Multitouch gesture support is everywhere these days. Windows 7 has it baked in (well, not Windows 7 Starter, but all the other versions). So does Apple OS X and iOS, Google Android, Palm WebOS, and a number of other mobile operating systems. So it’s not all that surprising that Ubuntu Linux founder Mark Shuttleworth is announcing that the next version of Ubuntu will support multitouch gestures.

The new touch framework is called UTouch, and it should be ready to go when Canonical launches Ubuntu 10.10 in October.

Of course, you’ll need a device with supported hardware. Right now that means a computer with support for 4-finger touch if you want to use all the features.

What’s new about the way Canonical is approaching multitouch is that the UTouch framework will let you string multiple gestures together to initiate more complex actions. You can read more about the new gestures and how they work in a public document about the project.

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MeeGo is a Linux-based software environment designed for devices including netbooks, tablets, smartphones, and in-care entertainment computers. Each version is a little different, and this week the folks behind MeeGo launched the first public version of MeeGo IVI for in-vehicle-infotainment systems. It’s available for download right now, and thanks to the magic of YouTube searching, you can check out a demo video after the break.

The UI is quite different from what you’ll see on other versions of MeeGo. Clearly MeeGo IVI isn’t just designed to be touched… the program launcher is designed to be touched while you’re concentrating on other things like… you know, driving a car.

Unfortunately, that’s just the program launcher. When you delve a little deeper, it looks like MeeGo IVI is running pretty standard Linux apps which make the audio and video players, for instance, look a bit clunky for something you’re suppose to interact with from the passenger’s seat — let alone the driver’s seat.

The Fennec web browser, text editor, and other apps are also going to give this operating system some geek cred, but it’s not really clear if these are the sort of apps most people will be running in a car. At least Fennec was clearly designed for smartphones and thus for finger-friendly input instead of a keyboard and mouse.

via Download Squad

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A few weeks ago the folks at Jolicloud started allowing beta testers to upgrade to version 1.0. Now Jolicloud 1.0 is available for download, meaning anyone can go ahead and install it from scratch.

There are two options. The first is a 16MB installer that runs on Windows XP or 7 and downloads and installs the operating system alongside Windows. The second is a 689MB ISO file which you can load on a USB flash drive to install Jolicloud on a computer that doesn’t run Windows.

Jolicloud is designed to run on most netbooks with support for small screen sizes and low power Intel and VIA processors and graphics. The operating system is based on Linux, but one of the things that sets it apart from most Linux environments is that Jolicloud is designed to blur the distinction between web and native apps. That means you can create shortcuts in the program launcher for OpenOffice.org, Google Docs, Gmail, and Thunderbird.

There are also social aspects to Jolicloud, allowing you, for instance, to see what apps your friends have been installing.

Your preferences are all saved online, which makes upgrading to a new netbook or switching between machines easy.

Jolicloud is available as a free download. Founder Tariq Krim says premium features will be available later this year.

Update: If you want to take Jolicloud for a spin without installing it, you can visit my.jolicloud.com using the Google Chrome web browser. This will let you create an account and browse through the catalog of native and web-based apps. You can “install” them to your desktop, and if and when you install Jolicloud on a netbook, your preferences will be carried over and all the apps you install from the web interface will be installed on your computer.

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After months of anticipation we finally have pricing information for the Notion Ink Adam tablet… and a little bit of information about the potential launch dates. While we’ve seen a lot of Android tablets introduced this year, the Adam Tablet garnered a lot of attention this year for a few distinctive features.

It could be one of the first tablets to ship with a Pixel Qi display which is as easy to read outdoors as indoors and which uses 80% less power when in outdoor/black and white mode. It could also be one of the first tablets to ship with an NVIDIA Tegra 2 chipset.

But when will it launch? After a series of delays, Slashgear reports that Notion Ink will begin manufacturing the tablet in November. But it won’t go on sale in the US until it receives FCC certification, which could mean a launch date sometime between November 2010 and January 2011. The tablet will also reportedly have a starting price of $399.

It turns out there will actually be three different models, though, with the top price coming in at $498. Here’s a run-down:

• Adam Tablet with LCD display and WiFi for $399
• Adam Tablet with LCD display and 3G (and WiFi) for $449
• Adam Tablet with Pixel Qi display and WiFi for $449
• Adam Tablet with Pixel Qi display, 3G and WiFi for $498

Those prices are subject to change of course, although the company is actually hoping to bring them down before launch, rather than up.

You can find more details at Slashgear. But it sounds like Notion Ink has upgraded a lot of specs since the company started showing off an early prototype earlier this year. All models of tablet are now expected to come with 802.11b/g/n WiFi, GPS and a rotating camera that can flip 185 degrees. There will also be a content store for applications, media, books, and other digital content.

Update: Notion Ink’s Rohan Shravan has weighed in, officially confirming the launch details and pricing.

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PC World is reporting that the 8 inch touchscreen device could ship in October for about $300.

