Nokia’s Internet Tablet devices are set to get a port of the Linux operating system Ubuntu, following the release of the latest ‘Hardy Heron’ v8.04 of Ubuntu this week.
The news also follows the announcement that Nokia is currently in the process of acquiring Qt developer, Trolltech.
Nokia informed Ars Technica that it is currently “exploring cross-platform possibilities between ITOS and Series60, and that it wants to see if GTK+ and Qt can coexist on the tablets like they do on the Linux desktop.”
Ubuntu sets internet alight
“There's no doubt that the net will be alight with torrent packets as the leagues of Ubuntu acolytes struggle to be among the first to get their hands on Hardy Heron," Nick Veitch, editor of PC Answers magazine told TechRadar.
“For desktop users, it includes some of the very latest open source technologies and software from the world of open source," he added.
“What could be more telling for the future is how many downloads the server edition scores - Canonical really need to get the IT suits to buy into the Ubuntu story as well as the Linux diehards.”
As for Ubuntu on mobiles, Veitch adds: "Ubuntu has also seen some action in the mobile space, with Nokia sponsoring a port of the world's favourite Linux flavour for their tablet devices, but as the company also acquired Trolltech for their Qt and Qtopia technologies, it seems unlikely that Ubuntu on every handset is something we'll see anytime soon."
