Each can be set to load by default, and once you’re inside AIOS you can choose any of the other platforms to switch to. Since Android, Ubuntu and Chrome OS lack that menu option, a double-press of the button on the Beagleboard opens up an OS switcher. AI is suggesting that each other platform has its own unique benefits: Android has the most polished browsing experience, Ubuntu has the most apps, and Chrome OS is unique as it’s apparently the first time the platform is running on OMAP3/4 hardware.

That latter point may well be particularly important as we see Texas Instruments’ OMAP4 chipsets arrive on the market; as we saw at MWC 2011, the new platform is capable of camera-based gesture recognition, multiple HD video streams and more, functionality which would be particularly interesting in a Chrome OS notebook. You can download AI’s Super-Jumbo here, and pick up a Beagleboard here for $149.

[Thanks Ali!]

Compulab actually have two versions they’re showing: the slimline model we’ve seen already, and a thicker version that offers a 2.5-inch internal hard-drive bay. OS can either be loaded onto a microSD card in a dedicated slot, onto the 32GB SSD in the slimline Trim Slice, or onto the HDD of the bigger model. It’ll launch with Ubuntu, but the company is working on adding Android 3.0 Honeycomb support by the time the tiny desktop launches.

Compulab expects the first Trim Slice units to ship at the end of April 2011, with pricing at around $250 for the SSD version or around $300 for the HDD version when they hit stores. At that price, we could see it being very popular among both consumers and developers.

The Nexus S, while running the different Operating System, isn’t a perfect handset, and if you’re thinking about doing this, you should definitely not do it on your personal, every day device. stroughtonsmith points out that, as of right now, the touchscreen isn’t working. However, he says that is something to do with his kernel, and that it should be fixed soon.

stroughtonsmith used the same Ubuntu image that was used in the HD2 process, but he used the same process to bring Ubuntu to the device that he used bringing MeeGo to the handset. Of course, there’s instructions through the source link below, and we shouldn’t have to say that you should be extremely careful when attempting anything like this, on any device. So tread carefully, if you do decide to step forward.

[via XDA; thanks, Steven!]

The OS supports multitouch and, since it’s the netbook edition, will have chunky, finger-friendly buttons making it somewhat more suited to tablet use. Unfortunately, that Atom processor probably means battery life won’t be stellar, though instant-on is rumored. There’s obviously a hunger out there for Ubuntu tablets: there’s already been a project to get the OS running on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab.

[via Slashdot]

SlashQUOTE
Today’s item of interest in The Daily Slash is a quote from the Professor / Writer / Inventer of the Internet Tim Berners-Lee as he writes an article called “Long Live the Web” about defending the Internet against those who would limit it in a variety of ways. I suggest you read the entire thing because it’s a masterfully written statement and it concerns us all, all of us internetlings.

Why should you care? Because the Web is yours. It is a public resource on which you, your business, your community and your government depend. The Web is also vital to democracy, a communications channel that makes possible a continuous worldwide conversation. The Web is now more critical to free speech than any other medium. It brings principles established in the U.S. Constitution, the British Magna Carta and other important documents into the network age: freedom from being snooped on, filtered, censored and disconnected.

[Via Scientific American]

R3 Media Network

Android Community
Motorola Droid X, 2, & Pro with HTC Droid Incredible on Sale for 1 Penny at Amazon
POV Mobii TEGRA tablet offers more budget Tegra 2 Android
Pocket Legends MMO lands for Android devices [WHOOOA]
Schlage LiNK system gets Android app support
Droid and EVO Dominate Android Traffic
Droid Pro $99 At BestBuy [CHEEP]
Terrifying People-Face Fingers Play with Samsung Galaxy Tab in New Ad [Video] [SCARY]
Free NFL Streaming from Verizon this weekend only
Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor V3 coming
HTC Hero Maintenance Release rolling out now