While the Asus Eee Pad series of tablets will run Windows 7, Windows Embedded Compact 7, and Google Android allowing you to run thousands of third party apps, enjoy media, and surf the web, the Eee Tablet is a different kind of device. It has a 8 inch, 1024 x 768 pixel touchscreen LCD display with support for 64 shades of gray.

It’s not backlit, which will save energy while providing a viewing experience similar to a dedicated eBook reader. Asus says the tablet will run for about 10 hours on a charge, which is pretty good until you compare it to a dedicated eBook Reader with an E Ink display — which can run for days on end without charging. E Ink displays also tend to have higher contrast ratios, looking more like paper than LCD screens.

But there are a few other things setting the Eee Tablet apart from machines like the Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook. Because it uses an LCD display, you won’t have the same kind of slow screen refresh rate you see on E Ink devices. And the Eee Tablet will be designed for note-taking as well as reading, allowing you to jot notes, highlight passages, and perform other actions with a highly accurate stylus. The tablet will also have a web browser and WiFi capabilities.

The tablet will run a version of Linux developed by Asus. The company also may change the name to Eee Note before launch, to help make it more clear which of the upcoming Asus devices are meant as general consumer electronics devices and which are designed primarily for reading and note-taking. The Eee Tablet/Eee Note is aimed primarily at students.

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After months of anticipation we finally have pricing information for the Notion Ink Adam tablet… and a little bit of information about the potential launch dates. While we’ve seen a lot of Android tablets introduced this year, the Adam Tablet garnered a lot of attention this year for a few distinctive features.

It could be one of the first tablets to ship with a Pixel Qi display which is as easy to read outdoors as indoors and which uses 80% less power when in outdoor/black and white mode. It could also be one of the first tablets to ship with an NVIDIA Tegra 2 chipset.

But when will it launch? After a series of delays, Slashgear reports that Notion Ink will begin manufacturing the tablet in November. But it won’t go on sale in the US until it receives FCC certification, which could mean a launch date sometime between November 2010 and January 2011. The tablet will also reportedly have a starting price of $399.

It turns out there will actually be three different models, though, with the top price coming in at $498. Here’s a run-down:

• Adam Tablet with LCD display and WiFi for $399
• Adam Tablet with LCD display and 3G (and WiFi) for $449
• Adam Tablet with Pixel Qi display and WiFi for $449
• Adam Tablet with Pixel Qi display, 3G and WiFi for $498

Those prices are subject to change of course, although the company is actually hoping to bring them down before launch, rather than up.

You can find more details at Slashgear. But it sounds like Notion Ink has upgraded a lot of specs since the company started showing off an early prototype earlier this year. All models of tablet are now expected to come with 802.11b/g/n WiFi, GPS and a rotating camera that can flip 185 degrees. There will also be a content store for applications, media, books, and other digital content.

Update: Notion Ink’s Rohan Shravan has weighed in, officially confirming the launch details and pricing.

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PC World is reporting that the 8 inch touchscreen device could ship in October for about $300.

While the Asus Eee Pad series of tablets will run Windows 7, Windows Embedded Compact 7, and Google Android allowing you to run thousands of third party apps, enjoy media, and surf the web, the Eee Tablet is a different kind of device. It has a 8 inch, 1024 x 768 pixel touchscreen LCD display with support for 64 shades of gray.

It’s not backlit, which will save energy while providing a viewing experience similar to a dedicated eBook reader. Asus says the tablet will run for about 10 hours on a charge, which is pretty good until you compare it to a dedicated eBook Reader with an E Ink display — which can run for days on end without charging. E Ink displays also tend to have higher contrast ratios, looking more like paper than LCD screens.

But there are a few other things setting the Eee Tablet apart from machines like the Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook. Because it uses an LCD display, you won’t have the same kind of slow screen refresh rate you see on E Ink devices. And the Eee Tablet will be designed for note-taking as well as reading, allowing you to jot notes, highlight passages, and perform other actions with a highly accurate stylus. The tablet will also have a web browser and WiFi capabilities.

The tablet will run a version of Linux developed by Asus. The company also may change the name to Eee Note before launch, to help make it more clear which of the upcoming Asus devices are meant as general consumer electronics devices and which are designed primarily for reading and note-taking. The Eee Tablet/Eee Note is aimed primarily at students.

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Sharp NetWalker PC-T1 with Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu is probably one of the most popular Linux distributions available today, and it’s certainly one of the highest profile. So when there seemed to be an indication that a tablet-specific version of Ubuntu was on the way a few days ago, the news was widely reported on this site and many others. But it turns out the whole thing might have just been a misunderstanding, because Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth says there will not be a version of Ubuntu designed just for touchscreen tablets.

Canonical (the company behind Ubuntu) does plan to continue offering a version optimized for netbooks, as well as a new version of the software called Ubuntu Light which can be installed on computers already running Windows as a quick-boot option.

That’s not to say that you won’t see Ubuntu Linux on tablet-style devices. In fact, we’ve already seen some. But Canonical won’t be making an official build specifically for tablets. It will be up to third party software and device makers to optimize the operating system in ways they see fit for tablets.

via H Online

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