While Ubuntu images for the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 have already hit, there is currently no official tablet announced that is being designed around Ubuntu. Does that mean Canonical doesn’t have any hardware partners or simply have yet to reveal them? That’s hard to say at this point.

We do know that an Australian manufacturer has now jumped the gun and announced the first Ubuntu tablet – but it doesn’t seem to be anything ‘officially’ connected with Canonical, nor does it look too impressive. Of course, Ubuntu is open-source by nature so any company can likely install the OS on their hardware if they so choose.

The company is called Intermatrix and the tablet is the U7, a 1.5GHz quad-core Cortex A9 tablet with a quad-core Vivante GC1000+ GPU, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a 7-inch display and front/back webcams.

How do we know this isn’t backed by Canonical? We can’t say for 100% sure it isn’t since the company behind Ubuntu hasn’t denied the U7′s existence yet, but nor have they confirmed or promoted it.

So is this worth getting when it arrives, regardless of whether it is an ‘official’ Canonical partner or not? There are certainly a few red flags here.

First, even though the Nexus 7 has an official image despite having just 1GB of RAM, Ubuntu is aiming for all ‘commercial’ tablets to have at least 2GB. Those who have tried the Nexus 7′s Ubuntu image have noted that it was a pretty laggy experience.

The second flag is that timing. Canonical has said before that Ubuntu won’t get official (release-ready) phone support until January of 2014, and tablet support until April 2014. The U7 is claiming it will ship it will ship in October of this year. Right now the pre-orders for the U7 are set at $299 AU (about $307), though there is a “10% discount” that bring the price to about $274. Intermatrix does not guarntee shipping date, price or final specs for the tablet.

The bottom-line is that while this probably isn’t a “scam, it is likely a company trying to take advantage of early hype for the upcoming OS.

Personally, I wouldn’t pre-order just yet. Commercial Ubuntu tablets are at least a year away, so it might be safer to wait until next year. What do you think of the Intermatrix U7? Interested or not?

The post Intermatrix U7 Claims to be World’s First Ubuntu Tablet appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Today Canonical unveiled their Ubuntu for tablets interface, and it looks every bit as intriguing as what they are attempting to do with Ubuntu for Phones.

The new UI is capable of supporting touch screens from 6-inches up to 20 and looks quite similar to Ubuntu for Phone. There are quite a few interesting features here, like the ability to run phone apps on the right side of the tablet while still running full tablet apps at the same time.

Multi-tasking certainly does look like a priority with Ubuntu for Phones and Tablets, something that personally I believe modern mobile platforms are largely lacking right now.

So when is it coming? Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a specific vendor at the moment, or at least if there is Canonical isn’t yet ready to reveal them. While hardware partners are certainly needed for Ubuntu to take off in the tablet world, the good news is you don’t have to wait that long to try it out.

Both Ubuntu for phone and tablet will be available as a preview starting this Thursday. The phone version will work with the Galaxy Nexus or the Nexus 4. The tablet version is compatible with the Nexus 7 or Nexus 10.

While there is a lot more juicy features about this platform, I think it is best to just watch the official video and let it do the talking to give you a more hands-on look:

I’m personally excited by this one, though I have a feeling it will continue the Ubuntu tradition of being more of a niche product more than anything, despite Canonical’s attempts to take the platform into the mainstream. What do you think of Ubuntu for the tablet, interested or not?

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Recently Canonical unveiled its plans to bring their Linux distro over to the smartphone world this year, and now it looks like the company is preparing for a tablet version of Ubuntu as well.

A new countdown clock has appeared on Ubuntu’s website, alongside the message, “Tick, tock, tablet time!”

So what will today’s announcement bring? A real, branded tablet running Ubuntu or merely a look at “Ubuntu for tablets” running on test hardware like a Nexus 7, Nexus 10 or even an Intel-based Windows tablet? Hard to say for sure.
Either way, hopefully Ubuntu plans to release some images for x86 tablets and perhaps ARM offerings like the Nexus line in the not too distant future.

It is worth noting that the countdown timer ends at the exact same time that the HTC press conference begins today. While this has led to a little fun speculation about HTC unveiling an Ubuntu tablet, Linux fans shouldn’t get their hopes up just yet. Odds are that these two events taking place is merely coincidence and nothing more.

What do you think, do you like the idea of Ubuntu running on a tablet? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

[ source ]

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Last week we introduced to you the Ubuntu phone OS, and that has left us yearning for the ability to test drive it for ourselves.

The good news is that Alan Pope, engineering manager on the product, has now confirmed a version of the Ubuntu phone OS will be released for the Galaxy Nexus in late February for those brave enough to give it a go.

