Ubuntu Linux coming to multi-core Android smartphones, tablets this year

Sponsored links, if any, appear in green.

Ubuntu for Android

Canonical, developer of the Ubuntu version of Linux for desktops, has announced that it will be releasing a version of Ubuntu for Android devices this year. Ubuntu for Android is not unlike the Webtop feature that Motorola offers with a number of its smartphones, as it allows a full desktop experience with a docked mobile device.

Ubuntu for Android will require a device that has Android 2.3 Gingerbread or later, a mutli-core processor, and the ability to be docked with HDMI and USB ports. The software will offer a full desktop experience, complete with default apps for email, calendar, and media, and offers access to the phone's native contacts. Incoming calls can be answered in the desktop environment, and users can place outgoing calls directly. Likewise, SMS messages can be sent and received from within Ubuntu for Android.

Like Motorola's Webtop, web browsing sessions between Android and Ubuntu are seamless, so you can pick up where you left off when you undock your device.

Canonical has not said when Ubuntu for Android will be released, but it expects the platform to launch at some point this year. But before you get your hopes up that you'll be able to pick Ubuntu up from the Android Market, it appears that the functionality needs to be baked into devices by device manufacturers.

In any event, the company will be demonstrating Ubuntu for Android at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week, where we hope to get a closer look at it.