Laptop battery life is something that we all can’t seem to be happy with. No matter how long the battery is able to last, there are always times when we curse into the wind when we get that dreaded battery warning while on the road. However, a new Ubuntu laptop looks to solve those problems […]
So far, it seems that Canonical’s $32 million Ubuntu Edge smartphone Indiegogo campaign has been a roaring success, having raised over $3.5 million in about 40 hours. But after selling out all 5,000 units in the lowest $600 pricing tier, Canonical has added three new pledge levels. Initially, those who missed out on the one-day-only offer would’ve needed to cough up $830, but there are now $625, $675 and $725 rungs prior to that price, each with 1,250 of the linux-coated handsets available. Meanwhile, the counter at the original $830 second level — which had already been in the hundreds — has been reset, with all those buyers dropped to the new $625 tier. Canonical promised it would “refund the difference (to those buyers) at the end of the campaign,” adding it would contact each with more info. After setting an Indiegogo record by raising $2 million in about 8 hours, the fundraising inevitably slowed down, and the revised price tiers could be a response to that — either way, there’s still a steep climb to the gargantuan target.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Via: OMGUbuntu
Source: Indiegogo
Canonical — makers of the Ubuntu distribution of Linux — is asking geeks to collectively cough up $32 million dollars in the next month to crowdfund a Linux smartphone.
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In an effort to create the first smartphone that can dual-boot both Linux and Android, Canonical is looking to raise money on Indiegogo in order to make such a thing happen. The phone would run a version of Ubuntu Touch, as well as a version of Android, although it’s not said exactly what version the phone will be running.
Perhaps one of the most interesting facets about the crowdfunding campaign is that Canonical is going try and raise $32 million in just 31 days, which they say is the biggest monetary target ever for a crowdfunding campaign. It’s a lofty goal, and if the campaign doesn’t meet $32 million, the project won’t happen, and Canonical will go back to making Ubuntu Touch only.
The device itself, called the Ubuntu Edge, will come with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It’ll be topped off with a 4.5-inch 720p display covered in pure sapphire crystal, which Canonical says is “the hardest natural substance after diamond.” As for the processor, the company only says that it’ll be “the latest” and “fastest.”
The Edge will also 4G connectivity, NFC, and Bluetooth 4.0. It’ll also be able to hook up to a keyboard, mouse, and monitor in order to use the device as a full-fledged desktop computer. However, it’s not said if Android will work in this mode.
Of course, we’ve seen Ubuntu Touch in action in the recent past back in February. The interface on the Edge looks to be the same as we’ve seen in the past. As for the phone itself, the Edge is a simple-looking device with not much going on. There looks to be a power button at the top and a volume rocker on the side. There is no home button, however, which doesn’t seem to be a huge deal, as most of the navigation will obviously be done with the touchscreen.
SOURCE: Indiegogo
Ubuntu Edge dual-boots Linux and Android, needs funding help is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
The penguin has been getting awfully cozy with game developers lately. This time it’s with the company known to make GPUs melt at the faintest whisper of its name: Crytek. According to a recent job listing, the German shooter shop is looking for a programmer to work on a Linux version of CryEngine. Of course, you need to relocate to Deutschland and have a few years experience in software development under your belt. Seeing another major PC studio devoting resources to the open-source OS only increases the growing momentum for Valve’s Steambox ecosystem of choice. To answer the eternal question, it appears that yes, even the Tux can run Crysis.
Filed under: Gaming
Via: VG 24/7
Source: Crytek
In the Utilite mini-PC, if you’re all about working with open-source software, small form factor, and more ports than you know what to do with, the team at Compulab may have created just the monster you’re looking for. This week the creators of the Utilite have announced not only that the machine itself exists, but that they’ll be selling it in different configurations starting at under $100 USD. The smallest of these works with a Freescale i.M6 single-core processor and will be aiming to be just about as basic as possible.
