Ubuntu Mobile Internet Device (MID) Edition v8.04 has achieved its first public release today. Canonical is calling this version a “developers release.” There are two installable images, and one runnable KVM image.

From Canonical’s blog post:

We are delighted to be able to welcome Ubuntu Mobile Internet Device (MID) Edition 8.04 to the world as a full developers’ release. It is based on the Ubuntu Desktop Edition, and it is now available for download. The Ubuntu MID Edition 8.04 has been built by the Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded community that is sponsored by Canonical and in co-operation with Intel Moblin.org community to take advantage of the Intel(R) Atom Processor, the chipset that is underpinning the Mobile Internet Device (MID) category. Ubuntu MID Edition will always be an Open Source distribution and is freely available.

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Ubuntu Mobile is an Ubuntu edition that targets an exciting new class of computers called Mobile Internet Devices. Tthe software is tailored for the Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) expected to launch in spring based on Intel’s Silverthorne technology and is designed to recognize basic iPhone-like gestures such as swiping to scroll through menus and websites.

A scrolling visual front end based on Flash or Clutter replaces the traditional Ubuntu desktop and is designed to be used solely with fingers, including with an on-screen keyboard.

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At the Intel Developers Forum, Anand Chandrasekher, senior vice president of ultra mobility at Intel, showed off the new Menlow and the follow-up Moorestown mobile platforms for pocket Internet devices. Could this be the next-gen competition for the iPhone? Or might the iPhone even incorporate the new technology?

Menlow and Moorestown go in a different, and much more Intel-centric, direction. They’re ultra-low-power x86 chips, using Intel’s own instruction set that developers will be familiar with from desktop machines. While these chips aren’t designed to run Windows Vista, Intel asserts that it’ll be easier for developers to port software from other x86 platforms to the new chips as opposed to recoding for ARM. ARM, meanwhile, touts what they say is even lower power usage than the new Intel chips.

Menlow and Moorestown Mobile Internet Devices (MID) will connect to WiMAX, Wi-Fi (802.11 g/n), and 3G networks for total Internet connectivity (at least where 3G and/or WiMAX is installed).

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Intel plans to announce an open-source project called LessWatts.org, which aims to improve the power efficiency of the Linux operating system and applications.

“LessWatts is about creating a community around saving power on Linux, bringing developers, users, and sysadmins together to share software, optimizations, and tips and tricks.”

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ABI Research has released a new report that claims over the next 5 years, Linux is expected to be the fastest growing Smartphone OS with a compound annual growth rate in excess of 75%. By 2012, a recent study from ABI Research forecasts the Linux-based OS to account for nearly 31% of all smart devices in the market — representing more than 331 million cumulative shipments over the same period.

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Dana Blankenhorn examines Intel’s new Moblin project and writes:

Intel has a new mobile Linux project dubbed Moblin. It includes a Linux kernel, a framework for a user interface, a browser, a multimedia framework, and embedded image creation tools, along with developer resources.

Sounds great until you realize there are a ton of other, similar frameworks under development. Nokia backs Maemo, Trolltech has Qtopia, and you’ll remember we profiled OpenMoko just a week ago.

Intel has launched its new Mobile and Internet Linux Project Web site, which consolidates a number of new and existing Intel projects to improve the Linux kernel and other open-source components. In addition, the company employs “quite a bit more than a dozen” programmers for coding work, said Dirk Hohndel, Intel’s chief Linux and open-source technologist.

Among the projects are efforts to improve power management, user interfaces, use of wireless networks, Web browsing, chatting, and one of the thorniest subjects, software development for mobile devices. Intel hopes for programming help from outside its own company, and two Linux companies that have signed up are Ubuntu backer Canonical and Red Flag Linux in China.

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