Ubuntu smartphones will begin launching in October

Ubuntu Galaxy Nexus There are already smartphones powered by Android, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Bada and Tizen, and soon Ubuntu will be added to that long list. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mark Shuttleworth, the founder and CEO of Canonical, said that smartphones running the company’s Linux-based Ubuntu operating system will be available to customers starting in October 2013. He also said that application developers will be granted early access to a version of the operating system that has been optimized for the Galaxy Nexus later this month.

One of the smartphone’s unique features will allow it to be docked to a larger display for use with a keyboard and mouse. The operating system can also support Windows-based applications streamed to devices from corporate servers, giving business users access to all corporate data through a single device.

Shuttleworth said that Ubuntu devices will be available in two large geographic markets later this year. The executive failed to give specific details, however he said that North America is “absolutely a key market for Ubuntu,” and that the operating system has even drawn interest from certain carriers.