Ubuntu

Enthusiasts using HTC phone decided to “modify” their Android device to make it run Ubuntu operating system. People at the XDA Developers forum have worked on HTC Desire to boot Ubuntu natively.

The new firmware was developed by "Bergfex" and was originally based off a Ubuntu developer thread for the Desire HD from late last year. The procedure of hacking involved putting zip files in particular places like SD card and PC and then switching the phone to the bootloader mode. After that the phone is connected to the computer and restarted to get the old ROM loading.

A Ubuntu-based computer tablet is rumored to come in early 2011. "A new Linux powered tablet is on it's way!" writes Andrew Sykes, publisher of the China-based gadget site Gizchina.

Sykes cites unnamed sources and says that the tablet tunning Ubuntu Netbook 10.10 will be powered by an Intel 1.6 GHz Atom and will include 2GB of RAM and a 32GB SSD.

Future versions of Ubuntu may include a technology that allows users to control the operating system without input device and instead show with their motions what they want the machine to do. Canonical is conducting corresponding experiments to achieve this aim.

Rather, with the aid of hardware sensors such as cameras, Ubuntu could "see" and respond to users' whole-body movements, recognizing when they are and aren't there and reacting accordingly.

Canonical is considering new features to add to Ubuntu platform in a move to make the Linux distributive look more competitive and matching to the industry leaders. The company is working on architectural changes to put Ubuntu into in-car systems, tablets, set-top-boxes, and what director of business development Chris Kenyon called "the digital home or something you carry around". But smartphones are not in the list of priorities.

"We're not thinking about the phone base," Keynon said.