Inside this device will be working with support for up to 4GB of RAM – though you’ll be working with less right out of the box – as well as 512MB built-in storage. There’s an mSATA solid state drive slot for additional space, and a SDXC card slot for 128GB more. You’ll also find four USB 2.0 ports and two RS232 serial ports. Don’t forget the USB OTG (micro-USB connector) as well.
This device can also be configured with dual or quad-core processors. Like the company’s other miniature oddities, MintBox, Fit-PC, and Tegra-based Trim Slice, this Utilite mini-PC aims to be as versatile as possible while remaining solid as a single-form machine. The whole beast remains 5.3″ x 3.9″ x 0.8″ (135mm x 100mm x 21mm) one way or the other.
The Utilite mini-PC can connect to devices wirelessly with 802.11b/g/n WiFi as well as Bluetooth 3.0, connecting to monitors with a HDMI out and single DVI port, the rest with S/PDIF and stereo audio jacks. You’ll also find 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports as well as an extremely laid-back design, with white plastic on the front and back of this unit and a dark gray along the top.
The whole system will work with between 3 and 8 watts of power – unbelievable for a system that could very well work as a central control point for your many multiple home network systems. It’ll be up to you to decide what you’ll actually be controlling with this exercise in simplicity.
VIA: Liliputing; Compulab
Utilite mini-PC crosses ARM with Linux and/or Android is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
That box you see above? It’s a quad-core ARM-based PC running Ubuntu called Utilite. The desktop system, made by Compulab, will be available next month starting at $99. While there are plenty of Android dongles built on ARM SoCs out there, few (if any) can truly offer a PC-like experience. The company — best known for its Trim Slice, Fit-PC and MintBox products — wants to change this.
Utilite packs a single-, dual- or quad-core Freescale i.MX6 Cortex-A9 MPCore processor (up to 1.2 GHz), up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM (1066MHz), an mSATA SSD (up to 512GB), WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, HDMI and DVI-D outputs, two Gigabit Ethernet sockets, four USB 2.0 ports, one micro-USB OTG connector, audio jacks (analog and S/PDIF), a micro-SD XD slot and two ultra-mini RS232 interfaces — phew!
Rounding things up is support for OpenGL ES, OpenVG and OpenCL EP plus multi-stream 1080p H.264 on-chip decoding. All this fits in a chassis mesuring just 5.3 x 3.9 x 0.8 inches (135 x 100 x 21mm) and only consumes 3-8W using a 10-16V supply (unregulated). Those are impressive specs for the price, and the system sure looks positioned to compete favorably with some of the x86 boxes out there.
Filed under: Desktops
Source: FanlessTech
Left 4 Dead 2 is the latest game in Valve’s catalog to clamber out of the Steam for Linux beta. Unlike last week’s Half-Life 2 news however, the extra something coming along for the ride isn’t VR headset support — it’s a powerful suite of customization tools. The Extended Mutation System (EMS) gives the already robust modding community additional options for crafting one-off episodes and game type variants. For a glimpse of what EMS enables, play a round of “Holdout.” This new multi-map mode introduces buildable items and the concept of resources to the co-op zombie-slaying calamity. What’s more, Valve said it will add the most popular EMS creations to the official servers. Maybe with this, the world can finally witness our vision of the zombie apocalypse. Yeah, it involves marmosets.
Filed under: Gaming
Via: Left 4 Dead Blog
Source: Steam
Fedora 19 Schrodinger’s Cat may have a name that suggests it’s both alive and dead, but there’s no uncertainties about its release — the finished Linux distribution is now available on Fedora’s servers. The oddly-nicknamed OS mostly improves content creation. It beats Microsoft to the punch on 3D printer support by including object design and printing tools; budding programmers will also like Node.js support and a Developer’s Assistant that simplifies learning new code languages. While there’s many more updates than we can list here, it’s safe to say that Fedora 19 is a big update for many Linux fans, whether or not they appreciate Schrodinger’s quantum mechanics. You can grab the new build and its release notes at the source links.
Filed under: Software
Via: Muktware
Source: Fedora Project (1), (2)
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