SlashGear
iPhone business alone worth more than all but 10 firms tip number-crunchers
Nook Color Unboxing and Hands-on [FEATURED]
Cox “Unbelievably Fair” wireless launches: pays cash for unused minutes
Google to wipe accidental UK Street View data to escape further inquiry
Urban Ears TANTO Multicolor headphones are thankfully limited edition [BLECH]
Amazon launches Kindle ebook gifting
Sony Ericsson dismisses Windows Phone 7 and tablet rumors
World iPad with multi-mode GSM/CDMA modem tipped for 2011
Geeks get Ubuntu working on Samsung Galaxy Tab
Samsung Orion tablet gets previewed ahead of presumed 2011 debut
Astronomers discover planet originating outside our galaxy circling a dying star [FIRST]
Advent Vega “unprecedented demand” sees slate sell out in hours [Updated]
NewerTech USB 3.0 Universal Drive Adapter makes any drive an external storage solution
ARM in Google TV talks over cheaper, energy-frugal STBs
Angry Birds devs admit lightweight version in works for underpowered Android phones
Advent Vega tablet now shipping: Tegra 2 slate for £249 [Update: Sold out!]
Myspace “mashup” opens door to Facebook invasion [THE APOCALYPSE COMETH]
Verizon HTC Merge gets premature preview
iPad 2 Up, Samsung Galaxy Tab Down & Tablets Out for the Count [COLUMN]
Cut, Copy and Hate [COLUMN]
id Software Co-Founder Says iPad is More Powerful Than Wii
Palm Mansion to Feature 5-Inch Display, webOS 2.0 Coming to All Devices Soon [UPDATE: Palm's Josh Marinacci Video Speech Added] [ALL PALM DEVICES, ALL OF THEM]
White iPhone 4 on Sale in China [I SMELL TROUBLE]
Rod Whitby of webOS Internals Details Roadmap for Preware 2.0
Bungie is Looking for Beta Testers, You Could be One
NOOKcolor Demo [FEATURED]
Gorilla Glass Demo [PLUS: How Gorilla Glass Works - Chemically!] [FEATURED]
Checking Out the Samsung MD23 Three Screen LCD Monitor [FEATURED]
A Week with the HTC HD7: Xbox LIVE & Final Thoughts [FEATURED]

A Week with the HTC HD7
A Week with the HTC HD7: Hardware
A Week with the HTC HD7: Software
A Week with the HTC HD7: the Apps [Updated]
A Week with the HTC HD7: Xbox LIVE & Final Thoughts

To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up]

Some guys over at XDA forum have added Ubuntu to the Galaxy Tab. The user that did the deed first goes by the handle dviera88. He used directions that were posted by another user going by BThomas22x for installing Ubuntu on the Samsung Epic.

Before you can follow the directions for installing Ubuntu on the Epic with your Tab, you need to root the Tab. You will also need Busybox, Superuser, the Android SDK, AndroidVNC, and Terminal Emulator. Once you have all that software you are ready. Dviera88 says the instructions for the epic worked perfectly for the Tab. Let us know if you pull this off.

Via Android Community

That could happen within a month, according to Canonical, though the organization declined to comment on the speculation as to which company could be manufacturing it.  Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition includes a new UI, called Unity, which is specifically designed for smaller displays; it also supports touch and gestures for devices like tablets.  An Ubuntu Light version can boot into a functional state in just seven seconds, with a browser and messaging apps.

Press Release:

Latest Ubuntu Version Puts Focus on Consumers and Mobile
Ubuntu 10.10 adds features for desktop and netbook users

London, October 7, 2010: Canonical today announced the upcoming availability of Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop and Netbook Editions for download on Sunday, October 10.

Focused on home and mobile computing users, Ubuntu 10.10 introduces an array of online and offline applications to Ubuntu Desktop Edition with a particular focus on the personal cloud. Ubuntu Netbook Edition users will experience an all-new desktop interface called ‘Unity’ — specifically tuned for smaller screens and computing on the move.

