reason using it with a clean start.
Even if Ubuntu achieves a modicum of success, their entry into the market means yet another platform that mobile developers must target (I'm not counting web apps since those can be supported equally with minimum effort across platforms). It's a wonder that Ubuntu chose to create another binary mobile development platform instead of adopting Java (leveraging the skills of existing Android devs) and calling it good enough.