ASUS has released the bootloader unlock tool for the Eee Pad Transformer Prime this morning, and developers have wasted no time in opening up the Tegra 3 tablet to Ubuntu. Prime owner littlesteve had a Ubuntu build prepped and waiting for just this day, though there are still some hardware issues to iron out: no touchscreen support, for instance, so that a Bluetooth mouse is necessary for navigation.
Canonical has finally brought Ubuntu to the mobile world, and not as a tiny mobile OS for use on a 4-inch display - no - for desktop use FROM that mobile device. What Ubuntu is doing here is sitting on an Android device (they used a Motorola Atrix 2 for testing purposes, ironically enough*) which reveals the software only when the device is plugged into a large display with its HDMI port. This build works as a virtualized environment as an app in Android 2.3 Gingerbread AOSP build at the kernel level.
![AI runs Android, Chrome OS, Ubuntu & more on Beagleboard simultaneously [Video]](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/ai_super-jumbo.jpg)
Last we heard of Always Innovating, the company was talking about its Smart Book hybrid, a combination tablet and netbook, similar in concept to the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer. Now they're talking Beagleboard, and more specifically their custom environment, Super-Jumbo, to run Android 2.3, Ubuntu Maverick 10.10, Chrome OS and AI's own AIOS simultaneously on the OMAP3-based 'board.
Just when our eyes had glazed over at the Tegra 2 torrent of tablets and smartphones, along came Compulab with its Trim Slice ultra-compact desktop PC using the NVIDIA chipset. Packing the 1080p-capable SoC in a tiny, fanless metal enclosure, complete with HDMI and Dual-Link DVI ports for twin displays, 1GB of RAM, WiFi b/g/n and gigabit ethernet, we instantly started imagining places for it under our HDTV or tucked in the corner of our desk. ARMDevices caught up with Compulab this week as they brought the Trim Slice to its first trade show; check out the video demo and more details after the cut.
There's no doubt at this point that the Nexus S from Samsung, which out of the box runs Android's latest version of Android (2.3), is a versatile device. We've already seen the handset boot up MeeGo, and now the developer is at it again. This time, though, we've got Ubuntu loading up on the device. The XDA developer forum member, stroughtonsmith -- or Steven Troughton-Smith-- has gone through the same method of bringing MeeGo to the device, but focusing his attention on Ubuntu this time around.
Android tablets may be Linux-based, but if you're more interested in Ubuntu then a new Chinese slate from TENQ might satisfy instead. The TENQ P07 has been spotted over at Gizchina, and reportedly runs Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" on a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor with 2GB of RAM and a 32GB SSD.
It's a [FEATURED] fantasy today! We've got columns and special posts by the barrel-full, and you're gonna love em! First thing in the morning we got a pre-noon delivery from the FedEx truck - what did the FedEx man bring for us to unbox and get our hands on? A NOOKcolor, fresh off the factory line! Then we write a couple of columns: one on the raging state of the Tablets market, and one on the current quick-paced state of political news. Then Josh Marinacci says webOS will be available soon for ALL Palm devices, there's a White iPhone 4 sale in China, and the feature stream begins. Last night our man Vince was at PEPCOM and brought back video demos of Gorilla Glass, a three screen monitor from Samsung, and a NOOKcolor. Finally (there's more?!) the last installment of Evan's Week with the HTC HD7 is up - Xbox LIVE! All this and even MORE on The Daily Slash!
You can always tell the geeks by the hardware and gadgets they use. Sure, your mom might get a Galaxy Tab, but will her Tab be running something as geeky as Ubuntu? I think not. If you are the sort of geek that lives to add alternative OS's to hardware it wasn't meant to run on, we have a project for you.
Open-source addicts have been eagerly awaiting Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop Edition and Netbook Edition, and Canonical has confirmed they won't have long to wait for it; both versions will go up for download on October 10 2010. Meanwhile, DigiTimes's sources reckon Dell will be the first to out an Ubunto 10.10 based netbook.
Friday's news that open-source tinkerers had managed to get Ubuntu 10.10 up and running on Toshiba's hitherto-Android AC100 smartbook raised a few eyebrows, but the usability of the hack was significantly scuppered by the fact it wouldn't load past the boot screen. That's been ironed out over the weekend, and Carrypad now has video of the AC100 doing its Ubuntu thing.
Video demo after the cut
Toshiba's AC100 is certainly an interesting notebook on the face of it: Tegra 2 processor, full QWERTY and plenty of battery life, but the Android OS does mean it's definitely a companion device and not your sole ultraportable. That could all change, however, now a hack for loading Ubuntu onto the AC100 has been developed; Carrypad pulled together the instructions and files from tosh-ac100.wetpaint.org, ac100.gudinna.com and the official Toshiba forums and managed to get his AC100 up and running with Ubuntu 10.10.
![Ubuntu Prototype Showcases Face Recognition to Manipulate User Interface [Video]](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Ubuntu-Face.png)
For now, our computers are still generally accessed by the soon-to-be-old-fashioned keyboard and mouse. Even as touchscreens grow in popularity, we're still not losing our main points of input quite yet. But, that doesn't mean the PC has to stay in the "now" forever. Thanks to Christian Giordano, it's been revealed at the Canonical design blog that Ubuntu is currently in the process of creating a prototype that uses facial recognition, plus other sensors, to allow users all new ways to interact with their PC.