Canonical
on 2 June 2009
Computex starts on June 2 in Taipei and, as every year, sees the world’s PC industry come together to discuss the development of the next generation of notebooks, netbooks and soon-to-be-released products. Canonical has been attending for the last three years and now, if the announcements are any indication, is very much at the centre of things.
We will be demonstrating the Moblin v2 version of the Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR), which is based on the current beta code from Intel. We are also announcing our intention to develop a version based on the full release of Moblin v2, which we expect will be available very shortly.
Screen grab of Ubuntu Moblin Remix (beta technology; not released)
The Intel collaboration does not stop there. We are also announcing the availability of UNR, tuned specifically for the new Intel classmate PC. The new classmate PCs feature swivel-screens that can be laid flat like tablets. They also support touch and automatically adjust for portrait and landscape depending on how the child orientates the PC. UNR supports all these features and is available as a pre-install option immediately, by contract with Canonical.
Our work with Intel is reasonably well-known so it is an encouraging sign of growth to be included in a number of other announcements from major players in the industry. We will announce the results of collaborative work with SanDisk on its new solid state drives. Our engineering teams have worked to optimise the Ubuntu experience on these drives, which are a key component in the netbook space and increasingly the notebook space too. The seek times we have seen are very impressive compared with the most common hard disk drives found on most notebooks today.
Real Networks is announcing the availability of its Real Player for Mobile Devices for Ubuntu. This media player and codec pack is available to original equipment manufacturers planning to ship Ubuntu on any machine type. A marquee name media player shows the progress Ubuntu has made towards becoming a mainstream choice. There are no plans currently to make this available for consumer purchase.
So, Computex is going to be fun. Our Taiwanese office (based in the rather-tall Taipei 101 building) continues to grow as do our activities on the island and, indeed, in the People’s Republic of China. It’s going to be a busy show but one that I think will see more progress towards Ubuntu becoming the open platform of choice for industry and consumers alike.
Gerry Carr – Head of Platform Marketing