A nascent Smart TV project from Canonical, the commercial team responsible for the Ubuntu Linux-based operating system. Ubuntu TV is designed to harness the power of Ubuntu in integrating broadcast TV, time shift / PVR capabilities, online box office movies, cloud storage of multimedia content, apps and streaming media without the need for wires, connectors or additional set-top boxes.
While Ubuntu TV is built into the TV itself, its power and capabilities are also designed to extend beyond the TV to personal computers and laptops as well as Android-powered and iOS-powered mobile devices. Ubuntu TV also utilizes the company’s Ubuntu One personal cloud storage service to facilitate sharing media content among the user’s entertainment devices.
Ubuntu TV is primarily a proof-in-concept project at this point, with support from television manufacturers and content providers expected to ramp up over the next couple of years.