Ubuntu One, the personal cloud service for Ubuntu users, includes new services and expanded features, significant performance enhancements and interoperability with other operating systems including Google’s Android, Apple’s iPhone and Microsoft Windows.

The Ubuntu Software Centre, which gives users instant access to thousands of applications, games and tools, now includes the ability to purchase commercial applications, providing a unified portal for both free and commercial software. The Ubuntu community is putting renewed focus on attracting application developers and software publishers to make their work available to Ubuntu users. The universe of applications, both free and commercial, certified on Ubuntu continues to grow.

“Ubuntu 10.10 for desktops and netbooks is our most consumer-friendly release yet,” said Jane Silber, CEO of Canonical. “Ubuntu One’s personal cloud services will put Ubuntu at the heart of many users’ computing worlds even when they need or prefer to use other platforms. Unity has the opportunity to change how we think about our use of computers and the Software Centre will bridge Ubuntu with the applications users need to switch to the world’s best OS.”

Ubuntu One Basic, available free of charge, provides a personal cloud for sharing and syncing files, contacts, bookmarks and notes, with 2GB of free storage, access to music from the integrated store and (new in 10.10) a beta client for Windows allowing users to integrate their Windows and Ubuntu worlds.

As part of the paid Ubuntu One Mobile service, applications are now available for Android and iPhone so users can stream their music collections from their personal cloud to their mobile devices and synchronize contacts. Users might find that they need extra capacity so 20GB blocks of additional storage can be purchased on demand.

Unity is a new interface for Ubuntu that is making its debut in Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition. It is designed for highly mobile computing, making the most of precious screen space on mobile devices. The Unity interface also supports touch and gestures for the increasing number of devices that will support it, with larger icons and a more touch-intuitive interface.

Pricing and availability
Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop Edition is available free of charge for download from Sunday, October 10 from http://www.ubuntu.com.
Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition (featuring the Unity interface) is available free of charge for download from Sunday, October 10 from http://www.ubuntu.com.
Existing Ubuntu users can upgrade directly from Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.
Ubuntu One is available from http://one.ubuntu.com.
Ubuntu One Basic is free of charge.
Ubuntu One Mobile costs USD $3.99 per month or USD $39.99 annually.
Ubuntu One 20-pack storage costs USD $2.99 per month or USD $29.99 annually for each 20GB package.
Ubuntu Software Centre and its applications can be accessed from the Ubuntu Applications menu.

Video demo after the cut

It’s still not perfect – battery life is a mere 4hrs, primarily it seems because Ubuntu isn’t giving any thought to ultraportable frugality, there’s no sound, video, 3D graphics or webcam support, and it’s prone to crashing – but considering the progress over just a weekend it’s all impressive stuff.  Carrypad is also wondering if the same hack will work on the upcoming Toshiba Folio 100 slate.

So far this has all been the handiwork of a few dedicated third-parties, but it seems Toshiba has woken up and taken some interest itself.  The company has tasked “Mr. AC100″ to look into an official Ubuntu port for the AC100 including drivers for graphics, sound, functions keys, and outputs like the HDMI port.  No promises at this stage, but it’s all looking pretty hopeful.

It’s not quite at everyday-use stage yet; so far the boot hangs at around the point where the photo above was taken.  That means we don’t know quite what will run and what won’t, or what sort of battery life we can expect.  Still, assuming the process gets polished – and there are people working on it – then this could be a new lease of life for what’s otherwise a particularly niche product.

The prototype is within a future build of their Operating System, and utilizes facial recognition, as well as proximity and orientation sensors to tell where, and how you’re sitting in front of your PC’s display. The system will then react to your position, dependent upon what you’re doing. For example, if you pop down to watch a movie, and you instinctively lean back in your chair, then the system will automatically put the video into full screen mode, so you can see it better.