Hopefully with this limited release there will be enough hype created to force  at least a few app makers to consider crafting apps to the OS.  This will also give Canonical a chance to work out any early bugs in the OS.

It’s hard to know exactly what we will be in store for us with Ubuntu OS, but the possibilities for those wanting an easy-to-tinker open OS could be endless.  At any rate, having Linux distro in the palm of your hands is an exciting prospect and one that could open a lot of possibilities beyond the normal Android based handsets. Just don’t expect many (if hardly any) apps to work with your Ubuntu-running Galaxy Nexus when it first arrives.

As for commercial Ubuntu phone hardware? We are probably still looking at nearly a year before such hardware arrives.

Are you chomping at the bit to get your hands on the OS?

[ source ]

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Yesterday we reported that Canonical had a count-down to a new version/feature for Ubuntu. The banner hinted that the news had something to do with touch. Now we have official word, the news is that they will be showing off their Ubuntu phone OS at CES 2013.

Before you get too excited, they might showing off the device to entice developer interest, but they have already confirmed the first full-fledged Ubuntu devices won’t be making their way to the market until early 2014.

The Ubuntu phone OS promises that it will be highly compatible with Android devices, so hardware/phone makers won’t have to do very much to make versions of their hardware that run on Canonical’s mobile OS. The company also promises that the device will be build around the existing Android kernel and drivers, but won’t use a Java Virtual machine, and that means it will allow the OS to use “the full power of the phone” as they say.

Canonical’s chief Mark Shuttleworth says that “Ubuntu for Android” will be their first step towards truly entering into the mobile world. This special version will run on existing Ubuntu devices alongside Android, and will arrive sometime later this year. By 2014, they will have a true/full Ubuntu phone and promise it should be by a high-end Android device maker.

For now, the official developer phone for Ubuntu phone OS is the Galaxy Nexus, which tends to be a favorite for this kind of project, as even Firefox OS utilizes the G-Nexus for testing.

So what kind of special features does Canonical bring to the table? Canonical says that swiping in from the four different edges of the screen will let users switch apps and search for content, they say thumb gestures in general will play a big roll in navigation. Ubuntu hopes to provide a design that is quite a bit different from the competition and claims it will be able to handle multitasking at a level that other mobile operating systems can’t.

What do you think? Interested in the idea of an Ubuntu phone or not? For more details, check out Canonical’s official Ubuntu website.

The post Canonical Unveils Ubuntu Phone OS, Plans to Show It Off At CES appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

There tends to be varying opinions about what Canonical has done in the Linux world over the last few years. Some users love the easier to use and more “pretty” design of Unity, the UI behind the popular Ubuntu OS. Others hate what Ubuntu has become with a passion.

Still, you have to at least give Canonical a little credit for turning Linux into a more mainstream OS in the last few years. While it is still certainly a niche, Ubuntu has appealed to many folks that don’t want spend the money on Apple’s premium hardware/software and are burned out when it comes to Windows.

Going forward, it seems that Ubuntu has many more changes in store. The Ubuntu homepage now prominently displays a banner that says, “So close, you can almost touch it” and is counting down to 8AM ET on Wednesday, January 2nd. More than likely, this pre-CES announcement will show what Ubuntu can bring to the table for mobile devices and even touch desktops and laptops.

For a long time, Canonical has been planning a push into mobile devices, so this isn’t all that surprising. What exactly these touch features and changes look like remain a mystery, however.

Don’t be surprised if at least a few devices at CES that utilize this touch-centric version of Ubuntu. Are you interested in the idea of a mobile/touch experience powered by Ubuntu or not?

[ source ]

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Ubuntu for Android appears to be the most important development for Android since the arrival of Ice Cream Sandwich. But if you are too excited to know more about it before it is officially launched at the upcoming Mobile World Congress, you can check out the demo video below which comes to us via a kind hearted Canonical employee.

Just in case you missed a few things earlier, Ubuntu for Android brings an ARM-based version of Ubuntu into an Android smartphone. When the Android device is connected to a dock or monitor, you will be able to enjoy the Ubuntu desktop UI. When not docked, the device will be just your usual Android smartphone.

As you will see in the clip below, when the Android phone is docked, the full Ubuntu OS comes alive on the computer screen. Ubuntu gets access to the files, folders, contacts and apps on the phone, and the user always stays connected via the handset allowing access to Android alerts right on the desktop. Take a peek at the video to know more.

But unfortunately, there will be limitations. Ubuntu for Android is expected to arrive only with new phones (hopefully before 2013), that is no support for your current phone. And the devices must have at least a dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM and HDMI-out.

But we are excited about checking this out at the MWC. What about you?

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