Canonical announces support for Moblin v2

Canonical has announced its support of Moblin, an optimized open source Linux software stack and application framework, by committing to the development of a product based on the recently released Moblin v2 for Intel Atom processor-based platforms.

Moblin v2 provides the core infrastructure, applications and user experience that Canonical will integrate into an Ubuntu-based product.

Moblin v2, which is currently available in beta for netbooks, is the latest from Moblin.org, an open source community that supports the creation and distribution of Linux-based operating system products for Intel Atom-based platforms, including netbooks, mobile Internet devices (MIDs), nettops, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and embedded systems.

One of the key new features of Moblin v2 is an easy-to-use and intuitive user interface that was built for advanced Internet, media and social networking experiences.

"We are very excited about bringing a Moblin v2-based product to market in the near future," said Mark Shuttleworth, founder of the Ubuntu project. "Intel's Atom processor along with the Linux Foundation bring fantastic energy and excitement to OEMs looking to deliver Linux-based experiences for users through Moblin. Adding it as an option alongside Ubuntu, and eventually sharing elements between the two, means even more rapid innovation on open platforms which will benefit developers, manufacturers and, most importantly, users."

Intel launched Moblin in June 2007 and incubated the project until April 2009 when the Linux Foundation became the host of the community. Intel continues to contribute key technologies and work with the developer community to advance the effort.