Other features include full screen notifications, so that if you happen to walk away from your PC and you get notified of something, you’ll be able to see it from another room, perhaps. Unfortunately, the company hasn’t outlined when the prototype software will become publicly usable or available, but obviously after watching the video, we can’t wait.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/14959854[/vimeo]

[via PC World]

Video demo after the cut

Rather than wiping out the basic Android OS – which would rather limit your phone’s abilities to be, well, a phone – the Ubuntu install runs alongside the original platform.  The terminal runs in the background, while the Ubuntu X11 UI shows up in the Android VNC app.

Basically, once you’ve installed you can then run just about any Ubuntu code you like, as long as it can deal with the Nexus One’s 1GHz processor.  Your handset will need to be rooted beforehand, and NexusOneHacks says they also have it running on an HTV EVO 4G so even if you don’t have the official Google phone you may still be in luck.

[via Android Community]

Video demo after the cut

Since this is a reference design SurfaceInk are still tweaking the specs; right now there’s WiFi b/g, HDMI, Bluetooth 2.1 and USB 2.0, together with a single, front-facing camera, but they also have versions with dual cameras.  The display is a multi-mode touchscreen supporting capacitive multitouch finger-control and a stylus; meanwhile the company is working on an Android build, too.

As for smaller devices, SurfaceInk are working on a 7-inch version of the larger reference design, together with collaborating with Freescale on an 8.9-inch slate with edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass that they reckon could have a retail price of around $350.  Of course, that’s assuming a manufacturer jumps on board, but were that to happen SurfaceInk reckons they could see products on shelves in under eight months or so.

First and foremost, the new OS promises that the system is noticeably quicker on any machine it runs on, especially those that feature SSDs. What’s better though, are the wide range of features that they’ve thrown in: a social networking “Me Menu,” and Ubuntu’s Software Centre 2.0, which provides you an easy access portal for acquiring new software. There’s cloud-based services like Ubuntu One music store, thrown in for good measure.

There’s also Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition, which promotes faster boot speeds (even faster than what you’re already getting), along with a few other optimizations for the smaller form factor. The “Lucid Lynx” is available right now for your downloading pleasure, and one look at the screenshot above, and we can understand why you’d want it, if the features don’t speak for themselves. If you do download it, let us know what you think!

[via Slashdot]

Besides this operating system change up, not much else is different about this notebook than the Vista version. It has a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4GB of RAM. However, the Vista version can be upgraded to 6GB or 8GB of RAM.

The Windows-running notebook can also add on mobile broadband, if you’d like. The price tag is still the same, however, starting at $1,099. You can get the Dell Studio XPS 13.3-inch notebook with Ubuntu now.

[via Electronista]

There are also some fresh specifications, including dimensions and weight.  The SmartQ 7 measures 200 x 120 x 24 mm and tips the scales at 0.5kg.  It also has WiFi, Bluetooth and a TV output, and SmartQ claim its rechargeable battery is good for up to 48hrs of continuous music playback.

SlashGear’s old friend Steve Paine has a SmartQ 7 on order from Chinese retailer Electroworld, paying the rough equivalent of $280 including German taxes (19-percent) and shipping.  That’s around the third of the cost of a traditional UMPC such as the Samsung Q1EX, which is one reason why would-be buyers are so intrigued.

Working so closely with Canonical will mean that ARM can offer OEMs custom tailored integrations of chipset and OS, and do so at a fast pace.  The shift in focus is being described as a natural evolution for the two companies; according to an interview with LaptopMag both 8.9-inch and 10-inch systems are being considered, and ARM are not counting out working with Microsoft as well as Ubuntu.

“The always-on experience available with mobile devices is rapidly expanding to new device categories such as netbooks, laptops and other internet connected products. Working with Canonical will pave the way for the development of new features and innovations to all connected platforms” Ian Drew, vice president of Marketing, ARM

Of most interest to consumers will be the allure of all-day battery life.  If ARM can manage to replicate the netbook experience that users are used to, but stretch out use-time without needing to add a huge-capacity battery, they’ll present a strong challenge to Intel.  Expect the first Ubuntu ARM distribution in April 2009.